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500,000 Wiis sold in Australia

  • By James Kozanecki, GameSpot AU
  • Posted Jul 22, 2008 7:42 pm PT

The Wii claims another sales record down under.

The Nintendo Wii can claim another feather in its already impressive sales cap this week, with Nintendo Australia announcing that as of July 20, the Wii has sold more than 500,000 units to the Australian market. The hardware took a mere 84 weeks to reach the half-million mark, making it the fastest console to reach the sales milestone. The previous record holders, Sony’s PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo DS handheld, both reached the figure in 107 weeks of sale. Independent sales tracker GfK Australia confirmed the figures to GameSpot AU.

Nintendo Australia also took the opportunity to announce that over the same July sales audit period, its other popular console, the Nintendo DS handheld, had surpassed the 1.2 million units sold mark. The figures reinforce the continued dominance of the products in the Australian market, and in one week at the beginning of July, the DS sold in excess of 49,000 units--the highest single number of consoles ever sold in a week down under.

The figures are in line with significant sales growth outlined by the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia (IEAA) earlier this month--numbers which saw Australia surpass the A$1.57 billion sales mark and game hardware sales grow by 74 percent.

In the press release, future Wii and DS games were also given release dates for Australia. Trauma Center: Second Opinion is opening for surgery on August 28, while Wario Land: The Shake Dimension (formerly known as Wario Land: Shake It! in the US) will arrive on the Wii on September 25. On the DS, Etrian Odyssey comes out on August 14; Make 10: A Journey of Numbers is set for a September 4 release; and Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir is due in October.

38 Comments

  • boobush

    Posted Jul 25, 2008 9:40 am PT

    Ooh, hardcore games! If you know it doesn't have hardcore games and you still buy it, don't complain. It's kind of masochism.

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  • mykel77

    Posted Jul 24, 2008 7:12 pm PT

    i sold my wii for a 360. had it for awhile and am just sick of it, no hi def, dvd, and no hardcore games to play on it. its not for hardcore gamers. the novelty did where off. ill regret in it in 3 years when mario and zelda come out im sure, but at least i get Banjo Kazooie(n64 and new one) and fable II. better than wii music and wii cheer. derrrrr

    • Login to rate this comment
  • Sonicplys

    Posted Jul 24, 2008 6:17 pm PT

    And the world domination continues......

    • Login to rate this comment
  • Gwottalegend

    Posted Jul 24, 2008 3:49 am PT

    i couldnt agree more with flossie, and also i got the wifi thing but all the gamespot competitions are held before the games released here!
    (Mario Kart, Brawl)

    • Login to rate this comment
  • FloSSiE_RuLz

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 9:45 pm PT

    I live in Australia and have a wii. and its really annoying how games are delayed here and more expensive. and rite now the Auzzie dollar is about 95 US cents so games prices should have dropped alot, but they never do

    • Login to rate this comment
  • koin999

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 9:32 pm PT

    Hopefully this means Nintendo will stop treating Australia like a last priority and actually release games on time...

    • Login to rate this comment
  • lamprey263

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 6:12 pm PT

    that's pretty good considering they pay a lot more for their consoles in Australia

    • Login to rate this comment
  • Pete5506

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 11:14 am PT

    Good job nintendo

    • Login to rate this comment
  • taddia

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 10:47 am PT

    uhm how i would like that the same situation would be like that here in italy eheh 8(

    • Login to rate this comment
  • SSlater413

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 9:18 am PT

    That's good for nintendo. Hopefully the Wii will remain strong into the future.

    • Login to rate this comment
  • moose3469

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 8:53 am PT

    So everyone has one down there?

    • Login to rate this comment
  • Sonicpower451

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 8:46 am PT

    IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • Login to rate this comment
  • King_Jeremy_77

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 7:44 am PT

    Good for Nintendo.

    • Login to rate this comment
  • xbox360progamer

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 7:38 am PT

    thats amazing never heard of any console doing anything like that..

    • Login to rate this comment
  • Willy105

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 6:24 am PT

    Crikey! There are more Wii's down there than Koalas!

    Seriously, save the Koalas.

    • Login to rate this comment
  • theclaw135

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 3:11 am PT

    Not surprising. Wii is the fastest selling hardware platform of all time, in terms of total global units sold. Including handhelds and personal computers.

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  • whacker40

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 2:58 am PT

    heh, the wii australian sales are set to overtake the 360's japan sales in due time.

    • Login to rate this comment
  • gstyle1975

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 2:49 am PT

    about time..whoo hoo..nintendo kicking ass..lets hope more developers come on board..

    • Login to rate this comment
  • Cbok

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 2:29 am PT

    Fisher Price - My first console

    • Login to rate this comment
  • jjr10

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 2:16 am PT

    OH MY GOD.
    TRAUMA CENTRE.

    • Login to rate this comment
  • -CheeseEater-

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 2:02 am PT

    For a country of 21 Million in Population, and a AU1.57 billion sales mark is just tatally insane. This country pours cash into this market, and yet many publishers couldn't give a rats.

    • Login to rate this comment
  • Mattyrock

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 12:53 am PT

    An impressive mark. Although hope to get better games.

    • Login to rate this comment
  • devildemondruid

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 12:42 am PT

    there are 21 million aussies living down here. so an average 1 in 42 people have a wii.

    • Login to rate this comment
  • Erebyssial

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 11:47 pm PT

    We love our Wiis.

    Glad to know Wario Land isn't getting delayed, I hope it turns out well.

    @ShadowLaguna: It's heaps for a population of just over 20 million.

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  • mariokart64fan

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 10:42 pm PT

    agreed the more console nin sells , more we get like AND IT ALREADY HS OVER 900 TITLES, for only a year on the market thats the fastest growing game library weve seen since nes, over here in he us that is ,

    • Login to rate this comment
  • Nintendo_Man

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 10:36 pm PT

    The Wii has already more than doubled the total lifetime sales of the GC here, remarkable turn around after the success of the PS2 and X-Box here last gen. This actually means our market is now catching up to many smaller European countries after over 130% increase in hardware sales in just the last 2 years.

    • Login to rate this comment
  • mikethemonkey

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 9:52 pm PT

    The more consoles they sell the more and better games we will get.

    • Login to rate this comment
  • ivanfred

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 9:46 pm PT

    mikemetroid5565: 60% percent of those is probably for Super Smash Brothers Brawl.
    ===============================
    You are probably right. I bought the Wii for my niece so that we could play it as well.

    • Login to rate this comment

  • ShadowLaguna posted Jul 22, 2008 9:41 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    ShadowLaguna

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 9:41 pm PT (hide)

    500,000? That's tiny!!

    • Login to rate this comment
  • roll450

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 9:13 pm PT

    Amazing, on how the wii could sell that well in the Aus.

    • Login to rate this comment
  • king-kill33

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 9:04 pm PT

    well deserved

    • Login to rate this comment
  • tuznecote

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 9:01 pm PT

    I love how this console is sweeping up...

    • Login to rate this comment
  • mikemetroid5565

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 8:31 pm PT

    60% percent of those is probably for Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

    • Login to rate this comment
  • Jaz0

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 8:21 pm PT

    WOW

    • Login to rate this comment
  • robx360

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 8:16 pm PT

    Hey I remember that commercial. I think I might look it up on youtube.

    • Login to rate this comment
  • sonic0491

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 8:13 pm PT

    make that 500 001, im yet to get mine.

    • Login to rate this comment
  • stoner02

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 7:51 pm PT

    Does anyone remember that ad for Super Mario 3 on the NES where everyone was standing shouting "MARIO! MARIO!" as it zoomed out to show the whole world in a Mario formation? Whoever would have thought it was such a premonition?

    • Login to rate this comment
  • kbplayer

    Posted Jul 22, 2008 7:49 pm PT

    wow

    • Login to rate this comment
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