A reliable source has informed Joystiq that GameStop and EB Games stores are holding Wii consoles and accessories for this Sunday. Stores participating are being instructed to hold their sales flyers for an FSI event until Friday, which should be an indication that your local store is holding this week’s Wii shipments and will sell them all on Sunday.

Hopefully those still hunting for a Wii out there will get an opportunity to pick one up. With all the demand, though, you’ll still have to make the effort to get to the stores early before opening.

Joystiq

As if the balance hasn’t been shifted already. Reports are saying that Nintendo will have an actual set up at the Tokyo Game Show later this year, and Wired’s Chris Kohler thinks it could serious consequences in the industry - good for some, not so much for others.

So what does it mean that they might show this year? It will probably be looked upon as the event that solidifies Nintendo’s return to domination in their home country; they’ll be invading a show that in years past has been absolutely owned by Sony products. Microsoft was always shoved off in a back room and without Nintendo there, not even the DS got that much love on the show floor in recent years. It was always PlayStation-centric.

But now with the industry no longer PlayStation-centric, Tokyo Game Show can’t be, either, or it won’t be a draw anymore. I imagine that the TGS management lobbied hard to get Nintendo on board this year.

Japan-living NeoGAF poster and accomplished armchair industry analyst “Jonnyram” weighed in with this: “If true, PS3 is officially finished. This TGS is crucial to the PS3’s success. If Sony is outshone by Nintendo, they can kiss the console market goodbye.” It’s certainly not going to be fun for Sony having to go up against Nintendo in front of the Japanese gaming public.

Quite a bold statement to say that this one Japanese event becomes the make-or-break point for Sony. This time last year, only the minority Nintendo supporters could have seen this coming, and look at where we are today. However, it’s nice to see Nintendo’s presence at TGS being so significant, so symbolic and embodying of Nintendo’s reacquired success in the gaming world.

Wired

In response largely to the March NPD numbers, Home Media Magazine looks at the numbers and the analyst predictions surrounding the video game industry. In addition to predictions for this fiscal year, some people are looking even further ahead, as some hardware supplies may not be resolved in this year alone.

“I believe the Wii will continue strong growth although supply continues to be a problem,” Pidgeon said. “I’d like to see Wii hardware shipping in larger quantities or mass market consumers may cool on it. Having said that, I don’t believe supply will meet demand for the Wii until 2009. Xbox 360 and PS3 need system-selling games ASAP. Halo 3 will help, as will Lair and Heavenly Sword, but that leaves a hole in Q2 which will be filled by Wii, DS and PSP hardware and software.”

Hm. I’ll have my first real job (post-school) before many people who want a Wii will be able to get one.

Home Media Magazine

Gamasutra has a Guitar Hero II article up, in which they briefly mention the Wii’s scarcity at the end. An update to the article contains a little bit more information regarding findings in the wild. I liked the following quote; it seemed to sum up the demand for the Wii quite humorously.

“We were told by 5 GameStops that they expected to receive orders this week,” said Kreher, adding that the stock problems couldn’t be narrowed specifically to either high demand or short supply. “Most of the outlets we talked to explained that they go extremely fast once they are received — people even follow the delivery trucks to the stores.”

Hit the link below for the full article.

Gamasutra

…That’s the first thing that came to Kotaku’s mind, however. It seems shortly after the first gym battle in Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl, you’ll find yourself in this conversation:

Kotaku

I think the lack of sleep’s starting to catch up on me. I literally just spaced out for half an hour sitting in front of my computer and blasting the new Avril Lavigne CD. I don’t think I’ve done anything in that time really. Wow.

Here we have a handful of new, direct feed screens from Sega of the new NiGHTS: Journey into Dreams game. I’ve heard people commenting that the screens look like they’re showing a Dreamcast game. I don’t know. I’m sort of impressed, but I guess that’s more so because of the vibrant nature of the NiGHTS serious, not necessarily the gazillions of polygons.

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A few more after the break.

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Want to play all your old Super Nintendo games on the Wii? Well, unless you’ve got a hefty amount of cash to burn and until Nintendo releases all of their previously published games onto the Virtual Console, this is the next best thing. A blogger by the name Kotomi has modified a Super Nintendo to resemble the Wii, right on down to the color, the vertical orientation, and the blue light. The blue light!!

Blog Link
via JoyStiq

Welcome to Pixelton is apparently a brand new web comic full of colorful representations of new twists on the classic games (and their boxes) that we all know and love. As of right now, the newest ones show interesting interpretations of the Zelda and Mario box arts, but browsing through some of the rest I’m seeing some Super Mario Bros, some Dig Dug, and more. I love the vibrant colors, and hopefully Welcome to Pixelton finds its niche.

Welcome to Pixelton!

Where’s Darien, Illinois? Why have I not heard of this place? Anyway, Kari here seems to have stumbled upon an interesting finding, one that should make Nintendo fans everywhere proud.

NibCrom Central

Business 2.0’s John Gaudiosi’s recent article explains how Nintendo went from zero to hero, just like that. Excerpt and link below.

Nintendo’s turnaround began five years ago, when the company’s top strategists, including CEO Satoru Iwata and legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, zeroed in on two troubling trends: As young consumers started careers and families, they gradually cut back on game time. And as consoles became more powerful, making games for them got more expensive.

CNN