With the holiday season approaching, the videogame industry’s players are setting everything up for what is considered the most profitable period of the year. Aside from making sure that the stocks are sufficient and will cover any demand, the companies are also planning new releases.

Nintendo, the market’s current number one, announced two limited edition Nintendo DS bundles scheduled for release later today, one called Mario Red Nintendo DS featuring the "New Super Mario Bros." game and an Ice Blue Nintendo DS offered with a matching carrying case and a copy of "Brain Age."

The company has focused its efforts on Japan, as the market here is extremely open and such devices are received with great enthusiasm. Nintendo’s officials recently stated that the initial plan to get a DS portable in each house has changed into getting every person in Japan to own one. Looking to attract even more people, Nintendo released its DSi in Japan, which represents the company’s next generation portable. The new device adds two cameras, a SD card slot, an online game store, advanced music capabilities, larger screens and a slimmer body to the dual-screen handheld player, making it far better than its predecessor.

The company did not forget about the other markets, as it plans to release its new products in the United States and Europe in early 2009. So far, the DS console has sold more than 24 million units only in Japan, and the trend shows no sign of stopping.

Sony Corp. also released a new portable game, the PSP 3000, which provides a high-resolution screen and a built-in microphone which allows users call their friends between games and movies. Since the debut of the original PlayStation Portable in December 2004 in Japan, the company managed to sell over 40 million PSPs worldwide.

Nintendo's Wii consoles, with their innovative motion-sensing controller and simpler games, appealed to a wider public, as the releases focused on the casual gamers rather than on the core gamers targeted by the competition. The company decided to make the video games an accessible experience for the entire family, with attractive, fun and comprehendible games.

Since its launch on December 2, 2006, the Wii managed to win the hearts of many gamers and not only, recording sales of over 7 million units. It was the last to enter the market, with Sony’s PlayStation 3 released one month before and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 available since 2005.

"We always have had PlayStations aboard our ships but we've upgraded recently to Wiis and integrated them throughout our ships for kids, teenagers and adults to play," explained Jim Urry, vice president of entertainment for Disney Cruise Line, as quoted by Reuters.

Enterbrain, a gaming publisher and market data provider, released a report with the most popular games available on the market, with "Animal Crossing" selling 303,204 copies in its first four days since the launch, "Chrono Trigger" for the DS selling 276,049 copies and "Mobile Suit Gundam, Gundam vs Gundam" for the PlayStation Portable, reaching 240,594 copies sold in its first four days out.