Wii sells 3M in Dec., New Mario Bros. hits 4M

Nintendo's Wii got off to a stumbling start during the heavily hyped Black Friday shopping window this year. Whereas the publisher sold 800,000 units during the week of Thanksgiving in 2008, that number fell to 550,000 in 2009, a slip that seemed to be in line with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's statement that Wii sales have "stalled." As it would turn out, though, Wii sales rebounded in a big way during December.

Citing internal sales figures, Nintendo announced today that Wii sales for the final month of 2009 surpassed 3 million units in the US alone. That figure compares more than favorably to the Wii's December 2008 performance, during which it sold 2.15 million units domestically, according to the NPD Group. Notably, Nintendo's console was also cheaper during the 2009 shopping window, as the Wii's price dropped $50 to $199 in September.

One game that helped propel those strong console sales is New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Nintendo also said today that its latest platformer featuring its iconic portly plumber has sold nearly 4 million units in the US to date, according to its internal estimates. In December, Nintendo said that New Super Mario Bros. Wii had shifted some 2 million units in the US in less than a month on the market.

Though Nintendo did not provide internal figures for the DS, the platform holder did indicate that its handheld had a monumental year. According to the publisher, the DS and camera-equipped DSi combined to set an "all-time calendar-year US sales record for any console or handheld system."

Official NPD numbers for December and all of 2009 are expected to be announced on Thursday, January 14.