Insane January sales for Wii (NPD)
I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but Nintendo once again dominated the US sales charts. For the month of January, Nintendo sold 679,000 Wiis and 511,000 DSes. Compare it to the opposition and it seems even more ridiculous. The next biggest seller was the Xbox 360 on 309,000, with the PS3 following on 203,000 with PSP and PS2 further back on 172,000 and 101,000 units respectively.
Comparisons with last year’s sales are even more striking - Wii was up 405,000 year-on-year (almost a 150% increase), with DS up 259,000 (just over 100%). The only other console to post improved figures on last January’s totals was the 360 (up 79,000). The rest all had noticeable losses.
On the software front, Wii Fit’s UK success was mirrored in the US, with Americans buying it in their droves, presumably to wobble off those excess Christmas and Thanksgiving pounds. At 777,000 sales, itsold more copies than the second and third place games put together, coincidentally two more Wii titles in Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii. Guitar Hero World Tour at 7, New Super Mario Bros at 8 and Mario Kart DS at 9 were the other Nintendo console representatives.
As for industry growth, figures were up $150 million from last year, of which $300 million was down to Nintendo’s own growth. Maths gone seriously wrong? Not at all - the big N’s improvements offset losses on rival platforms. Amazing.
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February 13th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Ninendo Wii does it again, sales will not let up for a while I think. And with the Wii Fit gaining popularity, it will keep on snowballing.
February 14th, 2009 at 3:31 am
When looking at the video game industry, it’s hard to believe we’re in a recession. Looks like the video game industry really is recession-proof!
(And rightly so, it tends to offer the best longevity for your money)
February 14th, 2009 at 10:16 am
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, (see GRCade), Iwata must be seriously wondering why wii is such a phenomenal success in USA, slightly less so in Euroland, but, by comparison, now doing poorly in its supposed homeland. I bet its driving him nuts.