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No surprise here: Wii Sports Resort has sold a lot of copies. In great contrast with past declarations of bad Wii sales and lowering earnings forecast for the company, Nintendo has informed investors it's top selling software, confirming that Wii Sports Resort has sold nearly 7 million copies to date, and the original Wii Sports nearing the 51-million-copies mark.

Following those games, Wii Fit stands at 22.5 million copies sold, Mario Kart Wii at 18.4 million, Wii Play 24.4 million, and Wii Fit Plus 2.13 million.

On the DS front, New Super Mario Bros. (with a long-awaited Wii 'sequel' coming up this month) is nearing 20 million copies sold. Mario Kart DS sales have hit 16.1 million, Tomodachi Collection 1.45 million and Professor Layton and Pandora's Box is at 1.26 million.

Via GamesIndustry.

This is a rumor that has been around for a few days now, but yesterday it became a very much discussed topic on the net, the rumor: there is a DSi successor already in the works, and it will be released by the end of 2010 (that's next year, folks!).

Nintendo, according to the 'anonymous sources' quoted on BSN's report, is already working on the next DS handheld console and is planning to release it by the end of next year (probably just in time for the Holiday rush).

To fuel the rumor even more, there's also talk about nVidia's newly announced next generation of their single-chip solution, Tegra (available early 2010) will be the processor of choice for Nintendo's new baby. This came in as a result of nVidia's CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang's bold remarks that Tegra would account for 50% of their revenues in the next few years. nVidia and Nintendo partnered up last March to allow Wii developers to have access to nVidia's PhysX SDK, so the possibility of a new partnership is not so out of place. And the cherry on top is the rumor that, should the next DS use Tegra, it would be DS compatible. (pictured DS is a fan concept)

Via GamesIndustry.

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At least for BusinessWeek. Even though the Wii's seen a very steep decline in sales (now, it seems, picking up again following the long-awaited, very-much-needed price drop), the DS/DSi's lead on the market being shorter every month with the PSP very close and the iPod/iPhone empire growing stronger every day, Nintendo has managed to stay afloat. And BusinessWeek acknowledges it by naming Nintendo this year's World's Best Company.

Sure, Nintendo started off the year with a more than 50% drop in revenue, but arguing with more than two and a half BILLION dollars in revenue is really hard. And even though Wii sales are down, it still maintains the lead by a very considerable ammount on the world's console market.

With visionary leadership and a three-tiered product development process that brings together top management, development staff, and marketing and administrative teams, the Japanese game maker been able to create new hardware without sticking to conventional notions in the video game industry. - BusinessWeek

The ranking is set by consulting firm, A.T. Kerney, who went through the 2,500 largest, publicly-traded companies looking for the best earnings and generated value while also maintaining leadership outside of their home territory. In case you were wondering, Google came in second, Apple in third, Doosan Heavy Industries in fourth, and Hyundai Heavy Industries in fifth.

That is one bold affirmation, Mr. Wada; so bold, we hope it's true (and preferably a little sooner than that). Square Enix Presiden, Yoichi Wada, has said that he expects Nintendo to release a new Wii by 2011, with features resembling those of the PS3 or XBox 360 (high-def graphics, HD Video playability, and network and multimedia features) and might even come with a new kind of controller (let's hope its not the Vitality sensor).

Mr. Wada's statements do not end there...Oh, no! He goes on to claim that Sony's and Microsoft's upcoming motion-sensing technologies will have little to no impact at all on their sales, claiming that their systems are already well targeted and unless a great deal of good motion-sensing games come out from day one, the new controllers will be more of gimmicks than actual controllers (ouch!). He also notes that actually developing motion-sensing games is quite a difficult task.

Present game machines already have a lot of functions: they are a network terminal, a Blu-ray or DVD player, and a gaming machine. Compared to these three pillars, the [new motion] controllers are quite limited, so the impact may be small. They are an extension of the gaming function.

But he does have a motion-sensing technology of choice: Microsoft's Project Natal. Wada even goes on to say that this will become the standard for the industry in the near future. Maybe he has a crystal ball or something...

The ugly truth: The PS3 slim launch in Japan was a success. A huge one. And Nintendo is taking the toll, seeing the Wii fall down to the fourth position, below the PS3 Slim, their own DSi, and the PSP.

What do you think? Will this trend continue? Is it just the 'novelty' of a thinner PS3? Or does Nintendo REALLY have something to worry about? Let us hear (or rather read) your thoughts. In the meantime, this week's numbers after the break.

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The H1N1 virus, commonly (and wrongly) known as "the swine flu", being all the rage nowadays in the medical circles has been driving the world insane, taking us all by surprise. It has been responsible for countless losses due to canceled flights, cruise ships, events, and expos. This time, it hit attendees at PAX 2009: Reps confirmed a 'swine flu' case among one of the attendees.

The confirmation came from a game-developer from Boston who informed PAX officials about the viral contraction at the event. The expo organizers promptly informed the health authorities of the event and have begun urging any of the 60,000+ attendees to see a doctor immediately if they show any symptoms.

Just heard of our first test-confirmed swine flu case at the show. PLEASE if you feel symptoms (fever, etc) go to the doctor. - PAX Twitter account

This is the real thing. If you get this number of people together in this close a proximity it is the perfect storm for these kind of wild fire virus spreads. We just want to make sure everyone is informed. - PAX's Robert Khoo

Via Kotaku.

What? This is a Nintendo blog, you say? How is this Nintendo-relevant, you ask? Well, before you get your knickers in a knot, allow me to explain. Yesterday, Sony announced what we all knew: The PS3 Slim was real, and what's more, it would be cutting the 80GB current model by US$100 (to US$299) until stock runs out. Now, this may be good news to Sony lovers...but for the rest of us, it means a GREAT re-thinking of things.

Microsoft, for instance, will have to match the US$299 price on its premium SKU and eventually phase out the 60GB model to match Sony's newest default. Analysts predict US$299 will become the new industry standard, so finnancially-troubled Sony and Microsoft will have to struggle to keep profits while maintaining the price. The problem for Nintendo is, of course, this new pricing. For 50 extra bucks you get a high-def console, BluRay player, superior multimedia-and-PC connectivity, and a much bigger hard drive than that of a Wii. Wanna bet how many players are willing to wait a few more days to save those 50 dollars and buy a US$299 PS3 instead of a US$250 Wii?

Let's wait and see how Nintendo reacts. But more importantly, how will YOU, our readers, react?

UPDATE (08/22/2009): X-Box 360 Elite now drops US$100 and sells for US$299. And so it begins. Also, the new PS3 Slim will be US$299 as well, with a 120GB hard drive.