US Holiday Wii Sales Top 3 Million
Posted by Jon Wahlgren
Nintendo systems no slouches in Europe either
Official NPD numbers for December aren't revealed until January 14, but that hasn't stopped Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata from tooting the company's money-making horn.
According to Iwata, Nintendo managed to sell over 3 million Wii's last month in the US, beating last year's 2.15 million and toppling the previous home console record held by the PlayStation 2 at 2.7 million units during December 2002. The DS managed to move around 3 million units in December 2008 in the US.
No doubt this came about through the perfect storm of holiday shoppers, ample supply and a reduced price. It's likely that New Super Mario Bros. Wii had something to do with it too, which Nintendo says is approaching 4 million units sold.
Nintendo is also touting additional impressive sales records across the pond. The Wii's European sprint to 20 million sold units is the quickest reached by any console in the region, and the DS family's over 40 million units sold makes it the best-selling gaming system in the region ever.
Where oh where will they put all those piles of money?
[via wired.com]
#1
nintendogamerftw said:
I loled at the picture of the money rolled up on a toilet paper holder
.
#2
Chunky_Droid said:
The piles of money are appearing sporadically at my house
And no you can't have any!
#3
said:
And yet is doooooooooooomed!!!
Way to go Nintendo!
#4
pixelman said:
Couldn't they put a measly few million dollars toward a new Star Fox game? Please?
#5
Hipster-Dashie said:
If I send Nintendo my PayPal address, perhaps they'll use my account as "storage"
#6
JebbyDeringer said:
3 million, 1 month, in the US alone...holy &%#$. I bought one. Maybe with all that money they can take some calculated risks, buy some development companies or hire more so lack of quality 3rd party support won't matter so much. One thing that makes me really happy is the New Super Mario Bros. selling so well. This can only mean they will try and repeat the success with more games like this. I'd love to see some more stuff taken from SMB2 in a sequel and perhaps pay someone to animate the Princess for use as a playable character. I like how every Super Mario Game takes on new ideas but there are some great ones that have never been reused. Hmm Imagine what they could do if the art style was like Super Mario World 2? The possibilities are endless.
#7
MetalMario said:
O_O
I want some toilet paper.
#8
Gavin_Rozee said:
Looks like Nintendo need to get on with another storage solution. For the cash, and one for the DSi too, actually.
#9
astarisborn94 said:
This juggernaut of a console never seems to slow down. Of course I'm talking about the Nintendo Wii. Hopefully, with that fantastic holiday, Nintendo will finally take the monetary risk to put licensed games on the Virtual Console.
#10
Odnetnin said:
Nintendo should eat of their money.
#11
Sylverstone said:
That pic is funny.
I hope to see that at NOA when I try for a nice lil' job there in the future!
#12
Rawk_Hawk said:
Give us more VC games
#13
Hoffkage said:
Its that a surprise after three years of pure owning in the market??
#14
JTC-Pingas said:
I know where they can put that money. A new F-Zero and Starfox on the Wii.
#15
XCWarrior said:
If only Nintendo could get people to buy third party games. Check out Gonintendo.com to see Capcom's complaining that sales are down on the Wii. People need to buy more than just the console...
#16
Peacock said:
I'll never go to the bathroom ever again
#17
super-nintendo said:
I bought one in Dec. 2009 USA.
#18
Kknight said:
@15 - I think the whole "people only buy the console with Wii Sports and no other games" is a fallacy. I don't have a link at the moment, but every time I've seen attach rate numbers, the Wii has been higher than PS3 or XB360.