Take me out to the ballgame, just don’t forget my Nintendo DS. And no, I won’t be whipping it out to pull off a bunch of modish combos in Chrono Trigger, or to bust six star cop squads in Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (though in theory I still could) because I’ll actually be too engrossed scanning MLB stats and parsing standings and peeping the latest ESPN tickers and ordering a couple ballpark franks with chili-cheese and extra onions, hold the relish.

So say the folks at Nintendo, that is, who plan to update their Nintendo Fan Network‘s wireless sports news service by partnering with ESPN to ante up the content and branding profile.

The original idea was fiendishly clever: Just slap your Nintendo DS in your pocket out the door to a Seattle Mariners game at Safeco Field and for five bucks you could check out the players, order food, watch videos, play games with other fans in the stadium, and track the latest stats on other games — all without leaving your seat.

This year ESPN’s stepping in as an official partner and adding Mariners-related content, general sports news and headlines, fantasy sports bulletins, baseball columns from ESPN’s top name writers, and something called ESPN Zoom Game that involves matching photos. (Baseball card Concentration?)

“Whether you’re watching live video, ordering food from your seat or checking scores, the Nintendo Fan Network enhances the game-day experience for families and baseball enthusiasts alike,” says Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales Marketing.

But here’s one I wasn’t expecting:

Howard Lincoln, CEO of the Seattle Mariners, adds

Our goal is to provide the best possible fan experience at Safeco Field. The Nintendo Fan Network gives users access to features and information that allow them to get the most out of their visit to the ballpark.

Ahem, Howard Lincoln? You know, the former chairman of Nintendo of America? Just shows how much I’m up on the Seattle Mariners…or the careers of former Nintendo honchos.

Where’s Nintendo’s spanking new DSi in all this? Apparently the Nintendo Fan Network’s offering the first 150 folks who raise their hands at each home game a free DSi to rent for the first three months of the season.

Get the where, when, and how at www.NintendoFanNetwork.com, or visit one of the kiosks located near sections 127 and 143 inside Safeco Field.

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If Apple’s always taken an “if you must” stance toward gaming on the iPhone, Microsoft’s attacking from the opposite angle, making gaming front and center on its Windows Phone 7.

At the GDC Europe 2010 games conference in Cologne, Germany today, Microsoft took the tarp off a who’s-who of game studios, all on track to release games for its upcoming powerhouse handheld. Studios like Gameloft (Hero of Sparta), Konami (Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania), Namco Bandai (Tekken, Soul Calibur), PopCap (Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies), and THQ (Company of Heroes, Dawn of War II).

Those five and others will reportedly contribute some 60 games to Windows Phone 7, including Assassin’s Creed, Bejeweled LIVE, Castlevania, Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst, Frogger, Guitar Hero 5, Halo Waypoint, a cutesy slice of new IP weirdly titled ilomilo, Max and the Magic Marker, Rocket Riot, Splinter Cell Conviction, Star Wars: Conviction (and another Star Wars–Battle for Hoth), The Harvest, Tower Bloxx NY, Uno, and Zombie Attack!.

The games will be available through the company’s Xbox LIVE Marketplace, which Microsoft revealed back in February would be part of its Windows Phone 7 series. At that time, Microsoft claimed the Windows Phone 7 Series would deliver “the first and only official Xbox LIVE experience on a phone, including Xbox LIVE games, Spotlight feed and the ability to see a gamer’s avatar, Achievements and gamer profile.”

Demonstrations of the service seem to jibe with those earlier claims. The phone does indeed offer fully realized avatars (they look essentially identical to their Xbox LIVE counterparts) and these can be fully reclothed or accessorized. Achievements, profiles, friend lists (with status), and scoreboards, i.e. leaderboards are all present and accounted for, rendering said information in realtime.

“We believe that no matter where life takes you, the best in gaming and entertainment should follow,” said Microsoft Xbox LIVE VP Marc Whitten in a press release. “Windows Phone 7 takes a different approach to handheld gaming, utilizing Xbox LIVE, Microsoft Game Studios, leading game publishers, and innovative indie developers, to create powerful, shared experiences for everyone.”

New games for the Windows Phone 7 will reportedly appear every week via Xbox LIVE Marketplace, mirroring the way the service already works for Xbox 360 owners. “Try before you buy” demos will be available to let you sample before spending. And while realtime multiplayer isn’t (yet) in the offing, turn-based multiplayer should be available at at launch.

The differences between Microsoft and Apple here are striking. Where Apple opens the door on its products, then passively observes as game studios and/or independent designers flock to the trough, Microsoft’s bringing its own thunder and proactively courting major studios to design to the Windows Phone 7 platform, much as it would its Xbox–or Sony and Nintendo would their respective consoles.

It’s tough to say how well the Windows Phone 7 will work as just a phone or personal information management tool when it ships in October, but when it comes to gaming, Microsoft’s already well ahead of Apple in terms of focusing, laser-like, on the platform’s gaming possibilities. With Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst and Halo: Waypoint in the mix, it’s clear Microsoft’s (wisely) planning to leverage its existing console IPs to at the very least make the phone immediately appealing to anyone with an Xbox 360.

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Forget PC-console multiplayer, how about live phone-console gaming instead?

That’s what’s in the offing for Windows Phone 7, according to a Canadian Microsoft employee who apparently let the company plans slip to tech site rgbfilter at Microsoft’s X10 event in Toronto.

The salient bit starts at 10:27 in the video.

“So, initially we’re turn-by-turn-based,” says the Microsoft rep in response to a question from rgbfilter. (As we noted in an earlier story, turn-by-turn refers to phone-to-phone play.)

“We are working on realtime phone-to-console, likely initially through Wi-Fi, and operator networks are sensitive to that,” continues the rep. “That’s not on day one. Day one will be turn-by-turn as well as companion-type gaming where you play a level on the phone and it may unlock a level or a weapon or some special achievement on the console game.”

“But yeah, absolutely working on phone-to-console realtime. That is something we’re working on and expect to have in the near future.”

So there you have it. It won’t be available when the phone launches in early October, but it’s “absolutely” in the works.

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August 2010 video game sales slumped an unsettling 10 points, a decline led by a softening handheld market and a drop off in demand for Nintendo products. Both Microsoft and Sony managed gains in year-on-year console unit sales, though the Xbox 360 led the PlayStation 3 by over 100,000 units.

“New physical retail sales of hardware, content and accessories saw another decline in August as compared to last year,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier in a press statement, adding that it reflected the lowest sales for August since 2006.

While all categories were down, from hardware to software to accessories, the portable stable’s suffered most. Frazier says portable dollar sales are down 25% year-on-year, compared with console dollar sales, off just 6%.

The year-to-date prognosis isn’t all bad. With PlayStation Move and Xbox 360 Kinect on the horizon, look for video game retail sales to slot between $18.6 and $20 billion for the year, predicts Frazier. Last year, video game sales topped $19.66 billion, down from 2008′s record-setting $21.4 billion.

Fun fact: The Xbox 360 apparently contributed over one-third of total new physical retail sales across all categories, while the PS3 contributed over a quarter of total dollar sales.

August 2010 hardware unit sales, compared to August 2009, July 2010 respectively.

357k – Xbox 360 (+66%, -20%)
343k – Nintendo DS (-38%, -14%)
244k – Wii (-12%, -4%)
226k – PlayStation 3 (+8%, +5%)
80k – PSP (-43%, -5%)

Microsoft top slot for the second consecutive month no doubt owes much to the system’s radical June makeover. Expect the Xbox 360 to hold that spot through September with the hugely anticipated Halo: Reach launching next week. NPD notes that the Xbox 360 install base “is now about triple what it was when Halo 3 was launched so the potential audience for Reach is significantly larger.”

The PS3 continues to realize year-on-year gains, but those seem to be tapering off. An incredible lot’s riding on Move’s launch late next week (Friday), as well as hypothetically Halo-trouncing PS3 exclusives like Gran Turismo 5, though the latter’s not due until November 2.

The Wii, on the other hand, suffered its lowest monthly unit sales since launch. While that bodes ill for Nintendo, NPD sees an uptick coming with games like Wii Party and Disney Guilty Party.

And here’s August 2010 software unit sales.

912k – Madden NFL 11 (Xbox 360)
894k – Madden NFL 11 (PS3)
125k – Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
122k – Mafia II (Xbox 360)
110k – New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo DS)

Slotting 6 through 10, respectively: New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii), Mafia II (PS3), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360), NCAA Football 11 (Xbox 360), Wii Fit Plus (Wii).

There’s not much else to say here that isn’t obvious. Madden NFL 11 dominated, as expected. I suppose it’s worth pointing out that Sony managed near parity in software unit sales of this title, despite the PS3′s notably smaller U.S. install base. NPD adds that Madden NFL 11 sales “were about 6% higher than last year’s in its debut month, but interestingly, all of the gains occurred on the PS3 platform, reflecting the impact of the hardware sales momentum on corresponding software sales.”

Of interest to PC gamers, NPD notes that “with over 300K units sold at retail in August, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty (PC) would be the second best-selling game for the month if we were reporting on total entertainment software sales.”

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