The Kong Off 3

A few years ago G4 (RIP) created a documentary on one mans pursuit to glory as a world record holder for the highest score in Donkey Kong. That movie started a renewed interest in arcade games. As a result our very own local arcade bar, The 1up, in concert with Twin Galaxies is holding The Kong Off 3. And yes, this will be the third year in a row that this has happened. Competitors have played and fought to have the highest scores in preliminary rounds for their chance to play this weekend. In total we will have the top 12 Donkey Kong players along with 10 wild card finalist. And now these arcade athletes will prove their metal against each other over 3 days. The winner will walk away with $4,500 in prize money.

Donkey Kong is not the only game getting any love. There will be an attempt at a 24 hour Tron game by a single player and multiple attempts at a perfect Pac-Man games. That means they play the game to a kill screen getting every fruit and never dying. I think you also need to eat all four ghosts per power pellet, but don't hold me to that one. There will also be world record attempts for several other games such as BurgerTime, Dig Dug, Puzzle Fighter and more.

If you want more information on the visit www.thekongoff.com for this weekends full schedule and how to find The 1up if you have never been there.

Wii™ Totals 35 Million Consoles

So according to the NPD group the Nintendo Wii™ sold more then 454,000 consoles in February.  Why does this matter whatsoever?  This caused Nintendo to cross the 35 million console mark here in the United States on these console sales.  This is kinda impressive since they no longer have the distinction of being the only system with a motion controller gimick and so few good games coming out every year for it.  Heck the press release stated that the two biggest selling games for them was Donkey Kong Country™ Returns and from November 2010 at 554,000 units and New Super Mario Bros™ Wii from November 2009 which just crossed the 8 million unit mark.

Maybe since they are about the launch the 3DS we will see more attention paid to the Wii as they don't have to split their focus as badly.  We can only hope, but most likely The Legend of Zelda™: Skyward Sword will be enough to carry them into the next year.