Gaming Stories of '07

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2. Wii Shortages Persist a Year After Launch

2007 has definitely been the year of the Wii. The console has performed better than anyone, including Nintendo, had expected. It's hard to fathom though that a whole year after the console launched in the U.S. that shortages can be just as bad if not worse than they were during Holiday 2006. Nintendo raised its monthly production to 1.8 million units and yet the Wii still sells out everywhere. Analysts believe that the inability to meet demand could cost Nintendo $1 billion or more this holiday season. Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime even explained that he's continually pushing Japan to send more Wiis to America, since Americans seem to be buying the console faster than anyone.

That said, although Nintendo deserves a ton of credit for the success of the Wii, they have to take their fair share of blame too. To say that you just didn't foresee this kind of demand becomes a poor excuse after a while. How long will it go on? Obviously over the natural course supply and demand will balance, but Nintendo has become one of the most profitable companies in Japan – pay some more manufacturers and just make it happen.

1. 2007 Game Sales to Shatter All Records

As tempting as it is to say that the Wii is the top story of 2007, the real top story is the collective success of the entire industry this year. U.S. video game sales have been on a torrid pace all year long. Through November, the U.S. game industry is up a whopping 50 percent to $13.12 billion. Considering that December sales can often wind up accounting for as much as 25 to 30 percent of annual sales, the industry will easily break all previous records in 2007, likely coming in around $18 billion or more – we won't know for sure until we get the totals later in January. And the $18 billion estimate doesn't even include all the online subscriptions, casual games, micro-transactions and more.

Consider this: According to the Motion Picture Association (MPA), in 2006 all-media sales (movies, home video/DVDs, and television) in the U.S. totaled $24.3 billion. Video games are rising, and they're rising fast. Games are no longer in the shadow of Hollywood. In some sense, Hollywood and the games industry look at one another as equals – there's lots of collaboration and that's only going to continue. Just look at the Jerry Bruckheimer video game deal with MTV Games. This is only the beginning...

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