Nintendo might not be able to keep up with demand, but they are still managing to beat their chief opponents in surprisingly easy fashion. As we reported just last week, Microsoft only shipped (not sold) 7.3 million Xbox 360 units in 2007 worldwide. Nintendo is reporting today that they managed to sell (not ship) 6.3 million Wiis in the United States alone. Nintendo DS did even better, selling 8.5 million in the U.S.
More than 4 million Nintendo DS systems were sold in November and December alone. Wii placed second for the full year, and sold more than 2.3 million units 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 and marketing.
Wii Play finished 2007 with 4.1 million units sold. Super Mario Galaxy sold through more than 2.5 million copies since it launched on November 12, 2007 in the U.S. The two games in the Brain Age 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 Pearl and Diamond, Mario Party DS, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games.
Nintendo continues to dominate the handheld 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 Advance. Sales of Nintendo DS systems grew 60 percent over those from 2006. We expect complete NPD numbers for December 2007 in the next few days.
