Video Games

Though experts deemed the video game industry recession-proof in 2008, it finally began to show some weakness in 2009, as profits fell 14 percent in July from the same month last year. In efforts to counter this fall, publishers are shifting their priorities to promoting upcoming video game sequels. Call of Duty, Need for Speed and Assassin’s Creed are all games whose second or third chapter comes out this fall, though perhaps the most anticipated of them all, for gamers and analysts alike, is The Beatles: Rock Band. (Find out why at Newsday.)

Apparel

As their industry quickly became susceptible to economic decline, apparel retailers have begged designers since last year to create lines catering to today’s thrifty consumer. Designers have finally answered those prayers in their upcoming spring collections,  offering high-quality casual contemporary separates with a timeless feel.

“It’s creating a product that is buy-now, wear now,” said designer Peter Som to WWD. “At the end of the day, it’s a partnership with a retailer, and understanding what the customer is looking for, then taking that information and giving them that and something they didn’t know they were looking for. It’s the ultimate dance of commerce and creativity.” (Find out more at WWD.)

Movies

Re-releasing Disney’s cinematic classics is a selling strategy that Walt Disney created himself. But the upcoming theatrical showings of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 are taking this marketing strategy to a  level beyond even 3-D, as they lay the groundwork for next year’s Toy Story 3.

A new line of consumer products, featuring Halloween costumes, DVD rereleases and toys, are set to follow the  theatrical releases.  As a result, the company hopes that Toy Story 3 will become one of Disney’s most profitable movies in years, with a level of success echoing that of its predecessors. (Find more information at the Wall Street Journal.)

Retailers, which of your tried-and-true products have carried you through the current economy? What do your customers like about them?

Tens of millions of DSi’s predecessor, the DS Lite, have sold worldwide since its release in early 2006, according to Nintendo. In the meantime, the company anticipates that DSi unit sales have already reached an estimated 100 million worldwide, according to CNET.

Available in both blue and black, its retail price is set at $169.99. And along with the DSi’s release also comes a game new to U.S. gamers, “Rhythm Heaven.”

The DSi offers a longer stylus and larger screens, now 3.25 inches each. But in favor of a slimmer body, Nintendo removed the Game Boy Advance slot and replaced it with a SD card slot – a notable omission for anyone who, for example, just purchased “Guitar Hero: On Tour.”

Nintendo also added not just one but two cameras, with one fixed on the external body and the other pointed toward the user when open. This, as one company representative said to Go Nintendo, is part of the reason behind the ‘i’ in DSi, as it gives the gaming unit “eyes.”

“If the touch screen gave Nintendo DS a sense of feel and the microphone allowed it to hear, the two cameras gave Nintendo DSi the sense of sight,” the company explained in a press release last week.

These cameras have 11 different interactive “lenses,” each of which manipulate the photos in different ways. One, the Emoter lens, can create new facial expressions on the photographed person. Another, the Color lens, manipulates the colors of specific areas.

What also expands upon that personal aspect, or yet another reason behind the ‘i’ in DSi, is the enhanced sound application, featuring both a music player and voice recorder. Users can even manipulate the pitch and speed of their voice recordings, and save up to 18 ten-second clips onto the gaming system.

But perhaps its crowning feature will be its online DSi Shop, where users will be able to download games through a Wi-Fi connection. Nintendo is also encouraging developers in the meantime to create software through its DSi Ware application.

Nintendo hopes that all of these features add up to another indispensible product, that “becomes more than a game system and more of a personal tool to enrich our daily lives,” a company representative said.

But technology reviewers wonder if the upgrade is worth purchasing. Jeff Backalay, CNET reviewer, said that players with the first edition DS should consider the DSi. But to those with a DS Lite, “are all of these features enough to warrant an upgrade? In our opinion, the simple answer is no.”

On the other hand, Wired’s Chris Kohler anticipates that Nintendo’s push for digital distribution will become its main incentive.

“Downloading games will be awesome,” he wrote in his Nov. 17, 2008 preview.

VG Chartz, a video game sales tracking Web site, calculated that 40.2 million units of Wii Sports have been sold – surpassing long-time chart topper Super Mario Bros. Like Wii Sports, Nintendo sold Super Mario Bros. bundled with a console, that being the first Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985.

Nintendo has yet to confirm the unit sales numbers that VG Chartz has calculated, though its annual fiscal report states that it sold 1.484 billion Wii software units by March 2008. The company also sold 24.5 million consoles by then – an amount that has since doubled – while Microsoft sold 28 million Xbox units only by this month.

Since its 2006 release, the combined forces of the Wii and Wii Sports have lured in even the casual video game player. As total industry sales in the third quarter jumped to $2.91 billion, according to market researcher NPD Group, the two also led industry sales through a tough holiday season – in turn, surpassing expectations of even veteran video game reporter Steven Kent.

Kent told USA Today last year that he thought “the Wii bubble would burst any day” – that is, unless the company could deliver another game with such wide appeal, as he explained to Wired about two weeks later.

But today, Kent admits he was wrong.

“The Nintendo Wii not only survived the rest of 2007, it was the clear winner of 2008,” he wrote on his blog. Kent still wonders though if Wii Sports can continue to peak interests as the rest of the Wii game line remains comparatively lackluster.