Topic: Nintendo has Healthy Thanksgiving Week Sales

[NWR_pap64]

Holiday shoppers eat up Wii and DSi systems.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/24493

During Thanksgiving week, beginning November 21, Nintendo sold 900,000 DSi units, while the Wii managed to move 600,000 units according to Nintendo's internal sales data. These sales include the recently released bundles for both systems -- the limited edition Super Mario 25th Anniversary red Wii bundle, the limited edition Super Mario 25th Anniversary red DSi bundle, the black Wii system, and the new green and orange DSi systems bundled with Mario Party DS.

“U.S. shoppers bought about 9,000 Nintendo hardware systems nonstop for every hour of every day during the week of Black Friday,” expressed Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “For the past several years, consumers have decided that Nintendo defined both top value and all-inclusive entertainment, and that sentiment continues again at the start of this shopping season.”

Despite total sales being close to last year's numbers, there was a rise in Wii units sold; the Wii sold 50,000 units more than last year. Compared to 2008's peak, though, sales fell short of the 800,000 units sold that year. There was a decline in DSi sales compared to last year with 100,000 fewer units sold this year.

[Mop it up]

I'm slightly surprised at the Wii numbers actually, I wasn't sure it was going to sell much with how popular Kinect currently is. I guess I underestimated the Mario Wii bundle, and how pretty much everything sells out this week. It will be interesting to see if sales stay strong during December; originally I expected them to be low, but now I'm starting to wonder...

[MaryJane]

Is it possible that the Kinect and Move are helping Wii sales in that people are think if it's good enough to be copied it must be good enough to buy?

I also wonder how much the impending 3DS release affected DS sales, and how much an early reveal of the Wii successor would hurt Wii sales next year.

[Ian Sane]

Is it possible that the Kinect and Move are helping Wii sales in that people are think if it's good enough to be copied it must be good enough to buy?

I would see it more like Kinect and Move has made motion control cool again, and thus the Wii benefits off of that.  Or it's not so much that people figure it must be good to be copied but more that it just the concept reminds them about the Wii.  "Hey, that reminds of that Wii thing that was so popular a few years back.  I never got one of those.  Maybe I should."
 
If Sony and MS had done nothing then perhaps motion control would have died down, and the Wii with it.  By introducing their own motion controllers they may have kickstarted a fad that was on its way out.  It would be pretty funny if that's what happened.

[NWR_pap64]

Heh, that would be the biggest irony ever. Even more ironic, only a few of the holiday games are motion heavy. The rest are traditionally controlled.

[BlackNMild2k1]

It's funny you guys mention all that because I was just thinking how funny it is that everytime I keep seeing a Dance Central commercial, my first thought is always "Where is the wiimote?" and usually within a few minutes or on the next commercial break, there is a commercial for Michael Jackson's The Experience which look exactly the same from the actors dancing except they are all holding a Wiimote.

Point being that I know about Kinect and what it is and I still wonder (at first thought) why they are advertising Wii games without controllers.... I'm sure many other people all assume that most Kinect games are Wii games regardless of the "Xbox" & "Kinect" brands being mentioned at the end of the commercials.

[NWR_pap64]

I can just imagine it...

Employee: Hi welcome to S-Mart, how may I help you?

Mother: Yes, uh... I am looking for a copy of....

*She ruffles through her purse, brings out a piece of paper

Mother: A copy of Dance Central for the Wii!

Employee: Um, ma'am, Dance Central isn't for the Wii, it's for the Xbox 360 and Kinect

Mother: What are you talking about??? I saw the commercial and it was clearly a Wii game!!

Employee; I assure you, Dance Central is for the Xbox 360.

Mother: Bah, you think you know everything. You can say whatever you want, I am convinced that Dance Central is for the Wii!

*The employee, slightly miffed, brings out a copy of Dance Central

Employee: See? This game is a title made by Microsoft and Harmonix for the Xbox 360. It uses the new Kinect camera to play.

Mother: Oh...Well, I ain't buying another Nintendo system, is there a game like that for the Wii?

Employee: Yes, it's called Just Dance 2

Mother: Great, I'll take two, please!

[UncleBob]

It's so true...

[KnowsNothing]

I never really considered that...the release of the Move and Kinect is a validation of Nintendo's strategy and in a sense legitimizes motion controllers to a wider audience.  Despite the Wii's popularity, if it remained the only motion controlled platform then the fad may have continued to slow down.  Now that every single console out there has incorporated some sort of motion control nobody but the snobbiest of the gamers (like the PC master race) can ignore it any longer.

I'm not completely convinced that this phenomenon will drastically (over a long term) increase Wii sales...but pap's scenario doesn't sound too far-fetched.  I can see a lot of people seeing a Dance Central commercial, going to the store, and realizing that a 360+Kinest is outrageously expensive.  That Wii over there?  Much cheaper, plus now they can finally play that Wii Bowling game everyone was frothing over a few years ago.

[TJ Spyke]

It's so true...

Especially with the employee having the wrong info too. I bet some real life employees would indeed say Microsoft made the game even though it was Harmonix and MTV Games, all Microsoft did was distribute the game (they weren't involved in actually making the game). I haven't worked in retail, but I think a lot of us have been in stores and seen non-gamers trying to buy a particular game product and not knowing stuff like the system it is for.

[NWR_pap64]

It's so true...

Especially with the employee having the wrong info too. I bet some real life employees would indeed say Microsoft made the game even though it was Harmonix and MTV Games, all Microsoft did was distribute the game (they weren't involved in actually making the game). I haven't worked in retail, but I think a lot of us have been in stores and seen non-gamers trying to buy a particular game product and not knowing stuff like the system it is for.

Hey, don't knock on that employee, he has been having a hard day and doesn't need to be constantly reminded of mistakes...

[UncleBob]

It's so true...

Especially with the employee having the wrong info too. I bet some real life employees would indeed say Microsoft made the game even though it was Harmonix and MTV Games, all Microsoft did was distribute the game (they weren't involved in actually making the game). I haven't worked in retail, but I think a lot of us have been in stores and seen non-gamers trying to buy a particular game product and not knowing stuff like the system it is for.

From the customer's point of view, though, Microsoft might as well have made the game.  Trying to explain that it's not a Microsoft game, but it's only on Microsoft's system is a waste of breath.