Angels proclaim Love and War

Nothing says I love you like a chainsaw to the throat and Gamingangels.com is looking to recognize that with an upcoming couples multiplayer Gears of War tournament.

In best out of five melees, couples consisting of one male and one female (17+ due to the game's mature ESRB rating) will compete for prizes awarded to the top three places. The contest is limited to 16 teams with the entry deadline of Feb. 2. The actual tournament will be held on Feb. 17 at noon.

Nintendo confident in figures

With the staggering success of the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS, Nintendo has a bunch of numbers to throw around for what is projected to be its best financial performance in company history.

More than 1.6 million Nintendo DSs made their way into U.S. homes in December alone and more than 1.5 extra Wii Remotes have been purchased along with every console available at retail, according to NPD statistics.

With nearly two million DS systems moved during the holiday month, Nintendo chalked up more than 5.3 million units sold for the entire year. Assisting the hot sales were the NPD chart-toppers New Super Mario Bros. and Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day, which both finished in the NPD's top-10 sellers for 2006.

Through November and December, Nintendo accounted for more than half of all video game hardware sold in America according to the statistics. With its financial year ending March 31, Nintendo has already increased its project worldwide earnings.

Wii want classic games

Nintendo's virtual console isn't slowing down any time soon - in fact, it's just starting to roll with a new lineup of first quarter releases.

A recent release indicates a total of 36 games are currently slated to be released for download this quarter. Twenty of the titles will be from Nintendo systems, nine Sega Genesis titles will be available and NEC will be offering seven Turbo-Grafix games.

Among the titles mentioned by name, Nintendo will be serving up Mario Kart 64, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Mario World and Contra. Sega has confirmed Streets of Rage, Bio-Hazard Battle, Bonanza Bros., Comix Zone and Gain Ground. Double Dungeons and New Adventure Island are the only named titles for the TG-16.

Acclaim strikes advertising deal

Acclaim recently inked a deal with IGA Worldwide, Inc., to provide in-game advertising in a number of upcoming massively multiplayer online titles.

Acclaim has made strides to stress its games are free to play, thanks to in-game advertising and in-game item purchasing, and with the agreement, IGA will allow the games to generate advertising revenue. The current deal covers the fully-released title B.O.T.S. and will also branch into 9 Dragons (currently in open beta), 2Moons and Dance! (two titles developed by David Perry now in closed beta testing), as well as two currently unannounced Acclaim projects.

IGA Worldwide also partners with a number of other well-known publishers including Electronic Arts, Atari and Codemasters for in-game advertising.