Micromania is a huge asset. It is dominating in France for almost a decade and has been existing since the 80s. Radio shows, TV shows, etc. More importantly, all 332 stores are wholly owned (no franchisees), profitable month in month out if taken individually, and ALL located in malls and huge commercial centers. GameStop just bought itself a diamond and became the uncontested French market leader overnight.

... and Super Mario Galaxy... even if that's stating the obvious for whomever has actually played it ;)

Even less than an upgrade... an addition to the line-up. Cause the current Lite model will stay available at current price. So it's more about giving more options to new customers than forcing the old customers to buy the new model... Nintendo is not yet ready for a Nintendo DS successor. Both hardware and software sales stats seem to give it at least 18-24 months before the momentum really declines in a worrying fashion. There are still millions of games that can be sold to the current installed base. No need to rush to the next race for them; they lead this one.

[mis-posted; deleted; sorry]

The analogy between sports and economics doesn't entirely float for the topic at hand I'm afraid. There is no foreseeable final whistle in the case being reported about... So a change of trend is interesting to note, because it may have future impact on how the battle plays out at later stage(s). On short-term as much as on long-term, this piece of information is relatively newsworthy for one working at a publisher, or for developers, or even retailers or stock exchange investors, for examples. In a console war, there is no clear-cut loser until somebody releases a new system and ceases production of the old one, shouting "nextgen" to the world. The latter would be the video game industry equivalent of throwing the towel in boxing or saying "mate" in Judo. You try to stay in the endurance race, hoping for a shift of momentum, or for a mechanical failure at the expense of a competing stable. In the process, you try to make as much profit as you can everywhere you can, to compensate for the R&D investments you made a few years ago. Bottom line being: it's not a medal game; it's a money business. The numbers matter more than the ranking.