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10 million-plus Wiis sold in Japan

Famitsu publisher Enterbrain says Nintendo's console has sold 289,736 units in two months in the island nation.

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The month of January ended with Nintendo announcing it had shipped 67.45 million Wiis worldwide as of December 31, 2009. Of those, 9.72 million units were sold in Japan, 32.02 million units in North and South America, and 25.71 million units in Europe and elsewhere.

The black Wii has contributed to sales in Japan since its introduction there last August.
The black Wii has contributed to sales in Japan since its introduction there last August.

Now, March begins with game-industry research firm Enterbrain announcing that Japanese Wii sales have surpassed the 10-million-unit mark. Via its Famitsu magazine, the company reported that as of Sunday, February 28, some 10,009,736 units of the little white (and now black) machines have been bought in the island nation since the platform launched in November 2006.

Subtract the pre-2010 Japanese total of 9.72 million, and the Wii has sold 289,736 in two months in the island nation, population 127.1 million. Unsurprisingly, that figure is just a fraction of Wii sales in the US, whose 308.8 million citizens scooped up 465,800 Wiis in January alone. (February US sales figures are expected next Thursday.)

Last year also saw Japanese Wii sales slow due to the global recession and what Nintendo president Satoru Iwata himself said was a lack of "high demand" titles. Nintendo is hoping to fix that this year, with the release of several major games, including Super Mario Galaxy 2 (May 23) and Metroid: Other M (June 2). A new Zelda game is also due out sometime before 2011 and will likely be unveiled at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in mid-June.

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