2006 in review, part 11

The big news was all to do with gaming

31 December 2006 9:00 GMT / By Amber Maitland

As the grey winter set in during November and December, major product launches slowed down considerably, although the release of two next-generation games consoles kept tech writers busy.

The Nintendo Wii was declared a resounding success in Japan, the US, and Europe, as it rolled out on shelves worldwide; it sold out on Amazon.co.uk in just 7 minutes.

However, issues about the Remote have caused Nintendo some grief; the company has had to agree to exchange faulty wrist straps for free, and issued a warning before Christmas that fairy lights could interfere with the Remote.

And if that weren't enough, Nintendo is being sued by Interlink Electronics, who claim they own the patents on the pointing element of the Remote.

Sony's PS3 was finally launched in the US and Japan, with most markets receiving far less than they were promised. Just 125,000 units were shipped in the US, considerably fewer than the 400,000 that were promised. And all the consoles sold out at the Japan launch.

The other major launch at the end of the year was, of course, Microsoft's Zune. Critics either loved it or hated it, but final figures on how sales have gone for Microsoft over the Christmas period have yet to be released.