Nintendo, MIcrosoft make a killing over the holidays…with guns!

Home Features Nintendo, MIcrosoft make a killing over the holidays…with guns!

Ricky Di Williams

Published: January 8, 2006

To those of you who’ve spent the past few weeks “pwning n00bs,” welcome back.  I, for one, managed to rack up a good few hundred points on my gamerscore.and I hope the same goes for all you out there as well.

With that said, was anyone shocked that the Xbox took top slot this Christmas?  Sony sure was.

Yep, PS3 fans worldwide got a shocking taste of console envy last month when Sony raked in a disappointing 700,000 units sold to Microsoft’s and Nintendo’s one million+ units each.

The Xbox 360 met its estimated holiday sales quota, and the Wii well exceeded its expectations.

As for the fabled “Nintendo Killer,” that is, the PS3, well…let’s just say there’s been a recent “unexpected” opening in the Sony Computer Entertainmnent PR and advertising departments.

Not to worry, my fellow gamers, what Sony’s lacked these past months has been more than made up for by the industry top-dogs, Microsoft and Nintendo.

The Nintendo Wii, a.k.a. “best thing to happen to the video gaming industry since ‘Goldeneye,'” came in a close second.  Yet, any look at the various Interweb gaming forums will show you that the Wii is most definitely at the top of every gamer’s mind.

Now that the holidays are over, however, gamers everywhere are sure to line the sidewalks outside of Targets and Wal-Marts everywhere trading in their ghastly holiday sweaters and unsightly holiday gift cards for a copy of “Raving Rabbids” or “Call of Duty 2″.

Ah.”Rayman: Raving Rabbids” is quite possibly the coolest game I’ve played all year.  I know what you’re thinking, “all year? It’s only the eighth!” but I do get around.

Rayman’s newest adventure pits him against a horde of angry bunnies bent on nothing short of total destruction.  Rayman is armed with, as expected from a game whose main character has ghost limbs, a plunger launching gun.

The plunger gun works great, that is, if you can hold your laughter at the random monosyllabic squeals emitted from your furry foes.

I do believe the “Raving Rabbids” bunnies are my favorite villains ever.  For those who haven’t had the privilege of playing this most miraculous of games, imagine your ADD infected 3-year-old cousin on about half-a-gallon of coffee.now shoot a few plungers at ’em.fun, right?

While the single-player mode on the latest “Rayman” title is nothing more than a race to secure all the mini games you can, the multiplayer function makes this the Wii’s first great party game.  Besides, who wants to flail his arms around wildly in his living room by himself?

Ubisoft worked hard to revive the, until now, not-so-spectacular “Rayman” franchise.  I must say, they had their work cut out for them, but they most certainly succeeded.

As for “Call of Duty 2?”  What can I say?  You get to shoot things.with guns!  And what more could you possibly ask for?