Very nice Nintendo DS sales, I expected 300,000 because I thought that was how much the initial shipment was going to be, I guess they found a way to get more to stores. GBA sales are just insane, and GameCube sales are rather slow, but that's no surprise.

I wonder how many of those GBA sales were from people who couldn't find a DS?

I really am surprised at the popularity of the DS...Maybe there is still industry in innovation afterall... ^_^

yeah, to go with the innovation in the industy!;p

Dangit, Nintendo is so doomed!

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...)

The various Game Boys always seem to sell like hot cakes, and the DS might as easily follow. Well, except that I haven't heard of any recent hot cakes sales numbers...

of course the GBA sold more, since it's only $80 (some had discounts) compared to $150, plus the availability, (maybe the people who DS were nintendo fanboys) j/k

GBA sales are absolutely crazy...

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.

"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?

If DS keeps selling this well, Sony's portable may have a hard time catching up. GBA sales are insane. Who's the big brother; GBA or Gamecube? After seeing slumping gamecube sales, its good to see they are gonna be strong for the Holliday season. The Mario Kart Bundle really is a good deal, and should continue to help sales throughout the holliday.

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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?

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"Sony executives recently confirmed reports of PSP inventory issues, saying only 200,000 units will be available when the machine goes on sale in Japan on December 12."
-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.

You can't sell what's not available, right?

Then how's Nintendo going to sell 2 million DS's in Japan. Last I checked, that's double what they have.

They're working on it. Unlike Sony they can ramp up production. Most people assume that Sony isn't maxxing out its capabilities because currently the PSP is too expensive to manufacture and they want to keep their losses low while hurting the DS's momentum.

Yeah Nintendo has already opened up a China based production site to increase numbers. I read that Sony won't make more PSP's untill production costs goes down dramatically. I believe i read that the launch systems actually are costing them up to $400 area and Sony is going to wait untill production costs are cheaper. Who knows when that will be though, most likely it will be awhile from now.

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.

I just have a few observations about the iPod comparison. I assume Nintendo is trying to attach its name to a hot selling item for better recognition.

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.

I agree with spadesman here about the I-Pod and DS analogy. Using an existing popular product to boost your own ratings is a good way to go. Hell, stars have been using it like crazy to sell Sidekicks, PS2s all the way to Bobby Knight's Recommended Dog Treats.

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.