Amazon.com has posted their year-end sales rankings for everything in the video games category (via Gamasutra). Looking at just the top ten, Nintendo positively dominated the year and took home nine of the slots. The video games category includes software, hardware, and optional peripherals. Interestingly, of those nine slots, seven are straight hardware or are [...]

Vendor ultra-giant Amazon.com yesterday entered world of digitally distributed gaming. The new Amazon Store solely features casual games, all of which are being initially offered for $10.

Although Amazon will be leaving thorny issues like DRM to the publishers selling games through the new service, every game will be distributed through a proprietary Amazon downloader. Of course, people are loath to install new software just to buy from Amazon, so the vendor will be sweetening the deal with three free downloads: Jewel Quest, The Scruffs, and Build-a-Lot. These titles are available alongside the remaining 597 casual games in their library.

When Gamasutra asked why the vendor was focusing exclusively on casual games, it was revealed that Amazon plans to use the service to pilot their gaming digital distribution program. If it sees success, we may expect the selection of available games to suit a broader gaming palette.