Jack Loftus

The apprentice has become the master, as Microsoft revealed last week it expects Xbox 360 sales to surpass the original Xbox by the end of November.

The tally sits at 25 million units, and it's a milestone whose importance was not lost on Microsoft's Chris Lewis.

Nintendo's Cammie Dunaway, speaking with MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo, has promised 2009 will see Wii games that will make the most intense of gamers "stand up and pay attention."

The comments came as Totilo quizzed Dunaway about how Nintendo could appeal to customers, beyond Nintendo loyalists and the huge number of non-gamers it had brought into the gaming fold thanks to Wii Sports, Brain Training and the like.

People with more fear in their heads than brains have often wondered whether or not the Wii motion controls that debuted in 2006 have led to an increase in video game-related violence. A new study out last week may dispel these lingering misconceptions about video games for the last time.

The study was the work of Villanova's Dr. Patrick Markey. It examined 118 participants' "psychoticism" levels, which translates roughly into how hostile or aggressive they became while playing Manhunt 2 and the notoriously violent murder sim Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008* (*sarcasm).

Wii shortages during the holiday season are nothing new, having occurred for the past two years, but nevertheless the trend is expected to continue again this holiday--at least at GameStop.

Speaking to GameIndustry, GameStop CFO David Carlson, said that the retailer expects Wii stock to be completely sold out by Christmas. Not just a shortage, but completely gone dry. Wii Fit and Guitar Hero: World Tour (Wii and Xbox 360 versions) will also experience shortages, he said, although the latter product is no longer selling as robustly as it once did.

As the Nintendo Wii enters its second year in the world, the sales continue, the dust settles (on the console, some would say incorrectly), and new possibilities lay on the horizon.

Indeed, the past two years were a whirlwind for the console, billed over and over again by its handlers in Kyoto as the everyman, woman and child's system, thanks to its low buy-in cost, motion controls and easy accessibility.

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has seen the future of video games, and that future is riddled with user-generated content.

The moment of clairvoyance arrived during prepared remarks at the BMO Interactive Entertainment conference, where he said the end of "passive entertainment" is near, and video games were supremely positioned to take advantage of the new environment.

Anyone who's visited an Internet forum, read a blog, or visited a news site like GamePro has seen it at least once. "My Wii," someone will say, "is gathering dust."

It's an Internet meme that's had considerable legs, starting pretty much when the Wii launched in 2006, and lasting to the present. The funny thing is that for a majority of Wii owners today, it isn't true.

While rumors persist that Nintendo is working on a new Wii console, complete with HD and some kind of new interface, the notoriously loose-lipped Shigeru Miyamoto has suddenly taken to a more conservative approach when talking about Nintendo's future plans.

Miyamoto, always good for an off-the-cuff remark or two at video games conferences each year, was uncharacteristically mum when asked about a high definition Wii offering.

The Wii system is in a league of its own for a variety of reasons today, chief among them a unique control scheme and incredible sales numbers that dwarf the competition month over month.

Another differentiating factor in the Wii column is also the fact that price cuts will probably never come to the system, as they have with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

EA has axed its casual games division following the departure of Kathy Vrabeck, president of the Casual Entertainment label, and has repositioned resources in a way that casts doubt on the existence of the "casual gamer."

The news, confirmed by EA in an email correspondence with GameDaily, appears to signal that the video games publisher, once the world's largest, has accepted the fact that "casual gamers" simply do not exist.

When Animal Crossing: City Folk launches for the Wii on November 16, the ballyhooed voice chat feature, provided by the Wii Speak microphone accessory, will be fully operational.

The Friend Code-protected voice chat feature works with Animal Crossing as an in-game service. It will also be available as an independent chat channel, that will be accessible through the Wii's main menu. Called the Wii Speak Channel, the service will be free to those who purchase the Animal Crossing/Wii Speak bundle, as well as to those who purchase the microphone separately.

If you, like many console owners, were wondering where the heck a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 version of Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO were hiding, you're not alone.

The good news is LucasArts and BioWare are "considering" bringing the MMO experience to consoles, which indirectly means the recently unveiled Star Wars title.