It’s time to put on your sexy Marilyn Monroe costume and prep those vocal cords, because on this day in 2006, the eagerly-anticipated Nintendo Wii first hit store shelves. (Incidentally, it hadn’t been seen there again until earlier this month.) 

The Wii has been responsible for bringing gaming more into the mainstream than ever before, and will certainly go down in history as one of the most important video game consoles ever made. Much like its great, great grandfather, the NES.

So happy birthday to you, Wii. It’s been an amazing first two years. There’s little doubt that you’ve changed gaming forever, and I’m looking foward to seeing what’s next.

There are another 48 games coming to the Wii and DS combined this week in North America, including some heavy hitters we’ve been looking forward to for quite some time. Wii owners might want to consider Castlevania: Judgment, Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party, Ultimate Band, Cooking Mama World Kitchen, Tomb Raider Underworld, Skate It, Animal Crossing: City Folk, Shaun White Snowboarding: Roadtrip, or Sonic Unleashed as possibilities.

One the DS side, you’ve got a lot of DS counterparts to some of the games listed above, on top of Tony Hawk’s Motion/Hue Pixel Painter, Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades, and a pair of Imagine games that I’m sure some young relative of yours would love as a Christmas present.

…and that’s just North America. Check after the break for more!

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Ever see those amateur musicians playing on street corners, inside malls, looking to entertain crowds, maybe make some cash, and just wanting to make some music? Yeah, well, they’re not even using real instruments anymore.

This weekend and the following weekend, trios of performers will set up at various locations in major U.S. cities, demonstrating Wii Music and jamming for the crowds. You may have even caught some of these groups this past weekend, cranking out some tunes on their Wii Trumpet, their Wii Saxes, Wii Vibes, Bass, and Drums. If you spot them again, be sure to stop and enjoy the performance.

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Two new WiiWare games are available to North Americans today, including the latest episode of Strong Bad. It’s the fourth one so far… How are your refrigerators holding up?

• Strong Bad Episode 4: Dangeresque 3 (Telltale Games, 1000 Wii Points)
• Target Toss Pro: Bags (Incredible Technologies, 700 Wii Points)
  

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Following the October report from the NPD Group, Nintendo sent out their routine press release before returning to business as usual. Anything worth freaking out about? Not really. Anything worth mentioning? Plenty!

The Wii’s 800,000+ in the US last month brought Wii totals in the country to 13.35 million units sold, while the nearly half a million DS Lite and Nintendo DS units sold lifted the platform to over 23 million units sold in the States. Wii Fit, which also sold almost half a million last month, saw its total climb to 2.83 million copies sold. More after the break!

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Animal crossing? Living in a city? Sounds like Frogger.

Instead, Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: City Folk hits store shelves this week, starting with the launch event at New York’s Gallery Bar, shown above. Those who love themselves some Animal Crossing can pick the game up at the usual price, or get the WiiSpeak Bundle for $69.99.

You can read the full press release after the break, but I have a feeling that if you’re going to be picking the game up this week, you’ve already set aside some funds in your budget.

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After seeing someone attempt to play a life-sized, tracking-controlled Space Invaders game on the stage of the Chicago Theater this weekend, you just can’t help but wish retro games stay the way they are. Luckily, one of this week’s VC updates is Space Invaders: The Original Game for the Super Nintendo, which includes all the old arcade versions of the game in addition to modes enhanced… to 16-bit standards!

• Space Invaders (SNES, 800 Wii Points)
• Forgotten Worlds (Genesis, 800 Wii Points)
  

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On track to make in excess of $22 billion this year alone, the video game industry topped $1.3 billion during the month of October. A surge in Wii sales (over 800k) led the way, to which we can only say “Wiiiiiiii!”

On the software side, Wii Fit led the way for games on Nintendo platforms (second overall to Fable II), while Wii Music landed outside of the top ten with only 81,000 copies sold between its October 20th release and the end of the month. Full details past the break.

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I’m a fan of good cosplay. Amateurish costumes don’t cut it for me, you’ve got to go all out. Follow in the footsteps of Jenni Källberg, Andrea Zampella, and whomever this Midna cosplayer is. Adding himself to that list is Ike Lawliet, packing his very own beam katana. Effort.

Posing as none other than No More Heroes‘ Travis Touchdown, Ike was able to make his own beam katana that spins and extends just like it does in a game. Oh, and it also uses a 5MW laser to project the light. Awesome enough? Unfortunately, the beam katana is now out of commission.

After I added the aesthetics, I accidentally got spraypaint on some wires, and my laser also burnt out, so it woks for only a few seconds while I’m cosplaying…

Yikes. You can check out a grainy video and pic of the katana before those aesthetics were added. Enjoy!

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Sorry for the late update this week, the three of us have become increasingly busy as the semester begins the final stretch into… well… finals. The board remains pretty solid this week, which is great after the loses of the previous.

Of course there is still a giant delicious curve ball (or Butterball perhaps) to come. A twist in the plot with more gravy, cranberries, and tryptophan than any mortal man could possibly resist. You guessed it, I’m talking about having a new President.