In the first week of the 2007 holiday shopping season, Nintendo of America has sold more Nintendo products than at any other time in its history.

SEGA Corporation and Nintendo Co. Ltd. today made a historical announcement that two of the biggest icons in the entertainment industry, Mario and Sonic, are joining forces to star in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. Developed for the Wii video game system and the Nintendo DS system, this momentous agreement marks the first time these two renowned stars have appeared together in a game.

Wii owners of all ages have discovered the fun of playing with a group of friends in the same room. Now for the first time players can compete with one another near and far with Pokemon Battle Revolution, a game of remarkable firsts:

Nintendo's new Wii has become the best-selling video game system of any kind in January in the United States, and the fastest-selling new- generation home system. According to the independent NPD Group, Wii sold through 435,503 systems to customers in its January reporting period. By comparison, that's 70 percent higher than any other new video game system in its first January of availability during the last 10 years.

Atari, Inc., today announced the development of Godzilla: Unleashed, the ultimate giant fighting monsters game. Godzilla: Unleashed will tear its way onto Wii, Nintendo DS and PSP system in fall 2007.

Nintendo DS continues to achieve milestone after milestone. As the fastest-selling video game system in the world, Nintendo DS now is in the hands of more than 10 million consumers in the Americas. Since launching in November 2004, nearly nine Nintendo DS or DS Lite portable game systems have sold -- EVERY 60 SECONDS.

The date is Dec. 28, 1979. Disgraced New York detective Kyle Hyde checks into the seedy Hotel Dusk in Los Angeles and suddenly finds himself embroiled in a 30-year-old murder mystery. This is the story of Hotel Dusk: Room 215, available exclusively for the portable Nintendo DS on Jan. 24. The dual screens of a player's Nintendo DS display stylized sketch animation evoking a comic-book-like film noir.

There has never been anything like it. Independent U.S. sales figures released by the NPD Group today confirmed a red-hot launch for the new Wii system by Nintendo, and the crowning of the portable Nintendo DS as the best-selling video game device of any type for both the holidays and all of 2006.

2006 was a great year for video games. While years that see new home consoles are successes, this year in particular proved that video games are becoming mainstream faster than you may realize. While a lot of it has to do with the Wii, a system vying for the position of “console anyone can play,” the fact that a huge entertainment company like Sony is showcasing their new format of media on PlayStation 3 says something. Now that officially every mainstream game has been released in 2006, here are the 20 best games of the year:

In a result that will surely send fanboys into a rage, action-RPG The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion beat out favorite Gears of War for Game of the Year at Spike TV Video Game Awards 2006. You can watch the star-studded event on Spike TV this Wednesday, December 13, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. List of nominees below, winners in bold: