“Kingdom Hearts has always been incredibly popular. As the first new release into the franchise for three years, pre-orders are already way in excess of typical DS product. The strength of the brand, quality of the product and the perfect timing in the approach to Christmas all set Kingdom Hearts up as a star performer for retail over the peak period.” – UK sales director Doug Bone

Square Enix also says that there are plans for online advertising…

“We’ll also run a series of carefully targeted promotions toward the late tween and early teen audiences. Our online advertising on launch will feature various takeovers and rich media video on a range of gaming and kids websites.” – Square Enix senior product manager Adrian Arnese.

Source

Source

DSiWare

Art Academy: First Semester – 113 blocks
Oscar in Toyland – 37 blocks

WiiWare

–Mart Racer – 195 blocks
–Spaceball: Revolution – 315 blocks
–Texas Hold’em Poker – 308 blocks

VC

Crash ‘N The Boyz: Street Challenge – 16 blocks

Update: The official PR is in, and we’ve posted it below.

For some odd reason, Nintendo has decided not to issue a press release for this week’s Nintendo Downloads. However, you can check out what is available on the Wii and DSi shops below.

DSiWare

Oscar in Toyland
Art Academy: First Semester

WiiWare

Mart Racer
Texas Hold’em Poker
Spaceball Revolution

VC

Crash ‘N The Boys: Street Challenge

Nintendo Download

Spend a Revolutionary First Semester Racing From Texas to Toyland

Even if you’re no longer a student, the back-to-school season is bringing all kinds of youthful kicks to the Wii™ Shop Channel and Nintendo DSi™ Shop. The latest Nintendo DSiWare™ titles feature creative art activities and an imaginative, toy-filled joyride. Three new WiiWare™ games invite you to play cards with friends, dodge intergalactic obstacles and compete in wild grocery cart races. A new Virtual Console™ release even challenges players to partake in some heated high school hijinks. And no matter what your grade level, be sure to take advantage of this special offer: Consumers can receive 1,000 bonus Nintendo DSi Points™ by purchasing a new Nintendo DSi™ game system and connecting to the Nintendo DSi Shop by 11:59 pm Pacific time on Oct. 5, 2009. For full offer details, please visit DSiOffer.Nintendo.com

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Back in July, Nintendo made a new version of the Nintendo Channel available in Japan. The company was rather quiet about releasing it in North America, though. But there’s some good news today: The upgrade can now be downloaded. In case you’ve forgotten about some of the features from the update, we’ve posted them below.

– Entirely new interface
– Choose between high quality and regular quality when you first boot up the channel
– Create a favorites software list
– Recommend DS games
– View records of games you’ve played/records of recommended games
– View recommended ranking

– 1 GUITAR HERO 5 NEVERSOFT REDOCTANE ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
– 2 COLIN MCRAE: DIRT 2 CODEMASTERS CODEMASTERS CODEMASTERS
1 3 BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM ROCKSTEADY STUDIOS EIDOS EIDOS
– 4 THE BEATLES: ROCK BAND HARMONIX EA GAMES ELECTRONIC ARTS
4 5 WII FIT NINTENDO NINTENDO NINTENDO
2 6 WII SPORTS RESORT NINTENDO NINTENDO NINTENDO
6 7 IL2 STURMOVIK: BIRDS OF PREY GAIJIN ENTERTAINMNET 1C COMPANY 505 GAMES
3 8 CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE INFINITY WARD ACTIVISION ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
12 9 MARIO KART WII NINTENDO NINTENDO NINTENDO
5 10 ASHES CRICKET 2009 GUSTO GAMES CODEMASTERS CODEMASTERS

First Major FINAL FANTASY Experience for Wii Available This Holiday Season

First Major FINAL FANTASY Experience for Wii Available This Holiday Season

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ — Square Enix, Inc., the publisher of Square Enix(R) interactive entertainment products in North America, announced today that FINAL FANTASY(R) CRYSTAL CHRONICLES(R): THE CRYSTAL BEARERS(R) for Wii(TM) will be available at North American retailers on December 26, 2009.

This latest installment in the franchise offers a fresh take on the beloved CRYSTAL CHRONICLES universe, launching the series into the action-adventure genre and onto the Wii system. FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: THE CRYSTAL BEARERS combines the storytelling depth, immersive event scenes and graphical quality of the FINAL FANTASY franchise with motion-driven gameplay and the ability to freely explore the game world.

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