Post by: Jonnyboy117 on December 01, 2004, 02:46:50 AM
IT'S A HAND-HELD HOLIDAY AS SHOPPERS SNAP UP 500,000 NINTENDO DS UNITS
Game Boy Advance and Nintendo GameCube Also Post Big Numbers
REDMOND, Wash.--Dec. 1, 2004--Shoppers spent Thanksgiving week stuffing their shopping bags with Nintendo hardware, setting the stage for 2004 to be the year of the hand-held holidays. Shoppers snapped up more than 500,000 Nintendo DS(TM) systems during Thanksgiving week, representing more than 90 percent of all units available in stores across the United States.
With Nintendo DS sales moving faster than anticipated, some locations have reported sellouts, and Nintendo predicts the initial North American supply will be depleted within days. As additional shipments are rushed to stores by this weekend to meet the demand, Nintendo expects to sell 1 million Nintendo DS units in North America alone by the end of 2004 -- a mark that took Apple's iPod 19 months to achieve.
"Consumers have voted the Nintendo DS as the hot item this holiday, so if you see one, you'd better buy it," says Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales & marketing. "Nintendo owns the hand-held market, and once again we're the hit of the holiday season."
Nintendo's other hand-held system, Game Boy(R) Advance, also soared during the holiday weekend. Nintendo sold more than 800,000 Game Boy Advance and Game Boy(R) Advance SP units during the past week. The combined 1.3 million Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance units sold last week set a new one-week sales record for hand-held systems. And the Game Boy Advance line remains on track to be the best-selling hardware line of the year.
Nintendo GameCube(TM) also posted impressive numbers. The special bundle of a Nintendo GameCube and a "Mario Kart(R): Double Dash!!(TM)" game has sold more than 250,000 units since its introduction in mid-November.
Nintendo DS is revolutionizing video games by providing players completely new ways to interact with their games. The sharp, angular, silver-and-black dual-screened system comes with a stylus and features a touch screen, voice control and wireless communication. Nintendo DS, available now at an MSRP of $149.99, represents a third, distinct product line for Nintendo, along with Game Boy Advance SP and Nintendo GameCube. Nintendo DS comes packaged with both a free, embedded "PictoChat(TM)" communication program, and a playable demo of "Metroid(R) Prime Hunters" with both single-player and multiplayer modes.
Post by: Mario on December 01, 2004, 03:40:21 AM
I wonder how many of those GBA sales were from people who couldn't find a DS?
Post by: Bill Aurion on December 01, 2004, 03:43:27 AM
Post by: Knoxxville on December 01, 2004, 04:20:37 AM
Post by: UncleBob on December 01, 2004, 04:42:55 AM
Seriously, this is awesome... I just wish there was someone nearby to play my DS against.
I'm surprised no one has pointed out the large number of GBA/GBASP units sold. I believe the major factor in this number is all of the Wal-Mart stores that sold the original style Game Boy Advance for $40 on the day after Thanksgiving - I know our store got a butt-load of these things in (about 100, I believe) and we sold every single one on Friday. And we're a tiny store (By comparison, we got six - yes six - DS units for launch. If every one of the 3,000+ Wal Mart stores *only* got 100 GBA units in, there's 300,000 GBAs right there that likely sold on Friday (and I'm quite sure that many, many more stores got quite a bit more GBAs than we did...)
Post by: JonLeung on December 01, 2004, 05:21:47 AM
Post by: EricEnder on December 01, 2004, 05:50:31 AM
j/k
Post by: kirby_killer_dedede on December 01, 2004, 11:34:26 AM
And that's great for the DS, and all, but from another angle, it's embarrassing...this is the long awaited (though Nintendo won't admit it) next Game Boy, while Halo 2 and GTA both sold more than it in one day. I realize the shipment wasn't aplenty, but...aww, Bill'll get me for this.
But really, that's great, and I hope the DS stays on the same track.
Post by: Ian Sane on December 01, 2004, 11:52:18 AM
Consider three factors and the DS sales look more impressive:
1. Nintendo is currently quite limited in DS supply.
2. Nintendo has not used the term "Gameboy" in regards to the DS despite the interest the name would bring with it.
3. The DS launch lineup is ass.
Give most new systems those three factors at launch and they'll bomb. The DS is selling well despite some notable cons. And remember the DS is HUGE in Japan which is good for us. Who honestly is interested in any non-Japanese DS titles?
Post by: mjbd on December 01, 2004, 12:24:12 PM
Post by: kirby_killer_dedede on December 01, 2004, 12:44:26 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
"And that's great for the DS, and all, but from another angle, it's embarrassing...this is the long awaited (though Nintendo won't admit it) next Game Boy, while Halo 2 and GTA both sold more than it in one day."
Consider three factors and the DS sales look more impressive:
1. Nintendo is currently quite limited in DS supply.
2. Nintendo has not used the term "Gameboy" in regards to the DS despite the interest the name would bring with it.
3. The DS launch lineup is ass.
Give most new systems those three factors at launch and they'll bomb. The DS is selling well despite some notable cons. And remember the DS is HUGE in Japan which is good for us. Who honestly is interested in any non-Japanese DS titles?
lol, true, but I guess...ah, I just expect the PSP to sell a lot more. Guess we'll find out in what...a week and a half?
Post by: WuTangTurtle on December 01, 2004, 03:47:43 PM
-Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/12/01/news_6114218.html)
"The handheld has been in massive demand in Japan where preorders have reached 2 million units." (Regarding DS)
-Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/11/29/news_6114085.html)
Those should answer your quesitons of who will sell better in japan. Sony also pushed back a few PSP launch titles, most notable probably being Need for speed.
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on December 01, 2004, 06:05:08 PM
Post by: Gamefreak on December 01, 2004, 06:28:48 PM
Post by: KDR_11k on December 02, 2004, 05:34:06 AM
Post by: WuTangTurtle on December 02, 2004, 06:37:51 AM
IMO Sony is being too business like, most companies would decrease production during increased production time periods and they increase when production is decreased. Sony needs to take a page from Microsoft and make more systems even at a loss. Otherwise Nintendo can easily double over its market share while PSP are nowhere to be found, and by then Nintendo will roll out some of thier strongest titles.
Post by: spadesman on December 02, 2004, 06:44:23 AM
1. PRICE, PRICE, PRICE. The intro price of the iPod was $399, almost 3 TIMES the cost of the DS. The initial buyers of the iPod had money to burn and back then they had to be Apple Mac users, since at that time it only worked on the Mac. So a limited market to sell it to.
2. The iPod was introduced at an Apple special event, meaning there was not 6-9 months of pre-release hype to get users excited. If I recall I think it came out in April 2001: not exactly a big gift buying season. Also, before the announcement, their were only rumors of what was going to be released, nothing concrete.
3. It might have taken the iPod 19 months to sell 1 million, but I think the last 3 months of this year Apple is expected to sell 1 million iPods PER month. I don't think even the PS2 ever sold that many in a month ( I could be wrong though).
I guess Nintendo wants to implant in the minds of consumer that the DS is hotter than the iPod. Nothing against the DS, but the iPod comparison is just pure market speak.
Post by: SgtShiversBen on December 02, 2004, 06:55:27 AM
Also I think after Christmas might be a big selling time too. I know that's when I'm going to get mine and finally be happy. Then you've got birthday's and all the hoopdeewhatsits that cause people to give gifts to other people and these things are just going to sell like crazy. If the PSP is something amazing (which I'm seriously doubting) then I might take a gander at it and play with it, but it'd probably end up like my Game Gear.
