Nintendo DS and Wii Finish as the No. 1 and No. 2 Best-Selling U.S. Systems
Friday, January 18th, 2008 at 9:10am by Press Release
REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ — Nintendo DS(TM) and Wii(TM) finished strong in 2007, commanding sales in the holiday shopping period and finishing the year as the two best-selling video game systems in the United States, according to new data just released by the independent NPD Group.Nintendo DS was the top-selling U.S. system of 2007, with nearly 8.5 million sold, including more than 4 million in November and December alone. Wii placed second, with nearly 6.3 million sold through the year, more than 2.3 million of which sold in the final two months.
“By the end of 2007 we were sold out of virtually all hardware, and much of our stock of software and accessories was sold out as well, thanks to the broad appeal of Wii and Nintendo DS to core gamers, women, families, grandparents - and seemingly everyone in between,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales & marketing. “And that momentum continues here in the early weeks of 2008.”
Some additional facts about Nintendo’s 2007 performance in the United States (note: All figures are from NPD):
– Nintendo accounted for 52 percent of all video game hardware systems sold in 2007 — more than all other manufacturers combined.
– Since their respective launches, Nintendo has sold more than 17.6 million Nintendo DS systems and nearly 7.4 million Wii systems in the United States alone.
– Wii Play(TM), a collection of nine fun mini-games, finished 2007 with 4.1 million units sold.
– Super Mario Galaxy(TM) sold through more than 2.5 million copies since it launched on Nov. 12.
– The two games in the Brain Age(R) series each sold about 1 million copies in 2007.
– Half of the top 30 best-selling games of 2007 were made for Nintendo systems, including Pokemon(R) Pearl, Pokemon(R) Diamond, Mario Party(R) DS, Guitar Hero III(TM): Legends of Rock and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games(TM).
– Nintendo continues to dominate the hand-held market: Of the top 30 best-selling portable games sold in 2007, 25 were made for Nintendo DS and another two were made for Game Boy(R) Advance.
– Sales of Nintendo DS systems grew 60 percent over those from 2006.
– In 2007, the video game industry grew by 43 percent over 2006.
Nintendo is responsible for 60 percent of that growth.
January 18th, 2008 at 11:28 am
What else is new. Now let´s see some more great games
January 18th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
That’s why I can’t find any DS Lites at any GameStop! Mine got busted with the upper screen going off intermitently, and I might send it to Nintendo for repairs, but I was hoping to get a backup so I could continue playing Etrian Odyssey while I waited for its return. No dice! Now my upper screen is useless, so I’ll have to send my DS Lite in anyway, and wait several weeks for its return!
How long does it typically take for a DS Lite to come back from repairs, by the way? Does anyone know?
January 18th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
And developers are worried about games not selling.
January 18th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
All great, but the price of the Nintendo stock doesn’t exactly reflect this. Hope it will soon though
January 18th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
@ Probst
why do you think it doesn’t reflect this?
January 18th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Xbox 360: 45%, Wii 29%, PS3 ca. 18% of the pie:
http://xboxfamily.com/xf/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1230&Itemid=2
Actually Microsoft does pretty well.
January 18th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Not globally Jim. Microsoft is a non factor in Asia.
It is nice to see Nintendo on top both in US and Globally with both the DS and Wii, however, as said earlier, lets see some great games now, especially ones from 3rd party developers!
January 18th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Unfortunately, the release schedule for the first half of 2008 looks very slim. Lots of games, but not many worth playing, especially third party games. As a Nintendo fan, this disappoints me.
January 18th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
“Unfortunately, the release schedule for the first half of 2008 looks very slim. Lots of games, but not many worth playing, especially third party games. As a Nintendo fan, this disappoints me.”
I agree with gausser except for the last sentence - this isn’t a Nintendo problem, but one across all three platforms. After the rush of incredible games last Fall, this Spring looks rather dry in comparison.
(That said, I still feel there are few excellent and more than enough decent games to keep most people entertained - regardless of which gaming console they own. There are more interesting Wii games coming out this Spring than I will have time to play.)
January 18th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Impressive numbers.
1. As great as the Wii’s numbers are in comparison to PS3 and XB360. From a purely business perspective PS2+PS3>Wii, which is a little disturbing to say the least.
2. In the first year of the Wii we have gotten a Zelda, Mario and Metroid. What am i looking forward to in 2008 ? No More Heroes, (getting) Zack&Wiki & Okami.
3. Racing (ala GT4/PGR), survival horror and a fighter are genres i would like to see serious efforts in. I want it all…. beautiful production values, online(if applicable) and great controls. I dont want one of the above out of the three. If it’s so much cheaper to make Wii games. i think the publishers can afford to invest a few extra $$$ into wii titles and make an all-round-good-game, as opposed to throwing wadds of cash towards the 360/PS3 and barely seeing any return-on-investment.
Cheers
January 18th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Jim, let’s not forget that no matter however Microsoft spins the numbers only one thing is true: Nintendo makes a profit on EVERY Wii sold. They’re making about $10-20 per Wii sold which represents profit of, at least, over 60 million for Nintendo. Microsoft STILL doesn’t make a dime of hardware and probably won’t until christmas 2008.
Besides, since the “total revenue generated” (which is a BS term since revenue and profit are NOT the same) is not important in the big picture: total systems sold (for a bigger install base) and actual company profit (you know, NOT being in red numbers) are the important numbers.
January 18th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
For my Wii I just want an Excite Truck sequel with online play on it. Other than that, I’m fine with just playing Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros Brawl and maybe some Endless Ocean for the rest of the year on that platform.
The DS? That’s another issue altogether… THAT’S where the Nintendo hardcore gameplay is right now!
January 18th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
@deepthought
Because it’s dropping pretty much at the moment, I’m sure it’ll turn around but I would loose quite a lot of money on NTDOY if I sold now.
January 18th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
@InvisibleMan
I think it’s called Mario Kart Wii.
January 18th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
@ Probst
I guess my question should have been, ‘why do you think this reflects any new information that is not already baked into the price?’
Nintendo can release record earnings/sales/whatever, but if the market already expected that, price stays the same.