Wii tops new console launches

[UPDATE] Nintendo's upstart platform sells 1.1 million in 2006, versus 687,300 PS3s; both surpass the 607,000 Xbox 360s sold in 2005; 1.1 million 360s sold in December.

With the release of NPD Funworld's 2006 numbers today, one big question was answered. Namely, the figures revealed which of the three formerly next-generation consoles sold the most at launch.

"...It smells like Wiictory."

To those following the industry, the winner should come as no surprise. From its release on November 19 until December 31, more than 1.1 million "new-gen" Wiis were sold in the US. That was nearly double the approximately 687,300 PlayStation 3s sold following its November 17 launch until the end of the year. By comparison, the just over 607,000 Xbox 360s were sold in 2005 following its November 22 launch.

During December 2006, the 360 sold more than 1.1 million units, no doubt benefiting from scant supplies of the PS3 and the popularity of Gears of War. As of the end of 2006, Microsoft's console had sold just over 4.5 million units in the US and more than 10.4 million worldwide.

But before the Nintendo faithful begin writing epitaphs for Sony and Microsoft, NPD senior marketing manager David Riley said the only thing holding back the 360 and PS3 was production capacity. "Comparing the three consoles is like apples and oranges," he told GameSpot. "It was all about availability. Microsoft and Sony were moving them as fast as they could put them out. [But] Nintendo was on the ball."

Riley also thought the PS3's high price--$499 for the 20GB model, $599 for the 60GB--wasn't as large a factor as many have made it out to be. "I think price plays a role there, but remember during the holiday season people have deep pockets," he said. "Kids know what they want, and if they tell mom to go buy a PS3 and she comes home with a Wii, they won't be happy."

Fundamentally, though, Riley thinks that there are no losers in the next-gen console war--only winners. "I know plenty of gamers who own multiple platforms. That's why I despise the term console wars," he said. "I have all three, and I buy the software I want for each one."

[UPDATE] Within an hour of the NPD numbers' release, the spin doctors were out in force. Dave Karraker, Sony Computer Entertainment America's director of corporate communications, said that his company did indeed ship 1 million PS3s in North America in 2006. "NPD doesn't account for Canada...[and] doesn't cover all of our USA retailers," he told GameSpot. "We sold-in more than 150,000 systems the last week of December, so there were many units in transit or at retailer's backrooms waiting to be put out [by year's end]."

For its part, Microsoft claimed outright victory over the holidays. "The Xbox 360 garnered a 51 percent market share in the United States for December 2006...outselling the PlayStation 3 and Wii combined in December and outselling all next-generation consoles in November and December," the company said in a statement.

Analysts were also skeptical, with some believing that the Wii sold more than NPD reported. "I don't understand how US Wii sell-through could be 1.1 million cumulatively, with Nintendo saying that they shipped half of their 4 million here and zero inventory on retail shelves at year end," said Wedbush Morgan Securities' Michael Pachter. "Where are the other 900,000 units? I assume 200,000 are in transit, but this number makes no sense to me at all."

756 Comments

  • silver_986

    Posted Nov 1, 2007 8:26 pm PT

    I think the wii has sold more consoles is because it's got a $250 price tag snd cuz they no how to make it fast.

  • majatti

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 9:43 am PT

    "jack00
    only reason why Nintendo sold more Wiis is because they produced more of them then ps3s and 360s you ret****"

    Yes there were more Wiis that were produced and available than the PS3, however the same is not true for the 360. Moreover, the numbers in the article should no longer be considered accurate. Nintendo released there sales for 2006 http://www.gamespot.com/news/6164714.html which states that there were 1.3 mil sold in the Americas not 1.1 as reported by NPD. Considering that the figures spun by Microsoft in the article were based on shipped unit rather than sold unit that means that the Wii was the top seller for Nov/Dec period; despite having had production limitations and less than a full month of sales for November.

  • tye_chi

    Posted Jan 24, 2007 5:31 am PT

    yeah, i agree with jack00

    ROLF.

  • jack00

    Posted Jan 22, 2007 9:57 am PT

    only reason why nintendo sold more wiis is because they produced more of them then ps3s and 360s you ret****

  • ZeroTae

    Posted Jan 22, 2007 6:36 am PT

    I dont think microsoft or sony's communicate is true...
    nut anout the 2 milions wii in america... well... there was the problems in the system and they replaced for free all units defected didnt they? well... but they couldnt replace over 500.000 units... i just think the numbers everyone said isnt very trusty

  • ricsuave

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 10:17 pm PT

    "fraudbot
    outside of resitance what are people playing on their PS3's??????"

    PS2 games. And that's sad.

  • chazzx21

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 11:32 am PT

    So far it's just 300 dollars for the new Zelda game. Nintendo has flash but the games will determine it's staying power.

  • bigcrusha

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 10:32 am PT

    Viva la wii!!!!!

  • aerialstrike

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 8:42 am PT

    that guy from sony says that price isnt affecting sales on the ps3, i guess if youre a hardcore gamer you dont mind to spend the dinero but if youre like me that doesnt have 5 or 8 hours of gaming time a day, heck not even 3, and plays at least like 2 or 3 times a week cause i got a life and a job (plus my mom wont spend that much for a gift) paying 600 bucks for the system and 60 for the games is not worth it. hell i dont even own one of the next gens ( but im considering the wii cause it looks fun). im not an anti sony wacko and i could afford it if i wanted to, but the thing is its just too much on the price tag considering that im not gonna spend too much time on it anyway.

  • Demon-Draco

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 8:41 am PT

    hah, nexgenwars got sussed

  • 00spartan

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 7:39 am PT

    i like how nintendo is doing... i wont lie though some of the games on the wii i found dismal at best i.e. CoD3, but i loves Zelda: TP... and i know nintendo first party games are gonna rock...

    now on the ps3, it selling more at launch makes no difference. alot of thoes ps3's were sold in japan. ps3's are still slow at coming to stores. i dont care what people say about how when ps3 gets the good games, thats wen the ps3 will come on top. listen to me, it doesn't matter how many games a system has if there arent enough systems to play them on... think about it.

  • Premier-Zenith

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 8:45 pm PT

    wow nintendo redeemed itself

  • Ryuku

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 5:57 pm PT

    lol .. i still only own 1 game for the wii .. Zelda thats all i care ..

  • casinater

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 5:03 pm PT

    the_jerm 04

    may i point out that the 360 launched later in the year than ps3 did. and if the ps3 is so awesome...why didn't it outsell the wii....and also the 360 did'nt even launch in japan until well into december.....these are facts you SHOULD have THOUGHT of before you post : )

  • DVDA

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 12:27 pm PT

    I'm happy for nintendo, they have finally made a console that almost everyone wants. I've heard on the news that the ps3 is suffering low sales due to the sucess of the Wii, I'm also a very satasified customer. I had the GC and it was a piece of garbage. Now, Nintendo has sold almost 4 million consoles, and Sony has only sold 1.1 million, which really sucks. I prediect this console will sell more 360s by the end of this year or even shorter. All I can say is, they have made a great console for once.

  • Dill-Man

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 9:57 pm PT

    i still cant find a wii anywhere in my area and ive been trying to get one since christmas, but ive played it at friends, and it is quite fun

    i have to say though the 360 has an amazing library due to the fact that it started early, oblivion if probably my favorite game of all time, GOW is great fun for a little, vegas quite good, dead rising, viva pinata, and such, plus online is great

    PS3 sucks at the moment but once it starts releasing big games, i.e. MGS4 its gonna be a great piece of hardware, but i probably still wont buy it

  • fraudbot

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 6:42 pm PT

    outside of resitance what are people playing on their PS3's??????

  • zekere

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 1:04 pm PT

    It's all due to shortage, but before you compare 360 and PS3, know that we European gamers at least had a chance to get a 360 . What Sony did to us is totally unacceptable . Or maybe it ain't that bad after all, because PS3 hasn't got ONE game that's worth its ridiculous pricetag .

  • gangsta_al

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 10:32 am PT

    The wii has really claimed a chunk of the non-gmaing market. The fact that they have softer games like wii sports, wii play and warioware, and there are more hardcore games such as Zelda, Red Steel which would appeal to hardcore gamers. They have widened the ever-narrowing path of the games industry.

  • the_jerm04

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 10:54 pm PT

    And as for the Wii...well, the Wii isn't very exciting to me. Swinging that remote around gets very old, very fast. It's only fun with other people and even then i'd prefer to just shoot some stuff in Resistance with a friend.

  • the_jerm04

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 10:45 pm PT

    All I know is that Sony sold more PS3s on launch than the 360. I feel like that should silence some of you 360 lovers basing superiority arguments off of PS3 shortages. Its now a fact that Sony released and sold more PS3s in its first year than the 360's first year. So, as far as launches go, 360 is at the bottom of the list. Good things are sure to come for the PS3 as more titles begin releasing. Probably more towards the end of this year. And no one better try to bring up the fact that the PS3 has no good games, because you all know that the 360 had a bunch of crappy games for the its first six months of life, most of which consisted of xbox and playstation ports.

  • Supperdude9

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 9:54 pm PT

    The proverbial ace-up-the-sleeve for the Wii has got to be Smash Brothers Brawl. Everybody is hoping that it will roxor. I mean, this was the same hype that Melee got, and the game was good. It took me quite a while to learn that Melee was a bit rushed, so I'm wondering, now that Nintendo has had over 5 years to develop Brawl...I'm wondering...If Melee was any indication, if Brawl is at least as great as Melee, then it will be a smash, pun intended. However, there are two other scenario's - Nintendo fumbles the ball and Brawl ends up byting it, or they take it for the touchdown. Melee was awesome. But if Brawl ends up being somewhat like Melee, with online play, then that would upgrade it to way beyond awesome. It really depends on the online play, whether there will be any or not. Because if there is online play for Brawl, then all the Nintendo haters might have a reason to shut up about how the Wii will fail.

    Not to be Nintendo exclusive or anything, but I'll say the same thing about the PS3 - give it time, and I'm sure that it'll put in at least a decent showing. I mean, Kingdom Hearts 3 alone should be enough to get one. The Playstation has something backing it up - old titles, old series. That's what has helped keep Nintendo alive all these years - their beloved titles. Nintendo has Zelda, Metroid, Mario, Donkey Kong, etc. that has helped keep their consoles and handhelds going. Sony has some charecters of their own, and series of their own to help them into this next generation. The Kingdom Hearts series alone can help them out. People absolutley LOVE that series - me being one of them. But yeah, I wouldn't count out a console that just launched. That is the cardinal sin - don't count out something new - although counting out the N-Gage even before it hit the market was forgivable - you COULD have counted that one out - it was destined to fail anyway.

    Anywho, enough rambeling on on my part.

  • Trogeton

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 9:34 pm PT

    WELL DUH!!!!! with a new gen console THAT cheap.. I could have bought that and ever game that was released for it, and still have enough money for accessories... but I was not thrilled with the wii no mind blowing games

  • 1871995

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 6:40 pm PT

    Well, some people are saying that the wii is collecting dust becouse people are getting tired of wii sports and that they have already won Zelda, for this people wii is going to have a bunch of great games that will be a new experience in video games like the game SADNESS that is some kind of horror game in white and black, that is a great game or the game PROJECT HEROES that is not very impressive in graphics becouse is in cell shading but I have hear is going to have the free style movement of GTA another amazing game is Disaster: Day of Crisis in which you have to fight natural disasters and find a family memeber, the graphics of these game are incredible, and of course dont forget games like SSBB and METROID 3 : CORRUPTION the WII is going to have great games, but I accept that the XBOX360 has great games too like Gears of War, oblivion, Lost Planet, I wish I could have an xbox360, well you understand me, and the dissapointing one is the PS3 tell me at leat 3 great games that is going to have the only one that is graet is Resistance: Fall of man.
    1. WII
    2.Xbox 360
    3.Ps3

  • sentay0

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 4:59 pm PT

    Take that Sony!

  • paradigm68

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 3:55 pm PT

    knew it along....

  • ssrrdd

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 3:42 pm PT

    WII ALL THE WAY

  • voice83

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 2:16 pm PT

    i have a feeling that sony is gonna drop some major exclusive system moving games at the same time they drop the price a little and we'll see a ps3 explosion. i prefer the wii. just making a prediction.

  • Simulator_Shock

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 1:45 pm PT

    Its funny you know because at my local best buy last week, I saw that they had like 15-20 PS3's all stacked up on a shelf behind the counter and then at wal-mart they had like 5 or 6 PS3's just sitting on the floor shelf behind the glass cabniet. And yet...I still cant find any Wii's anywhere.....nothing....I've never even seen any remotes or "classic controllers" or not even any Wii point cards....anywhere....all the stores in the malls haven't had any in stock since the launch a few months back.... ..I figure Nintendo must be doing something right.....

  • axelink

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 12:28 pm PT

    People,there's no loyalty it's all about the money,why you think the DS and WII are doing so well,affordable price that's the point.

    Once developers realize there's more wii and ds being sold,they gonna support those system, it's all about the money people dont forget.

    Peace..Big N forever.

  • crazy1pumpkins

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 6:43 am PT

    I think each system will have it's period of prosperity. The wii is cheap and innovative, but lacks the other systems' power. It will have more trouble competing when the PS3 finally becomes stable.

    The PS3 has great potential...but not until they can find a way to make it more accessible to casual gamers. If they can survive, eventually this will be the most powerful system and will have the most to offer.

    The Xbox seems to be inbetween....but they've also got a top notch multiplayer system.

    All three are great! It will be very interesting to see how this plays out.

  • min22

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 5:33 am PT

    Ny brother got a 360 last year it is an okay system, I want it for gears of war (great game chainsaws are awsome), and some other games. The PS3 is to expensive, and I don't want any of the games they have out for it. The Wii is the best system in my book it does not win graphicly, but gameplay, blows every other system out of the water and into the air. Besides who can compeat with the Nintendo franchises like Mario and Zelda.

  • X360PS3AMD05

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 11:26 pm PT

    "We sold-in more than 150,000 systems the last week of December, so there were many units in transit or at retailer's backrooms waiting to be put out [by year's end]." Too bad they're all sitting on store shelves

  • cspark809

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 10:11 pm PT

    wii is my favorite !!!!!!!.. well xbox360 is really good console. gears of war is really great game, oblivion was also really really great game that i put 200hours in first month when they release oblivion. But now I guess I'm starting to buying nintendos theory. wii.. whole new gaming experience, something that can be really enjoy with lots of friend such as wii sports, monkey ball, and etc. If you think you 're true gamer, sitting and do nothing but games for countless hours and hours. wii is not for you. But its time to move on dont waste so much life sitting down on couch and playing endless hours on games, your life worth more than that ( like i did). get up from your couch move your body little bit by playing wii sports.

  • Kantoma

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 9:06 pm PT

    HD my @ss Brother! Who needs it!? Wii obviosly see who won the popularity contest. I guess you really dont need the longest tech sheet in order to outsell your opponents. Wow. Big surprise that sales tactics that included appealing to a largert audience instead of the rich actually helped sell. i never would've guessed. sorry if i seem harsh or excited, but this article settled a 150$ bet between me and a Hardcore Playstation Fan friend of mine. In...yo...face. Suck it Angelo! Zeld 4 Life Sucka!

  • bloodyrooster

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 3:03 pm PT

    I like social games. That's why I think the wii really has a lot of greatness to it. I liked "gears of war" due to the fact that I could have a friend over and we could go through an intense action thriller game and then put it away after a few hours and feel like we had a great time.

    The wii is even more social than that. Grandmothers are playing these damn things for crying out loud. Wii is not for masturbaters, sorry. (masturbaters = people that play with themselves) When your girlfriends are telling you about this fun video game system, you know there is a need for this device, no matter how gay the name sounds. If you tell your girlfriends that you have a video game system that has 1080p I'm sure she's going to understand and care.

  • FunWithMatches

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 2:22 pm PT

    I like what was said below and i think the guy up top said it perfectly...its about the software...not the hardware. I think the Wiimote is great, and i certainly like what it opens up, but frankly the games coming out are rehashes of previous titles. Sure it's new for little kids and non gamers...but for the actual gamer, like me, i haven't seen anything besides zelda that screams, "BUY ME!! NOW!!! DOOO ITTT!!!" I love Nintendo, but frankly unless we see some games that go above and beyond, Microsoft has me leaning toward picking up a 360 because they have the best software. (my word i can't believe i'm saying that.)

  • Roland1225

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 1:36 pm PT

    See this doesnt say who made the best or even most popular console. It just states which company had the most to sell during their launch. If there would have been more of any of these consoles producted then they would have sold. I dont think we will be able to get a true idea on which console is in the lead for another year or so. But props do go out toward the Wii. Its nice that they were able to produce that many systems for their launch.

  • ATOMB

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 4:13 am PT

    And your point is. . . ??? Well? Nintendo has done it right this time! Inovation and Fun. thats what it's all about. 1080p and blue ray have nothing to do with the real gaming expirence. Sony has lost touch with gamers and MS is trying and close but Nintendo hit this one out of the park!

  • ATOMB

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 4:13 am PT

    And your point is. . . ??? Well? Nintendo has done it right this time! Inovation and Fun. thats what it's all about. 1080p and blue ray have nothing to do with the real gaming expirence. Sony has lost touch with gamers and MS is trying and close but Nintendo hit this one out of the park!

  • maverick_76

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 12:33 am PT

    To tell you the truth, I have never really liked the nintendo consoles since the 64, which got its butt kicked by the psx, this won me over to buy a ps2 and I have never regretted it, but right now i'm seriously thinking about now moving to the 360 this time around, they just have it now, and unless sony can give me my gran turismo and my metal gear solid and resident evil...SOON!!!!, well gears of war here I come

  • crazyao516

    Posted Jan 16, 2007 11:35 pm PT

    i totally agree with you brad2thebone i got a wii and a 360 around the same time and i played the wii first......i enjoyed it for awhile but havent been able to stay with it since there is simply no legitimate games. If SSBB is as good as i'm expecting it will be the wii will have been worth it if just for that. but after having played the 360 it became incredibly clear of the difference between the consoles. the 360 is simply in an entirely different class then the wii is. sony............well we'll c if they can save themselves from the mess they've gotten themselves into.

  • Brad2theBone237

    Posted Jan 16, 2007 9:11 pm PT

    I have both a Wii and a 360 (Sony isn't even on my radar anymore). I got the 360 first, regretted it the next day (because all I had to play was Dead or Alive 4), but then I got more games like Oblivion and Dead Rising and fell in love with it. Likewise, I was really excited about getting the Wii and playing it for the first time, but the novelty wore off pretty quickly. The new Zelda (almost) sucked for being too easy, and I love Zelda. All I'm doing with the Wii now is watching it collect dust until good games come out. Meanwhile, I got a subscription to Xbox Live, and I'm having a blast with Gears of War that even SSB will have a hard time topping (if it's online). I hope to God MP3 is. Anyway, I was just giving an example of how a Nintendo fanboy was won over by another system that feels like a real gaming console and not just an experiment. The Wii's good and everything, but it seems too much like a fun diversion than something I would play for hours on end. There's still time to improve though, and hopefully after the initial novelty wears off and the games get better, its success will be closer to the DS rather than the Gamecube. Anyway, just sharing my opinions..

  • atomic_cheez

    Posted Jan 16, 2007 6:54 pm PT

    my wii is funner than anything you play

  • Hell-Fire21

    Posted Jan 16, 2007 5:55 pm PT

    I'm sorry, I still don't see any extra 700,000 consoles since last month? No I'm sorry.

  • tonydark_360

    Posted Jan 16, 2007 2:58 pm PT

    MK24ever ei are you crazy?? probably one more psfanboy, buy a 360 and find how many portuguse players youl get, don count the boxes you see in the stores, dont talk whit out knowing and go play ps1 or 2 and whait for 3, when i am playing live gears of war!! stop talking about sells, and just find your favorit system and play, if you see the boxes thats beacous the sellers are buying 360 and they know more about markting than you! and if is ps still seeling more thats the same way portugal in ther rankin of europe is the last countr in everyway!

  • noobie4life

    Posted Jan 16, 2007 1:18 pm PT

    how is sony the real winner Free_Devil _Jam
    This is the next gen war not The last gen combine with the next gen u idiot

  • ChucklesMginty

    Posted Jan 16, 2007 12:58 pm PT

    finally Sony are starting to lose.

  • Free_Devil_Jam

    Posted Jan 16, 2007 12:51 pm PT

    Actually Sony was the real winner selling around 650,000 PS3, 1.4 PS2 and 953,000 PSP, around 3 million units of their PlayStation brand. http://www.gametrailers.com/viewnews.php?id=3973

  • Yinn

    Posted Jan 16, 2007 12:50 pm PT

    Well, I don't know about portugal but here in Sweden the wiis were sold out instantly as far as I know. We're still waiting for the next shipment.

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