
In its six years on sale in the United States the DS has sold a whopping 47 million units, making it the nation's biggest-selling console ever, according to Nintendo's latest press release.
Wii had a good year too, topping 7 million units for the third year in a row, the first time a games console has done so, but its once-unassailable lead began to slip away as Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 gained ground with new models and price cuts. Lifetime Wii sales in the United States stand at 34 million since its release four years ago.
DS's 47m sales put it at one console sold per six US citizens, and with big titles like Pokémon Black and White on the way this year it will no doubt continue to sell well.
Hear that, 3DS? That's the sound of a gauntlet being laid down.
Nintendo DS and Wii Set New U.S. Sales Records in 2010
Nintendo DS Becomes All-Time Best-Selling Video Game System; Wii Sells More Than 7 Million for Third Consecutive Year
REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The close of 2010 produced two sales milestones for Nintendo in the United States.
According to Nintendo’s internal sales figures, the Nintendo DS™ family of portable video game systems has sold more than 47 million in the United States since the original model launched in November 2004. That tally makes Nintendo DS the nation’s best-selling video game system of all time.
For the second major milestone of 2010, Nintendo’s internal figures show that the Wii™ home console marked its third consecutive calendar year with U.S. sales of more than 7 million – a feat never before accomplished in the history of video games by a home console. To date, the Wii system has sold more than 34 million in the United States alone.
“When we look back at 2010, we see consumers time and again turning to the value and enjoyment of our products,” said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “When we look ahead to 2011, we see new portable technology and more great Wii games that need to be seen to be believed.”
Nintendo is set to release its new Nintendo 3DS™ hand-held system in the United States in March. The portable system lets players see 3D content – without the need for special glasses. More details about the system will be announced in the future.
Comments 41
Nice! Now just keep the good games coming for those 47 million DS users.
North America is a nation?
Anyways that's amazing! And it's even more if you count up other counties as well.
Thanks Rensch, fixed.
Are handhelds really considered consoles? If so congrats but it'll never replace the NES in my heart
@Kevin: they're handheld game consoles, yes.
Guess some of the "cool kids" secretly bought them
It deserves to have sold well - its THE all time great console all things considered.
You have to take into account the people that got suckered into buying it two or three times but I'm sure the number is still pretty high.
DS has 4 "revisions" (DS,Lite,i,iXL) and many of as have more than one (I have all of them).
PS2 one the other has 2 revisions (PS2,Slim) and very few have 2 in the house. PS2 has sold 148million worldwide, 42 in USA, don't know how much has sold in the whole NA.
If DS had a smaller number of revisions it would have sold much less.
DS is a great console certainly is not the greatest console ever.
GameGear is still better!
Well I did ha 2 DSlites(My dad lost one), my XL would be my 4th. DSi was actually quite different, it didn't feel so restricted. I could of kept my original, I do miss the games. Nintendo did rip some people off at some point and some of the games my sister wanted to try, I could of just used the money for a better came. I would of liked to get a refund back for the games I lost when I traded for the XL. I like my XL its just Nintendo could of thought things out more before its release and not waiting til' 3DS.
@zionich I remember the other fan-boys ridiculing me for "getting the puny console with the stick thing instead of a proper controller" around the Wii's launch, and I've never looked back!
And this is "new" news?
This is Nintendo's gloating side.
I love it
I did my part. I have two DS Lites and a DSi, and am responsible for 3 other people purchasing DS Lites. You're welcome Nintendo!
Nintendo roxxorz my heart.
I've bought three myself!
cool but the greatest selling console in video game history is Ps2. This system sold 147.2 million phenomenal
I own three (3) DSes. Sorry I probably single-handedly ruined that statistic.
Oh hey, I guess I'm not the only weirdo with at least three DSesses se sS s. Yay us!
Nice. I had a DS Lite but sold it to get my DSi XL.
Now if they will only give us an SD card firmware update so all those millions of DSi owners can buy more games.
well this is pretty nice. not surprised but still impressive.
I wonder how close the DS is to beating the PS2's total worldwide sales.
@SoulSilver IV according to VGChartz DS is at 144.7 Million world wide.
Go nintendo.
Well, as titans fall....I forget the rest but good job DS! (Even though you had tons of remakes)
Let's see...
Bought myself a DS Phat, then a Lite, then another lite for my gf at the time, then a DSi for me... You're welcome Ninty.
Ew, when I link to this on facebook, it shows the Kinect ad as the image =/
@SoulSilver Already done!
So Worldwide it has even outsold the PS2 now? In yo face Sony!
Eat your heart out Sony
Proud!!!! (TT v TT)b
You go Nintendo!!!
Why you make fun of sony there are a great gaming company to. I mean nintendo is awesome for its classics but i have a Ques. what are some RARE GAMEBOY GAMES i mean GAMEBOY COLOR,GAMEBOY ADVANCE AND SP Please respond I gladly APRECIATE IT
As far as quality titles go, the DS has kicked all ass this generation (including the Wii)
The amount of variety in it's library is just unbelievable, probably a broader spectrum than any gaming device so far.
I only wish there was a home console with that kind of software support these days.
I know the DS and DSlite are basically the same thing and mostly cosmetically different, and the DSi and DSiXL are basically the same thing except for size, but are the "i"s really the same as their predecessors? Devils advocate - does Sony claim "Playstation" sales worldwide for the 1, 2 and 3 combined b/c they are all Playstations? I'ld argue 1 and 2 are basically the same, 3 is kinda out there. Apple has all those iPods - nano, touch, hell I can't remember them all. They named the new one iPad rather than iPodXL but as far as I can tell the iPad is closer to the iPod Touch than the DSiXL is to the DSlite. (I still can't believe their tablet doesn't have the Mac OS). I'm not belittling what Nintendo has done, I just want to know in advance if the 3DS sales will be added into all the other DS and DSi sales b/c they all have DS in their names.
@rjejr the non-ds hardware you mentioned are completely different generations of consoles. Their producers have marketed and collected their various sales stats as such as well. The 3DS is just a fancy DS with a 3D gimmick and gyroscope? Less add THEIR sales too eh.
The PS2 is just a fancy PS with a DVD player add-on as it can play all of the PS games.
The iPad is just a fancy iPod with a bigger screen as it can use all the iPod apps and iTunes.
Who gets to decide what determines a "generation"? Heck, most people criticized the Wii as being 2 Gamecubes duct-taped together and many didn't (and some still don't) even consider it a "next generation" console, yet I don't think I've ever heard anyone combine Gamecube and Wii sales.
I own a Wii, Gamecube, DSi, PS, PS2, PS3 and even a Dreamcast (no MS gaming love though) but I still wonder about lumping DS and DSlite sales (only cosmetically different like the PS/PS2 and their "slim" counterparts) with DSi and DSiXL sales which added 2 cameras among other things which allow them to have games which can't be played on the prior systems (without the "i").
Nice! Well, the DS is a good system, as long as you have the right games for it. Good for it!
@Hyper Knuckles that's probably what they're thinking. lol
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