Apparently analysts’ opinions and research aren’t enough to keep Microsoft down. During an interview Microsoft’s director of product management, Aaron Greenberg, used the topic of appealing to casual gamers as an opportunity to state that the Wii is still just a toy, and that the novelty will wear off eventually.

Everyone says that eventually the novelty will wear off, right? I think that a lot of the people that are buying that console today are not people that have generally bought consoles in the past, right?

You see they’re not buying games on it, right? They’re buying it, it’s like something they break out when people come over, and it’s maybe a fun thing, but it’s almost like the same people that buy a karaoke machine, you know? They’re not really buying it for games, they’re just buying it as a novelty.

One thing he fails to mention is the viral effect that “breaking” the Wii out in company has. Regardless of the tie-in ratio, the Wii is still selling completely out, although it is, admittedly, a lot easier to find one now. Now, one could assume from that statement that Mr.Greenberg doesn’t think that the Wii should be taken too seriously, right? That’s odd, because early in the interview he was actually speculating that the Xbox 360 “complements” the Wii.

I think for us, we don’t really see the Wii as a direct competitor, we actually very much complement the Wii experience. It’s obviously clear that we’re going head-to-head with the PS3 in this generation. I think what Xbox will be able to do as well as the Wii is grow the market.

I’m pretty sure Nintendo doesn’t see Microsoft as competition either. To be fair, Aaron Greenberg doesn’t actively go out of his way to bash the Wii. All the same, when it comes down to it, this is still him, on behalf of Microsoft, try to brush off the fact that the Wii is outselling the Xbox 360, despite being released significantly later.

Last year was touted as the best year for gaming. There was an unusually high amount highly anticipated games such as Halo 3, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Bioshock, just to name a few. The idea was that after Halo 3, the would be a steady flow of triple-A titles that would keep gamers occupied for the rest of the year, and then some. So what happened? The article will examine several reasons why 2007 didn’t quite live up to the hype and why 2008 will take the title as best year ever for gaming.

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The wide-open chasm between the sales of the Wii and the PS3 has lessened a lot if the latest numbers are any indication. While the Wii outsold the PS3 in Japan last month, its lead has faltered, only outselling its rival console by 1.7 to 1, a far cry from the 6 to 1 lead the Wii had in May.

The launch of Metal Gear Solid 4 may have something to do with this however. Nintendo sold over 235,000 units of the Wii, with sales of the PS3 coming in at around 140,000. Always at the distant end of the line, Xbox 360 came in with sales of about 11,000 units. Interestingly, Sony owns the handheld sales, with PSP selling 274,000 units, surpassing Nintendo, who sold 195,000 DS units.

Gamers are usually wary of libraries, what with their policies of maintaining silence and housing lots of boring books (well, there are ‘good’ books in there, too). However, residents of Centerville, Ohio can now borrow PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii games from their two community libraries, completely free of charge.

Initial offerings are a little sparse through: Kung Fu Panda, Madden NFL 08, Iron Man, Guitar, Sonic Heroes and Final Fantasy. The libraries will focus on family games and games for players over the age of 10.

Members will be able to keep a game for up to a week, with one extension available.

Konami has announced that its adventure-based Castlevania franchise will get a fighting game entry exclusively for the Wii. Dubbed Castlevania Judgment, the game is due out this Fall, having several generations of the vampire-slaying Belmont family against their foes in 3D combat.

As expected, it will feature support for motion-sensing controls and online multiplayer. The game will also interface with the upcoming traditional DS entry – Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia – to unlock unspecified bonus content.

Few details on the game were provided, though it was mentioned that players will be able to make use of environmental weapons along with the series’ usual whips and swords; characters will also be able to set traps and make use of monsters.

“We wanted to take this addition to the signature Konami franchise in a direction that really sets it apart from the previous Castlevania titles in the series,” said Konami marketing VP Anthony Crouts. “The Wii Remote and Nunchuk capabilities, along with the iconic characters, make this game the ideal entry point into the fighting game genre.”

Activision today announced that they will allow gamers to choose the package for Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, its upcoming entry in the famed superhero franchise.

Starting today, fans can visit the game’s website and vote for their favorite videogame package options, all featuring the web-slinger as he prepares to take on a devastated New York. This campaign will continue through launch, letting fans vote on various aspects of the game’s marketing campaign as well.

In development at Shaba Games and Treyarch for release this Fall, the game has Spider-Man donning both the red and black suits in a bid to stop crime and fight evil. It also employs a different fighting mechanic that will let gamers swing and fight at the same time.

Those looking to get their Guitar Hero on while anxiously awaiting Guitar Hero: World Tour are in luck as Activision has announced today that they have begun shipping Guitar Hero: Aerosmith to retailers across the US.

Focused around popular Rock ‘N’ Roll band, Aerosmith, the game will let players progress through Aerosmith’s career, playing at historical venues once played by the band.

The game will ship with an Aerosmith inspired guitar controller along with a load of the band’s songs, also including various songs from bands Aerosmith has played with or been inspired by.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is now available for all major consoles, including the PS2.

As you can see the new guitar controller that will be shipping with Rock Band 2 isn’t anything to write home about. It’s just the classic Fender shape, albeit smaller than a real guitar would be of course, but this time instead of basic plastic they went with an equally classic faux wood grain finish (well real wood grain is classic).

Two new additions to Wii’s online Shop Channel marks the beginning of this week. The new games include one Virtual Console title and a single original WiiWare downloadable game.

The WiiWare game is Magnetica Twist, a puzzle game which has players shoot marbles using a Mii to match colors and wipe them out before they reach the end of the track. It is compatible with the Wii Remote controller and features motion-sensitive controls. Designed for play by up to four players, the game costs 1000 Wii points.

This week’s retro title is a big one: Fatal Fury 2 (Neo-Geo). Released back in 1992, the game is the second installment in the long running fighting-game series. It features eight characters, stage-specific hazards, and the ability to perform desperation attacks when a character’s strength is low. All this can be had for 900 Wii points.

Mega Man fans can look forward to Mega Man 9 on WiiWare soon, according to a confirmation from Capcom to Joystiq. The game was unveiled in scans posted by fan site The Mega Man Community, with the scanned article revealing the game to be styled in the classic 8-bit graphical style; music and cinematic cut-scenes will be similarly stylized.

The article then goes on to reveal that the game will feature various bosses including Magma Man, Plug Man and Galaxy Man. It will of course make use of the Wii Remote, employing motion-sensitive controls.

The game is in development at Inti Creates, a studio formed by ex-Capcom employees in 1996. No release date or price point were revealed, though WiiWare titles usually retail for around 1500 Wii points.

Speaking at the Paris GDC, EA producer David McCarthy revealed that the company plans to integrate bundled peripherals into select EA Sports titles. He disclosed that these peripherals would be incorporated in a fashion similar to the immensely popular Rock Band.

“I think you’ll see games using that Rock Band peripheral strategy from EA Sports, even within the next 12 months,” he stated at his lecture.

Though he didn’t specify what sort of peripherals we would see, he did note the risk associated with it. “[You] have to be careful with it, because RockBand, that’s a great peripheral, but it’s a big expensive box.”

Maybe we will get to see something of this sort at next month’s E3. Let’s wait and see.

Available on the Xbox Live Marketplace now is a playable demo for Don King Presents Prizefighter, the new boxing game from 2K Sports and Venom Games. It is a 620MB download, offering players the chance to punch in Joe Calzaghe or Luis Collazo in Madison Square Garden.

The game is currently out for Xbox 360 and Wii; a DS version is due out later this year.

Call of Duty 3 is often considered to be the weakest entry in the respected WWII (until COD4) shooter series, but the developers don’t blame it on themselves – they blame it on the title’s blistering eight month development schedule.

Quelling fears that Call of Duty: World at War, the upcoming fifth installment, may suck, Treyarch senior producer Noah Heller told Videogamer that they are “polishing and pouring love” into the development of the title, and that “it’s the time to actually iterate and get things right, to make things feel right.”

Apparently publisher Activision had arranged a development rotation in which series creator Infinity Ward could work on Call of Duty 4 while Treyarch completed COD3 in a span of just eight months.

“I don’t think [Call of Duty 3] was a filler title,” said creative lead Rich Farrelly. “Because we were so focused on making the best game we can, sometimes we, at least in that case, we tried maybe to put too much in the game for the amount of time we had to develop.”

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Those looking forward to rocking out in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will have 41 songs to do so, as Eurogamer carries full details on the tracklist in the game. The list contains various songs from the band’s back catalog, as well as collaborative and contemporary music such as “Cat Scratch Fever” by Ted Nugent.

The game will be released on PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii on June 29. Hit the jump for the full list of tracks.

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Yesterday saw the addition of three new titles to the Wii’s online Shop Channel, offering one original title and two downloadable Virtual Console classics.

The only original game is Gyrostarr, an action game developed by High Voltage Software. Retailing for 700 Wii points, the game lets up to four players command ships through a series of “twisting, turning technoplasma” tracks while battling aliens. Ships can be enhanced, and there are pickups, high-speed bonus levels and more.

The Virtual Console store sees the addition of Alex Kidd, a platformer from the 1980s for the Sega Master System. Available for 500 Wii points, the game has players looking for their lost brother Egle, fighting the evil boss’s henchmen along the way. It’s no regular fighting, though, as players will have to challenge the bad guys to the classic game of “rock, paper, scissors” to defeat them.

Burning Fight, a side-scrolling hand-to-hand combat game, is the last addition. For 900 Wii points, you can beat up bad guys using “devastating lethal techniques,” if that’s any consolation for you. Players can obviously team up to kick even more ass.

In today’s first bit of surprising news, the Financial Times reports that publishers Activision and MTV Games are currently courting representatives of the Beatles to license the legendary band’s catalog for use in their respective rhythm games. According to the report, both publishers have had discussions with representatives of the band concerning a “Beatles-themed video game.”

It is not currently clear how they plan on using the music – would it be released as downloadable content, or something similar to Guitar Hero Aerosmith?

Whatever it may be, they have a huge hurdle to overcome: Apple Corps and EMI, license holders of the catalog, still haven’t allowed the band’s music to appear on digital distribution platforms such as iTunes and has expressed hesitance for digital formats altogether.

Activision today announced that Call of Duty: World at War, the upcoming fifth installment in the series, will support both online and offline cooperative play. It will be the first time the series will feature co-op play.

The publisher added that the cooperative campaign allows players to gain experience points and unlock perks for use in competitive multiplayer modes, similar to the perks system used in its predecessor.

“With Call of Duty: World at War, we’re re-defining what it means to play a WWII game,” said Treyarch studio lead Mark Lamia. “We’re excited to give players a host of new enemies that employ entirely new tactics, as well as new, groundbreaking tools—like co-op and the flamethrower—to succeed in the epic fight.”

The game will return once again to World War II, focusing on the Pacific theater. It is due for release on PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii this Fall.

Atari, the eternally financially ailing publisher, has set a new low: it has filed suit against German gaming website 4Players for publishing a negative pre-release review of Alone in the Dark, alleging that it was written based on a pirated copy of the game.

According to this 4Players editorial, Atari’s lawsuit claims that the publication date of the review - which gave the game a 68% rating - implies that the site based its opinion on a pirated or preview version of the title. The site insists that it obtained a copy of the game through a retail connection before the title’s June 20 street date.

Meanwhile, Shacknews carries word from Gamer.nl that it was also asked to take down its 5/10 review of the game.

“Within an hour [after posting], Atari called to have the review pulled off, claiming there was an embargo till Friday,” wrote the site to Shacknews. “Our review copy was sent directly to us by Atari and [was] not a pirated copy. They explicitly told [Gamer.nl] that they only let high scoring reviews break the post-release embargo date.”

Neil Gaiman has produced some extraordinary stuff over the years, but none of his work has yet made the jump to the video game platform. That was true until today - the author of the Sandman series will have his best-selling work for children, Coraline, turned into both a movie and a game.

The game will be based on the novella, which focused on a girl who discovers a hidden door in her house that transports her into an alternate universe. It is expected to be a platform game and is being billed as a “surrealistic adventure”.

Coraline is set for release during February 2009 and will be available on the DS and unspecified consoles.

If you thought surveys could not be interesting, you were wrong. Dead wrong, in fact, as a new Experian Consumer Research survey comparing PS3 and Xbox 360 owners has offered up some insightful and frankly quite comedic results.

The survey reveals that Xbox 360 users are more likely to love books that their PS3 counterparts, but that the latter is unable to live without newspapers. According to the survey, those in the 18-24 age bracket love their Wii, while those above 44 are more likely to have a PS3… almost twice in fact!

Meanwhile, both PS3 and Xbox 360 gamers agree that “real men don’t cry.” Xbox 360 gamers are also more “interested in nature,” among other things.