Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan who is no doubt paid an enormous sum of money to get just about everything wrong, is actually copping to a few mistakes in his predictions for 2009.

Mr. Pachter predicted a 7% rise in sales during November.

Reality: 8% decline.

“…It should have been evident that a slowdown was coming, but many observers (including us) were lulled into the belief that the video game software business was recession-proof. Compounding our error was the belief that Wii sales would never slow, and that the music genre could continue to grow.”

“Wii hardware unit sales are down a staggering 28% through November. Even though combined PS3 and Xbox 360 sales are actually UP 5% this year, in absolute terms, the three consoles have sold almost 14% fewer units than in the prior year.”

Source

Nintendo is apparently feeling the heat of both Sony and Microsoft preparing to release their own motion-controller technology, chipping away at the only feature that makes the Wii unique (that and a butt-load of crappy 3rd-party games).  Shigeru Miyamoto was asked if the Nintendo was on the brink of losing its uniqueness in the face of competition.

His response:

“Well, I should say that it could be taken as a compliment if others are following suit, by saying Nintendo was right in choosing a certain direction. But if you ask me if that is going to be good for the entire business, I really don’t know.”

“If everyone else is going to do exactly the same thing, unfortunately in this entertainment business that means less uniqueness, and uniqueness is what Nintendo has tried to realize.”

“We don’t look to the future in one direction only,” he said. “When you say that one element of our uniqueness might have been lost, you don’t really have to be concerned about that, because Nintendo always tries to find something new. I hope you are looking forward to our challenge to discover this new uniqueness!”

Source:

I personally don’t think Lego Rock Band is a good direction for the brand, but hey, what do I know? It just seems unnecessary, something that could have easily been done with DLC, but I suppose I’m just not much of a money-grubber. Anyways, for those of you who buy into this kind of thing, you’ll be pleased to know that the full track-listing for Lego Rock Band is finally known. On the upside, all Lego Rock Band can be imported into the original Rock Band 1 & 2 for 800 MS points.

Rock Band Products:

Lego Rock Band (Xbox 360)

Lego Rock Band (Wii)

Lego Rock Band (PS3)

The Beatles: Rock Band – Software Only (Xbox 360)

Lego Rock Band includes the following songs:

All American Rejects — “Swing, Swing”
The Automatic — “Monster”
Blink-182 — “Aliens Exist”
Blur — “Song 2″
Bon Jovi — “You Give Love a Bad Name”
Boys like Girls — “Thunder”
Bryan Adams — “Summer of 69″
Carl Douglas — “Kung Fu Fighting”
The Coral — “Dreaming of You”
Counting Crows — “Accidentally in Love”
David Bowie — “Let’s Dance”
Elton John — “Crocodile Rock”
Europe — “The Final Countdown”
Everlife — “Real Wild Child”
Foo Fighters — “Breakout”
Good Charlotte — “Girls & Boys”
The Hives — “Tick Tick Boom!”
Iggy Pop — “The Passenger”
Incubus — “Dig”
Jackson 5 — “I Want You Back”
Jimi Hendrix — “Fire”
Kaiser Chiefs — “Ruby”
Katrina & The Waves — “Walking on Sunshine”
The Kooks — “Naïve”
KoRn — “Word Up!”
KT Tunstall — “Suddenly I See”
Lostprophets — “Rooftops”
P!NK — “So What”
The Police — “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”
The Primitives — “Crash”
Queen — “We Are The Champions”
Queen — “We Will Rock You”
Rascal Flatts — “Life is a Highway”
Ray Parker Jr. — “Ghostbusters”
Razorlight — “Stumble and Fall”
Spin Doctors — “Two Princes”
Spinal Tap — “Short & Sweet”
Steve Harly — “Make Me Smile”
Sum 41 — “In Too Deep”
Supergrass — “Grace”
Tom Petty — “Free Fallin”
T-Rex — “Ride a White Swan”
Vampire Weekend — “A-Punk”
We the Kings — “Check Yes Juliet”
The Zutons — “Valerie”

DS:

All American Rejects — “Swing, Swing”
The Automatic — “Monster”
Blur — “Song 2″
Carl Douglas — “Kung Fu Fighting”
Counting Crows — “Accidentally in Love”
David Bowie — “Let’s Dance”
Europe — “The Final Countdown”
Good Charlotte — “Girls & Boys”
Iggy Pop — “The Passenger”
Jackson 5 — “I Want You Back”
Kaiser Chiefs — “Ruby”
Katrina & the Waves — “Walking on Sunshine”
KT Tunstall — “Suddenly I See”
P!NK — “So What”
The Primitives — “Crash”
Queen — “We Are The Champions”
Queen — “We Will Rock You”
Rascal Flatts — “Life is a Highway”
Ray Parker Jr. — “Ghostbusters”
Spin Doctors — “Two Princes”
Sum 41 — “In Too Deep”
Supergrass — “Grace”
Tom Petty — “Free Fallin’”
Vampire Weekend — “A-Punk”
We the Kings — “Check Yes Juliet”

Undercover cops raiding a home in the never-ending quest for drugs took some time out of their stressful day to unwind with Wii Bowling, as evidenced by surveillance footage captured from inside the home.

From Tampa Bay Online:

A Polk County sheriff’s detective cataloging evidence repeatedly put down her work and picked up a Wii remote to bowl. When she hit two strikes in a row, she raised her arms above her head, jumping and kicking.

While a female detective lifted a nearby couch looking for evidence, another sheriff’s detective focused on pin action.

But detectives with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Auburndale, Lakeland and Winter Haven police departments did not know that a wireless security camera connected to a computer inside Difalco’s home was recording their activity.

The recording obtained by News Channel 8 showed several members of the county’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force entering the house shortly after 8 a.m. According to the search warrant, their mission was to search for drugs, stolen property and the fruits of any illegal drug activity.

Video Footage is Here.