Four new games and a 3DS demo were released today in America: two new games for DSiWare, one game for the 3DS eShop and one WiiWare game. Also Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games free demo is now available to download from the Nintendo eShop

Among the notes - Wii was the top selling console in Europe in December, 3DS is trending ahead of the Wii in the US, Europe, and Japan now, 3DS to be profitable soon, and more. 2D Mario for 3DS is com

Wii is in decline, but it had 10 games from Nintendo sell over 1m units over the last 9 months. Three 3DS games did too, as did five DS games.

Wii software and 3DS hardware performed well in Q4 2011 for Nintendo, but 3DS continues to substantially under-perform HW & SW expectations, with Wii & DS hw coming in a bit lower than expected too.

Four new games were released today in Europe: two new games for DSiWare, one game for the 3DS Virtual console and one WiiWare game.

Balloon Kid (Game Boy, Nintendo, £2.70/€3)

Game Description: Take to the skies on a trip through a land filled with danger, with nothing but balloons to keep you afloat. When her brother is swept away on the wind, Alice must save him by floating through eight perilous stages. Navigate your way through enemies and obstacles, collect balloons to earn bonuses, or let go of your balloons to face enemies on the ground.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar's ABCs (Cybird, 800pts) 

Game Description: You’ll enjoy learning to read and mastering the alphabet with the help of the Very Hungry Caterpillar...

Four Nintendo 3DS games were in the top five spots in Media Create's Software sales charts, Mario Kart 7 continued at the first spot, Rhythm Thief on 3DS was the top newcomer for the week with 31,598 units sold at the second spot, in third and fourth spot respectively were Monster Hunter 3G and Super Mario 3D Land. Onechanabra Z Kagura on Xbox 360 sold 22,013 units, placing fifth for the week. Also debuting in the top 10 were Heroes Phantasia and  RPG Beyond the Labyrinth.

Here's the full Media Create top 20 covering January 16 through January 22. Life to date sales are in parentheses.

According to sources speaking with Kotaku, Microsoft will not be using DVD as its disc format for its next generation console, but instead will be using Blu-Ray. That isn't even the biggest surprise if true. Microsoft intends to use some sort of technology to prevent the use of used games. However no other information was given to how Microsoft intends to achieve this.

Another source who is familiar with Microsoft's plan for the next Xbox said that an upgraded version of its popular hands free device, Kinect, will be used. It is expected to "contain an on-board processor, a feature originally intended for the first Kinect. That processor would enable a new Kinect to more effectively detect users' motions."

A Microsoft rep e-mailed Kotaku with this response: "As an innovator we're always thinking about what is next and how we can push the boundaries of technology like we did with Kinect. We believe the key to extending the lifespan of a console is not just about the console hardware, but about the games and entertainment experiences being delivered to consumers...

New to the PlayStation Store: Scarygirl, Duke Nukem Forever, Mortal Kombat, The Darkness II demo and more

NanaOn-Sha is a development studio that doesn't put itself in the spotlight very often. It's a studio best known for creating PaRappa the Rapper, but otherwise hasn't made many noticeable games. So when NanaOn-Sha come along and create Haunt, a Kinect game at the top of the roster, it's easy to be taken by surprise.

So what is Haunt? The setting is familiar and, at first glance, looks like just another haunted house attraction. But the haunted mansion of Benjamin Muldoon is a place of charm and wonder that offers fun for all ages, even if you've seen every haunted house imaginable. This is a game about fun first and foremost, not horror; only younger children will find it scary. The story begins with Benjamin himself trying to enlist your help. After an experiment gone wrong, he's literally stuck in his paintings; he can move between his collection, but never leave it. Naturally, he wants to be set free from his artistic prison, and by gathering four flasks of elixir from around the mansion you can help make that happen...

GameStop will be shutting down three of its stores this week in Northern Ireland. This is part of the companies plan to focus more on selling serving consumers through its website.  GameStop's republic of Ireland stores currently remain unaffected by this change.

Michael Finucane, GameStops Groups' commercial director in the UK and Ireland said, "the recent store closures in Northern Ireland are part of our plan, announced six months ago, to exit the UK market from a brick and mortar perspective. We started this process last year closing our Birmingham, Stockport and Belfast locations."

"The stores in the Republic of Ireland are not affected at this time," Finucane added. Correspondingly, we have experienced tremendous sales growth on our UK ecommerce site www.gamestop.co.uk. Our go forward plan is to serve the UK market with enhanced digital and online offerings."

Sega's new UK studio which was announced June of 2011 has been named "Hardlight." Which was revealed through a job listing for a programmer for the studio. The studio is based out of West Midlands and is the third Sega studio located in the UK. The studio was originally formed from employees that headed up the Sega Racing Studio before it was shutdown.

Hardlight is working on a "unique action adventure developed exclusively for PS Vita." It is due to release late this year.

The job listing also stated that the SEGA R&D and the Solihull studio will be working together to "stay at the cutting edge of developments in technology, middleware and game experiences." They focus will be on "high quality and innovative experiences for both current and future platforms."

According to a source speaking with Inside Mobile Apps, Microsoft is planning to phase out its Microsoft Points system by the end of 2012. Microsoft using its points system as a virtual currency. It is currently being used on Xbox Live, Windows Phone and the Zune marketplace.

Microsoft will simply base all transactions on each region's currency and will use real money for Windows Phone. Customers with Microsoft Points balances will have them converted to their local currency when the switch occurs. The change gets rid of the confusion between the dollar to Microsoft Point conversion as well as eliminating the need for customers to buy more points than is required to purchase something.

Microsoft declined to comment on the report with its usual "we do not comment on rumors or speculation" comment.

Microsoft is planning to speed up the process for game patches on the Xbox Live Arcade release of MineCraft claims Paddy Burns, the chief technology officer at 4J Studios. It would be the first game to feature constant updates. The studio is porting the hit indie PC game to the Xbox Live Arcade which was first announced at E3 2011.

"Microsoft knows that to do a similar thing that's on PC where they constantly update it, that's a very difficult thing to do on Xbox because you have to go through the full tests," Burns told EDGE. "But they are quite keen to move towards that - they do see it as the future, so I think we might be the first to do constant updates."

However, Burns pointed out that Microsoft will still do testing, but the process will be much quicker in the future. "But the whole turnaround of that testing they're hoping to speed up, so we can maybe roll out very two months. We'll have to see how that goes … I'm really looking forward to it being updated with patches and new features after it's released...

Overview

There are no games in the top 30 to be in its final week before launch. The top five games include Mass Effect 3 (X360), Diablo III (PC), Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3), Kinect Star Wars (X360), and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (X360).

The top five games have 200,000 or more pre-orders, up from four last week, and the top 12 has 100,000 or more pre-orders, up from nine last week. Five games add 20,000 or more, up from three last week and eight add 10,000 or more, up from four last week.

Games in final week before launch

There are no games in the top 30 to be in its final week before launch.

Other Hot Games

Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3) is at number three, as it adds 65,000 pre-orders, up from 47,000 last week, for a total of 354,000...

These days, there's not much you can get for £3.29; a CD in Fopp, maybe, a Subway sandwich at a push, or 0.3 seconds with a high-class prostitute (at £35,000 per hour; I do my research). As such, the fact that Sonic CD weighs in at 400 MS points is a selling point in itself, but also a warning. Surely something so cheap must come with some cut-back, something to keep it below the usual 800 points? Thankfully, that is not the case. Sonic CD is a labour of love, an exceptionally fine port of an under-appreciated game, and one that sets new standards in the field of updating classic games.

Originally released on the doomed Sega CD in late 1993, Sonic CD has led a somewhat nomadic life, being ported to the PC, Gamecube and PlayStation 2, among others. Lauded on its original release, it is arguably the last great 'traditional' Sonic game, with only

Tales of Innocence R, Resident Evil: Revelations and Armored Core V are this week's recommendations. Are you getting a new game this week? Get your games from one of the VGChartz Amazon Stores below.

America Canada UK Germany France

Sony needs a quick turnaround in Japan, or they're in for a tough year - see why inside

Overview

Hardware and software sales drop across the board for a third week and are also down year on year. One game debuted in the top 40 this week, Super Robot Wars OG Saga: Masou Kishin II - Revelation of Evil God (PSP), which debuted at number eight with sales of 81,000.

Software milestones this week in the top 40: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (X360) passes the 13 million mark in only 10 weeks; The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PS3) reaches three million; FIFA Soccer 12 (PS3) passes the five million mark; and Kinect Sports (X360) reaches the four million mark.

Hardware sales are down across the board week on week and year on year. The 3DS is the top seller. Hardware milestones this week: The Xbox 360 passes the 64 million mark.

Worldwide Hardware

Week on week sales are down across the board...

Resident Evil 6 is officially coming this November, bringing all the zombies you love plus the series two most popular male leads together for the first time. The game is in development for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (No Wii U at the moment) and is scheduled for release on November 20, 2012 in the home consoles with a Windows PC version to follow.

Here is the First Trailer: