Despite inventory shortages of the Wii hardware, Nintendo systems came out on top at the beginning of 2010. Nintendo’s Wii™ home console and the family of hand-held Nintendo DS™ systems finished No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, for the month of January, according to data from the independent NPD Group that tracks video game sales in the United States.
During January, U.S. consumers purchased more than 465,000 Wii systems and more than 422,000 systems in the Nintendo DS franchise, which includes Nintendo DSâ„¢ Lite and Nintendo DSiâ„¢.
“Holiday shoppers depleted our supplies even after our fourth holiday season,†said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “We appreciate the nearly 900,000 consumers who turned to Nintendo to get a great value for their entertainment dollars.â€
Six of the top 10 best-selling games of January play on Nintendo systems. These include New Super Mario Bros.â„¢ Wii at No. 1 with more than 656,000 sold, Wii Fitâ„¢ Plus with the Wii Balance Boardâ„¢ accessory at No. 3 with more than 368,000 sold, Mario Kartâ„¢ Wii with the Wii Wheelâ„¢ accessory at No. 5 with more than 310,000 sold, Wii Sports Resortâ„¢ with the Wii MotionPlusâ„¢ accessory at No. 6 with more than 294,000 sold, Just Dance by Ubisoft at No. 9 with more than 191,000 sold and the Wii Fit Plus disc at No. 10 with more than 186,000 sold.
The Wii is very fun for families, but not an exact hard-core gaming console, as for me, I noticed the more serious type games are on xBox 360 and PS3. Wii is fun for all ages, and my sister and mother are both saving up their Chinese New Year money to chip in for one of these along with a few games that allows them to work on physical activities. My sister is indeed overweight, so she needs it, and my mom just wants to have a bit of fun that lets her move.
My sister also has an Nintendo DS. She plays it every night. I’d say it’s a very cool gadget, I played Cooking Mama on it :)