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Over 600,000 Wiis served

Nintendo recaps its new system's first eight days at retail, says more than 75 percent of Wii owners also picked up Zelda.

While Sony said it would have 400,000 PlayStation 3 systems ready for its North American launch, Nintendo consistently refused to put a comparable figure on its own efforts with the Wii launch. Instead it would say only that it would ship 4 million systems worldwide by the end of the year.

Now that the launch has come and gone, Nintendo has finally tallied up the number of Wiis it has sold. Today the company said that more than 600,000 Wiis were sold in the Americas in the console's first eight days of release.

"We've shipped retailers several times the amount of hardware the other company was able to deliver for its launch around the same time--and we still sold out," Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said in a statement. Leading up to the PS3 launch, one analyst predicted that Sony would fall well short of its shipment goal, suggesting that fewer than 200,000 PS3s would be available on day one.

First-party software and accessory sales brought in more than $190 million on their own. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess in particular rang up strong sales of more than 454,000, or three games for every four consoles. Nintendo said the system's downloadable game service, the Virtual Console, was also a hit, though it gave no figures to describe how big a hit it was.

558 Comments

  • dougkicksass

    Posted Dec 12, 2006 4:35 pm GMT

    Wii>360>PS3
    Wii all the way!

  • Shadow_Tw34k

    Posted Dec 7, 2006 5:37 pm GMT

    current stats from Nexgenwars.com
    Wii: 1,232,234
    PS3: 394,109


    PS3=Owned

    i think these stats are because of Sony's high price, maybe if it were $300 less, they would sell more and the stats would look like this:
    Wii: 1,232,234
    PS3: 1,168,497

  • GriMGraVe

    Posted Dec 5, 2006 10:22 am GMT

    Although I'm buying a Wii this december, I'm sure next year Sony will sell thousands of Ps3's. As you might not remember, Sony always had slow sells at launch, but quickly recovered on the upcoming years.
    And once Devil May Cry 4 is out, I'll get one, that's for sure.

    But may I remind you people that upon the release of the Ps2, everyone kept flaming Sony (as usual) with the usual insults. "Ah the dreamcast is way better than the Ps2! First of all it has ONLINE gaming! 2nd, its CHEAPER and already has loads of titles! And DOA2 looks BETTER on the dreamcast! Sony won't stand for long".

    RIGHT! So we see that the dreamcast is dead, and of the last gen consoles, the only one that still sells and has more titles released each day is the Ps2.

    Seriously people, don't say that Sony is screwed because, sooner or later you will have reasons to get one.

  • noelveiga

    Posted Dec 5, 2006 8:32 am GMT

    Weird Spanish launch for the Wii. Not that most of you will find this interesting, but here it goes.

    First, Nintendo set a figure of 40.000 Wiis for launch overall. Of those, half went to the main game store franchise, Game. That still meant as few as 25 Wiis per store, on average. The thing is, there was no preorder policy on Game stores. They wrote down names and phone numbers of people as early as october, so I found my local shop and all nearby ones had around 60 preorders each, even before Nintendo confirmed their figures.

    Weeks later, I checked on them again. To my surprise, I was told that they had received confirmation for aditional units and a Dec. 22nd re-supply. Since they had destroyed the original preorder listings after they sold out, I was first in line for one of the aditional units. Great. I left a 50€ deposit and went home with a receipt.

    Now, my receipt was supposed to be effective as of Dec 9th, since the 8th is a holiday in Spain, but the store clerk said they might have the Wiis for sale on the 8th, since the shop was going to open.

    Today is Dec 4th. Fnac shops all over the country have started selling Wiis today at 4 pm. Apparently with Nintendo's approval. I rushed to my Game shop and asked about this. Their reply is they didn't know anything about it before today. Some Game shops already had Wiis and were going to start selling them today or tomorrow. Me, I'm supposed to get mine the 7th in the morning, at around 10 am.

    So a bit of a mess for us with the Wii. They still have plenty of systems shipped, and earlier than expected, for a change, but it's already sold out and it's now a matter of giving everybody their already bought consoles. Another interesting point is the Dec 22nd resupply. That means more Wiis for Christmas. In Spain we give gifts to children in january, not december, so parents should be able to buy their gifts even without preorders. At 250€ it's still 50% more expensive than a japanese one, but who needs food when you have Zelda?

  • bignfanboy

    Posted Dec 4, 2006 9:20 pm GMT

    I find it sooooooooooooooo amusing to watch fanboys of all three systems duke it out, especially those that are saying "The controller is just a gimmick", and other things of that nature. Now, yes, I did wait in line for two days for a Wii (which I got!), but that doesn't mean I'm a fanboy, oh no (regardless of my username). I support all three systems wholeheartedly, and want all three, just can't afford to buy all three. But yes, I do tilt slightly in the direction of Nintendo, but I really don't put all three systems down.

    It's quite annoying to see everyone say "The Wii will win, just look at the numbers, etc." In reality, we won't know who'll win for a while, because the numbers will shift as time goes on. People will buy Wiis for various reasons, two of them being more prevalent. Either they'll buy it as a casual system, or a hardcore gamer system, and I, personally, see the Wii as both, a casual system or hardcore system, depending on your viewpoint. And at the same time, people may also get the Wii because of the types of games. And what irritates me the most is the stereotype that Nintendo only makes kiddie games. Yes, many of the games are suited for a broad range of ages, but a game doesn't need to have overly gratuitous sex or violence to be fun. Although there are always violent games that are fun to play, don't get me wrong.

    Long story short, stop dissing on the system.

  • pologamer223

    Posted Dec 4, 2006 3:04 pm GMT

    yes, and this is why the all of us Wii and 360 fans laugh in the face of the "macho man" PS3 hahahahahaha

    360 and Wii>PS3

  • murphy262

    Posted Dec 4, 2006 1:24 pm GMT

    You student think of the wii as a competitor for the 360 or the ps3. It just gaming from a different prospective. Basic fun gaming that gets u involved and could be a good laugh with your mates wile having a few beers. what you should realise is that u can have a 360 for full on hardcore gaming and a wii for fun for nearly the same price as a ps3 which does what the 360 done a year ago only a lot less choice in games . So get a wii and a 360 for the win.

  • kapuranui

    Posted Dec 4, 2006 12:19 pm GMT

    "Probst expects Sony to ship 500,000 to 800,000 PS3s in North America by the end of the year, according to Reuters. That figure is below Sony's projection of 1 million to 1.2 million PS3s in North America in 2006. "

    O rly? ya rly! lololol
    im a huge nintendo fan *cough* can you say game boy?*
    im cool withX360... but ROFL@sony, the previously so called "superior" system is 350$ more than the clearly superior system! haha
    lol@PS3

  • kapuranui

    Posted Dec 4, 2006 12:04 pm GMT

    and thats why nintendo owns sony...
    Wii>PS3

  • Omihalcon

    Posted Dec 4, 2006 6:44 am GMT

    Man... gogo Nintendo, just focus on the games now and she'll be right.

  • johnmschoonover

    Posted Dec 3, 2006 8:53 pm GMT

    RaiKageRyu
    Can you say Wiinner?

    Is that pronounced Weiner...
    Nonetheless, I have a lot of hope for the PS3 and the Wii. I am not a fanboy by any means, but the 360 just does not appeal to me.

  • Inuyasha666__

    Posted Dec 3, 2006 4:36 pm GMT

    who would pay 600 dollars for a system? a lot of ppl, its not that they cant sell them, its that they dont have enough to sell. And the saying "you get what you pay for really fits the bill" aside from all the remakes nintendo is putting out, the wii will always get the short end of the straw from 3rd parties that make games that have the ps3 and xbox 360 in mind. Every port of splinter cell has sucked for the wii, and call of duty wasnt all that great either. And you can defend yourselves by saying grapics arent everything. Thats is a perfectly legit statements, however it becomes a problem when its looks like crap and runs at 15fps. I would have to agree with the analysts saying that at the end of 2008 sony will have contol of about 50%of the market, Microsoft with about 40% and nintendo with 10%. Yeah there starting out strong but i have a feeling that everone is going to get sick of the wii's controller gimmick by the end of 2007. It will die off just like sonys ps2 harddrive and nintendos gba to gc system linking crap.

  • rusty_13

    Posted Dec 2, 2006 5:05 pm GMT

    Ferto_89
    I wish when im on USA the wii is not sold out (like december 15) and the legend of zelda too XD ...i'm in the same situation.. luck for both of us

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Dec 2, 2006 3:04 pm GMT

    Can you say Wiinner?

  • 4Daniel

    Posted Dec 2, 2006 6:52 am GMT

    Same here as melkeman, I'm in the Netherlands, Europe, so I still have to wait six more days... AND I failed to get a reservation :O Does anyone know how fast the Wiis are resupplied? Guess that'll mean lining up at 5 am at the shops... I don't care if I miss my first lessons at school

  • wiidrummer133

    Posted Dec 2, 2006 5:16 am GMT

    The Wii is Owning PS3!!!
    54.3%pick Wii consoles sold 1,116,280 17.5% pick PS3
    consoles sold 351,222

    stats from nexgenwars.com

    let me close by saying what person in their right mind would pay 600 dollars for a console

  • Metaleroz

    Posted Dec 1, 2006 4:31 am GMT

    It´s all business but IT IS a fun business as long as there is competition there will be continuos improvement on behalf of NINTENDO, SONY and MICROSOFT and if you wanna play with their toys ya gotta pay that´s all there is to it.

  • Ferto_89

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 7:03 pm GMT

    I wish when im on USA the wii is not sold out (like december 15) and the legend of zelda too XD

  • AlphonseElric23

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 5:44 pm GMT

    Got that right! Nintendo is beastin'! Sony just can't handle it! XD

  • brandontek

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 2:46 pm GMT

    GO! NINTENDO! Wii is pwning everything in its path.

  • melkeman

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 12:18 pm GMT

    It's nice hearing about the nice number and expectations of the Nintendo Wii sales (IN THE USA) but it irritates me that I have to sit here and wait and wait and wait for my wii to arrive here in Europe....I haven't even tried it, but as a huge nintendo fan and reading alot of good things (some bad things, but f*** them?) about the new Nintendo Wii, I just can't wait anymore soon!

    Only 7 days 2 hours and 41 minutes left...

  • Igiss

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 12:17 pm GMT

    Numbers say it all. By the time PS3 will launch outside NAmerica/Japan, Wii will be everywhere. Besides, price is much more important for non-Western countries. It's not easy to predict that $600 PS3 won't be a huge hit in China, Eastern Europe etc.

  • Darth-Revan45

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 12:05 pm GMT

    Lookin good for the Wii .

  • latinmaster842

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 9:03 am GMT

    well the 360 sold more than 700.000 systems since wii and ps3 came out what you think about that baby

  • KingChainz31684

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 9:52 pm GMT

    "Who cares about how much money nintendo is making off of us. I care about the future of nintendo and the games they will produce, it's not look inovative at all. it looks rather dull. And i am a nintendo fan. Playstation 3 games look so much more provoking than nintendo's line up. You all have to start thinking and forcing nintendo to start making better freaking games. that's what its going to boil down to.. GC on crack that's all this is so far. Its fun.... but it's not enough."

    LOL huge Nintendo fan you are I am sure. I will say that I don't think PS3 or Nintendo did great with there initial line up of games Resistance is a pretty fun shooter for PS3 I haven't gotten to play much of it just for a half hour or so at my friends housebut i am still convinced nothing really stacks up to Half Life/Counter Strike or console wise i am a bigger fan of Timesplitters: Future Perfect. To say Nintendo isn't innovative with there system is a joke. They are the only ones that say hmm lets make something new instead of just bumping up the DVD drive to bluray and pumping out better graphics. From what i played of Zelda it is another great game on top of a series of great games. My favorite madden experience so far is on the Wii it really feels natural and the controls don't feel bogged down like on all the other systems. I mean i don't have a HD TV yet as big as my 60 inch so i mean all the extra graphics from that on the PS3 and X360 especially won't benifit me till i bust out 3k for a TV well after the next drop it should put it to 2k or so. I love the Wii though Red Steel disappointed me a lot.

    Long Live Nintendo-oh and it will live and it will prosper Innovative - being or producing something like nothing done or experienced or created before

    to even compare the system to the gamecube shows you must have not seen or read anything on this system to this point.

  • victor_c26

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 1:04 pm GMT

    They've been talking with developers and getting them to develop for Nintendo consoles again. But it's up to the developers now. All they're [devs] waiting for now are sales. The more people who have the console, the larger the audience, the more confidence developers will have about developing for the Wii.

    So far, it's looking good. Hope it keeps up.

  • victor_c26

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 12:46 pm GMT

    They've been talking with developers and getting them to develop for Nintendo consoles again. But it's up to the developers now. All they're [devs] waiting for now are sales. The more people who have the console, the larger the audience, the more confidence developers will have about developing for the Wii.

    So far, it's looking good. Hope it keeps up.

  • rentuser

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 9:53 am GMT

    Who cares about how much money nintendo is making off of us. I care about the future of nintendo and the games they will produce, it's not look inovative at all. it looks rather dull. And i am a nintendo fan. Playstation 3 games look so much more provoking than nintendo's line up. You all have to start thinking and forcing nintendo to start making better freaking games. that's what its going to boil down to.. GC on crack that's all this is so far. Its fun.... but it's not enough.

  • incredibilistic

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:39 am GMT

    So with nearly a million systems sold inside a few days does this really give MS that much of a headstart with about 3 million (roughly) sold so far since last year?

    Granted the price is a lot lower but the 360 Core package is only $50 bucks more. The big question is whether Nintendo sustain these sales over the long haul. Personally, I think they can and they will and there's almost every chance that the system will be even cheaper by next Christmas but that's only if the 360 drops. But even if MS does drop the price (it'll probably take Sony another 18 months before we see a signifcant price drop (and by signifcant I mean $50 to $100 off or maybe just taking the $500 system off the assembly line and selling the 60GB system for $549, which is what they should've done in the first place).

    I still remember an article from years back (in the now defunct Next Generation magazine) when then CEO (or some high level exec position) Howard Lincoln did nothing but talk about the great sales numbers of N64 games. Of course the system was getting slammed from every which way but Lincoln continued to defend the money they were making over being the top dog in the industry. The Big N basically made up their minds a long time ago that they didn't care about being number 1 in the industry anymore, they just wanted to make money.

    Can't hate them for that. They have the lowest cost system on the market, an old-school lineup that NO ONE can compete with and a controller that's really never been attempted before in the mass market.

    Go Nintendo.

  • edhc44

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:18 am GMT

    Mr_Bodywave says

    "I guess it never occurred to you that those 25-35 year old people JUST might be buying it for...wait for it...wait for it....THEIR KIDS!!!!!

    Right--they liked NES and whatnot as a kid and have kids now and know that Nintendo is more kid friendly, and buy PS2/3/Xbox/360 for themselves. "

    Sounds just like a kid to me... I'm 22 and Jestarius is damn right, I used to play the NES as a kid and I have this sort of "love" for Nintendo for the memories it brings... something that one raised in the GTA era could never understand.

  • Belgium_1830

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:08 am GMT

    W!! will rule !

  • anamnawshad

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 5:44 am GMT

    Great job Nintendo!

  • kaziechameleon

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 5:29 am GMT

    it's nice to see that the best launch game was the most successful, on the ps3 the most successful launch game was gundam, oh, how pianful.

  • Mr_Bodywave

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 5:13 am GMT

    "Jestarius
    I just love all the teenagers that think they are adults shooting off their mouths about how nintendo games are for kids, elementary or otherwise. Having actually worked in retail, gamestores and department, I would say that the majority of elementary school kids are buying ps2s. The old school gamers that were kids/teenagers when the NES came out are the ones buying the Wii. That's the 25-35 year old bracket. Yes, they also buy their 360s for gears and such. But it isn't the little kids buying it.

    Add that to the fact that there are a huge amount of parents/grandparents that have now tried it over thanksgiving, and are desiring it for themselves because they did not know games could be fun....could this be the exact strategy that nintendo was going for in the beginning? You know, like they said?

    Kids like flashes of light, a lot of things to distract them, and blood and gore cause they think it's 'cool'. The more mature part of the population doesn't care about being 'cool', they just want amusement. "

    I guess it never occurred to you that those 25-35 year old people JUST might be buying it for...wait for it...wait for it....THEIR KIDS!!!!!

    Right--they liked NES and whatnot as a kid and have kids now and know that Nintendo is more kid friendly, and buy PS2/3/Xbox/360 for themselves.

  • gagan21

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 1:52 am GMT

    good for nintendo

  • techmo_king1

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 1:27 am GMT

    one word expensive but one word ps360 (thats xbox360 and ps3 fused into one word genuis)

  • techmo_king1

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 1:22 am GMT

    wii games are boring if you live by yourself except for zelda and nope thats it
    cause red steel sux oh yeah what if your arm starts hurting what are you going to say my arm hurts cause i was playing with my wii

  • Jumbo120788

    Posted Nov 28, 2006 11:31 pm GMT

    i bought the wii for zelda

  • Ferto_89

    Posted Nov 28, 2006 11:18 pm GMT

    i dont care how many wiis are out im just thinking on getting mine this december 14

  • sigma8

    Posted Nov 28, 2006 10:12 pm GMT

    Pastree, sounds pretty jerky to me. There are only about 4 games on the XB360 I'm even a little interested in. Not enough to buy the console. Of course, there really weren't any games for the Wii launch that I was interested in, but I was amazo-mesmerized by the new controllers, and the possibilities. So that is what sold me.

    Also, the Wii was a huge hit at Thanksgiving...and from what I've read around the net, many people's thanksgivings.. And I don't mean a hit with me and 2 or 3 other guys in the 20-40 age bracket.. We're talking fun for the whole family...ages 20-60... Everyone loved it.

    Put an Xb360 in your grandma's hands and tell her to play Gears of War. Won't work. Even viva pinata would likely confuse the crap out of her. Hand her a wii remote and tell her to swing it, and you're golden... ...as long as she doesn't break something.

  • ardandil

    Posted Nov 28, 2006 9:19 pm GMT

    "here wii gooo"

    Mario

  • pastree

    Posted Nov 28, 2006 8:51 pm GMT

    Not to be a jerk or anything, but I could not call anyone's home entertainment center complete without an Xbox 360. I've seen the PS3, and it was worse than I expected, in fact, it totally sucks. I haven't played a Wii, but I was super excited for its release. Then a week ago it hit me. If I had to choose only one console, it would be the Xbox 360. I had never even considered the fact that so many Wiibees don't have Xbox 360s. I hope I get to try one soon, because I've never actually taken it seriously. The Xbox 360 is too great to not have. The Xbox Dashboard by itself is enough to last me months. And then there are all the games that are out, and many more to look forward too. The Wii only has two games that I'm interested in. Zelda and Smash. Ooh, and Starfox. And the Virtual Console. But considering I own every other Nintendo console anyway. Oh well, I hope the Wii is great. Maybe I'll get one. I just got the HDDVD player instead of the Wii, and HiDef movies are the bomb!!!

  • WR_Platinum

    Posted Nov 28, 2006 8:32 pm GMT

    The Wii OWNS, I;m glad about the news, but I;m more happy playin Zelda cuz this game is HOT! Just as I expected.

  • grenadier53

    Posted Nov 28, 2006 7:39 pm GMT

    Glad to see Nintendo is doing great even though it's not Christmas yet! I want a Wii so badly!! AAAHHH!!

  • Jedi_Osborn

    Posted Nov 28, 2006 7:05 pm GMT

    I'm a 360 fan, but this is good news for Nintendo. Plus its great to hear anyone doing better than sony!

  • mhder

    Posted Nov 28, 2006 7:00 pm GMT

    Seeing comments by people like Ansem_Rev who seem to support the Xbox, I don't think I'd ever want to get the Xbox now because if I ever played an online game, these are the kind of people I would have to deal with. It's amazing that the "mature" console has so many people who act or are like kids.

  • captainalpha1

    Posted Nov 28, 2006 6:21 pm GMT

    The Big N seems to be coming back, which is good to hear! I love my wii, and zelda was amazing. No wonder over 75% of consoles sold went along with TP.

  • picklepik

    Posted Nov 28, 2006 6:09 pm GMT

    I WANT A WII!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • manw3ll

    Posted Nov 28, 2006 5:39 pm GMT

    not long now......only 8 more sleeps!!! then zelda will dominate my tv for the forseeable future

    wii+zelda+45" tv = awesomeness

    no more god dam soaps like eastbenders,constipation street and emmeroids man i hate those shows!! (eastenders,corrie,emmerdale)

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