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Nintendo Wii sets software sales record

DVDBack23 @ May 22, 2008 20:53 | 39 comments

Nintendo of America's VP of sales and marketing Cammie Dunaway has announced that the Wii has already sold over 50 million units of software since its launch (18 months ago) and that the figure is a new record.

The previous record, 42 million units sold in 18 months, was from the launch of the PlayStation 2 in late 2000.

As a comparison, in the first 18 months of their lifecycles ,the Xbox 360 had 30 million units sold, 20 million were sold for the PlayStation 3 and 28 million were sold for the original Xbox.

Making the figure even more impressive is that the figure does not include WiiSports which is bundled in every Wii console sold. The figure does however include "WiiPlay" (which comes bundled with a Wii remote) and "Link's Crossbow Training" (which comes bundled with the Wii zapper.)


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Comment by: pomelo (May 23, 2008 08:07)

Go Wii !!!!!!!!!!!!

Comment by: ZippyDSM (May 23, 2008 15:54)

so the attach rate appears to be 4.1 (conservatively) you can knock 1.2 off it(they added 10M copies of wiiplay,shame shame shame) so 3.9 or 2.9, now what this means is 2-3 games per console.

This my friends is a low number IMO, it should be double it easily, should be 4-6%.

because of the overt "casual focus" you wont have alot of stable game buys.

Comment by: goodswipe (May 23, 2008 16:02)

LOL @ MrXenu

/Nintendo Wii FTW!

I have yet to figure out why people hate this console so much. It's pretty disturbing IMO. MrXenu is a prime example of this.

Comment by: DSWarrior (May 23, 2008 16:33)

NINTENDO WII FTW 1000000%!!!!!

People seem to hate huge selling hits like the Wii, just because the PS3 and X360 were left in the dust (comparing to the Wii sales) worldwide...

That kind of anti-wii posting is called "Deep Frustration"...

And now, let the PS3 fanboys barge in against my comment!

Comment by: beanos66 (May 23, 2008 18:14)

I'm not going to buy a wii until they release a new 2d Super Mario game

Comment by: SProdigy (May 23, 2008 19:21)

Nintendo learned alot from their mistakes that they had made with the Gamecube launch, when compared to the Wii launch.

First they made sure their pricing strategy different from their competitors. When the GC launched, it was $200, and did not include DVD playback or any online compatibility. The PS2 and Xbox had both and were $50-$100 more during GC's shelf life. The Wii is positioned much cheaper than the competition now, and also makes Nintendo a profit TODAY, which the GC was eating away at Nintendo. Nintendo also included WiFi into the Wii, and a web broswer. I know their online is not like Xbox Live at the moment, but neither is Sony's.

PS2 was backward compatible with PSX games, controllers and other accessories. Nintendo obviously kept this in mind with the Wii's backward compatibility to the GC, along with VC games.

PS2 also had a year start and a killer 2001 holiday game lineup, plus the Xbox launched around the same time as GC, which also hurt Nintendo. Star power in the GC launch and holiday lineup essentially killed alot of interest as well. Mario Sunshine and Metroid Prime didn't release until nearly a year after the GC's launch, and Zelda: the Wind Waker took 2 years to release!

Outside of Luigi's Mansion, titles such as Tony Hawk and Madden were already available for the PS2. The Wii had the largest launch lineup of any system launch to date, and it included Zelda. Metroid Prime and Mario came alot sooner than they did on GC, plus A+ titles such as SSBB and Mario Kart are here now.

Face it, the GC was hideous in design. The color purple wasn't that stylish, and some people had a gripe with the controller design (IMHO it was too small.) The Wii is alot more stylish, looking like something Apple would put out.

Those are my opinions on why Nintendo scored better with the Wii this time around. If you look at the failures they made with the GC and compare, it's easy to see Nintendo learned from their mistakes.

Comment by: Henhead (May 23, 2008 19:36)

Thought the modchip culture was killing off the sales.

Or is that just a line big companies like to spout out about?

Comment by: bobiroc (May 23, 2008 19:38)

Originally posted by Henhead:
Thought the modchip culture was killing off the sales.

Or is that just a line big companies like to spout out about?

The correct answer is option B

The same goes for the RIAA and MPAA that cry when they blame P2P and the internet (piracy) for the lack of music and video sales.

Comment by: Tecbot (May 23, 2008 22:53)

My parents even have a wii, dont think theyve bought a game though but according to these figures they have since they got the remote for $30 with game...how many million software sales are like this? I got 3 of these remotes and gave the games to people who missed these bundles my only gripe about that software sales.

I wont deny it even with including these somewhat false numbers that it still would of broke the record will be interesting to see what happens in the coming months/years for sales numbers.

Comment by: DoomLight (May 23, 2008 23:06)

its amazing to me. how a white flat coloured game cube is selling so much more.

no one gave a shet about gamecube hardly, but as soon as they over clock it like 8mhz and give it a different name it sells a buttload.

but to me this oen last long. these lousy benchmarks amount to nothing. cause this system prolly wont last more than 2 years tops before it runs out of new ideas. specially the shetty graphics holding it back for one thing.

and the lack of quality control since the 80% of the games are crap. and the good 20% come from the first party only.

Comment by: bobiroc (May 23, 2008 23:17)

Originally posted by DoomLight:
its amazing to me. how a white flat coloured game cube is selling so much more.

no one gave a shet about gamecube hardly, but as soon as they over clock it like 8mhz and give it a different name it sells a buttload.

but to me this oen last long. these lousy benchmarks amount to nothing. cause this system prolly wont last more than 2 years tops before it runs out of new ideas. specially the shetty graphics holding it back for one thing.

and the lack of quality control since the 80% of the games are crap. and the good 20% come from the first party only.

Well it has been going for over a year and half of being continuously sold out everywhere you go. No other system can say that. Also lack of quality control and nintendo isn't something I would ever put in the same sentence. Can't speak for the 3rd party developers but Nintendo always seems to deliver fun games that you can play over and over. They have since the original NES which is why people download the games nintendo released 20+ years ago.

Comment by: SProdigy (May 23, 2008 23:37)

Quote:
Originally posted by DoomLight:
its amazing to me. how a white flat coloured game cube is selling so much more.

no one gave a shet about gamecube hardly, but as soon as they over clock it like 8mhz and give it a different name it sells a buttload.

but to me this oen last long. these lousy benchmarks amount to nothing. cause this system prolly wont last more than 2 years tops before it runs out of new ideas. specially the shetty graphics holding it back for one thing.

and the lack of quality control since the 80% of the games are crap. and the good 20% come from the first party only.

Well it has been going for over a year and half of being continuously sold out everywhere you go. No other system can say that. Also lack of quality control and nintendo isn't something I would ever put in the same sentence. Can't speak for the 3rd party developers but Nintendo always seems to deliver fun games that you can play over and over. They have since the original NES which is why people download the games nintendo released 20+ years ago.


Nintendo doesn't do enough to filter the "crap" games, but who's to blame them. Parents buy the Wii for their kids, and obviously are going to go with Spongebob games, etc.

Don't knock the Wii's graphics. The only thing people can complain about is 480p being the highest resolution output; and from lackluster Blu-Ray sales, I don't think the majority cares about HD content at the moment.

If you put a 360 and Wii side by side and compare on an SDTV, there's not a huge difference. The major difference is the QUALITY in the game, as some publishers, for example EA Sports, put out a PS2 port of a game to the Wii instead of trying to push the hardware. Honestly, the Wii version of Madden 08 looks worse than the Gamecube version from last year! How is that possible when everyone says the Wii is a Gamecube?

Games like Zelda, Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime really shine on the Wii. Other developers are catching up, as games like No More Heroes can show you.

Also, WiiWare titles like Lost Wind look incredible and fit on the internal system memory! So why do you need gigabytes upon gigabytes of storage for a game when Lost Wind is a 48 MEGABYTE game? I really think some of the devs are just too lazy to clean up their act, or some games are filled with more voice-acting, FMV, and other stuff that is not entirely necessary.

It will be really interesting to see if a certain game engine or video codec comes around that really makes the Wii shine, so other devs can up the ante a bit.

Don't get me wrong, I love the HD feel of games like Madden (360) or Call of Duty 4, but when people start telling me GTA4's dark choppy graphics are "great", I want to smack them upside their head!

Comment by: iiyama66 (May 24, 2008 08:46)

its simple really, Nintendo delivered a totally different gaming experience, which was next gen, unlike Sony & Microsoft.

Just like Apple, Nintendo do it their own way and influence the market, without doubt Sony & Microsoft will follow, motion controllers will be out ASAP for their systems and the next gen will def have them.

It was clear when Nintendo first showed off the motion controllers both Sony & Microsoft thought f**k! Hence the Sony's sudden and last minute change to their controler prior to release.

So, whatever you think Nintendo have changed the games industry forever, not only have sales spiked they have altered the landscape of the gaming experience.

How can that be bad?!

Comment by: ZippyDSM (May 24, 2008 12:51)

Originally posted by iiyama66:
its simple really, Nintendo delivered a totally different gaming experience, which was next gen, unlike Sony & Microsoft.

Just like Apple, Nintendo do it their own way and influence the market, without doubt Sony & Microsoft will follow, motion controllers will be out ASAP for their systems and the next gen will def have them.

It was clear when Nintendo first showed off the motion controllers both Sony & Microsoft thought f**k! Hence the Sony's sudden and last minute change to their controler prior to release.

So, whatever you think Nintendo have changed the games industry forever, not only have sales spiked they have altered the landscape of the gaming experience.

How can that be bad?!

there is no alteration to the gameing landscape the industry is still impoporionatly chasing power and graphics even the main companies that make games are not making WII games EA and 1 other multi console dev is porting down to the WII the rest are not.

The WII is doing well but mostly through its multi headed penetration in the consumer market, between gamers,non gamers and casuals its able to grab a wider consumer base, the trouble is non gamers and lite casuals wont buy games regularly, the attach rate is kinda low for something selling so well.

Comment by: SProdigy (May 24, 2008 18:42)

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by iiyama66:
its simple really, Nintendo delivered a totally different gaming experience, which was next gen, unlike Sony & Microsoft.

Just like Apple, Nintendo do it their own way and influence the market, without doubt Sony & Microsoft will follow, motion controllers will be out ASAP for their systems and the next gen will def have them.

It was clear when Nintendo first showed off the motion controllers both Sony & Microsoft thought f**k! Hence the Sony's sudden and last minute change to their controler prior to release.

So, whatever you think Nintendo have changed the games industry forever, not only have sales spiked they have altered the landscape of the gaming experience.

How can that be bad?!

there is no alteration to the gameing landscape the industry is still impoporionatly chasing power and graphics even the main companies that make games are not making WII games EA and 1 other multi console dev is porting down to the WII the rest are not.

The WII is doing well but mostly through its multi headed penetration in the consumer market, between gamers,non gamers and casuals its able to grab a wider consumer base, the trouble is non gamers and lite casuals wont buy games regularly, the attach rate is kinda low for something selling so well.


Speaking of the attach rates, the manufacturers all complain about piracy hurting sales. MS didn't drop the ban hammer for Live until devs started complaining about bootlegging.

I hate to say this, but we all know it's true: when the PS3 gets cracked, and Blu-Ray burners/media are cheaper, that's when the PS3 will catch up in this race. It's fairly obvious, especially in the handheld realm of the DS and PSP, where consoles are flying off the shelf, but software... not so much!

Comment by: ZippyDSM (May 24, 2008 19:02)

Originally posted by SProdigy:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by iiyama66:
its simple really, Nintendo delivered a totally different gaming experience, which was next gen, unlike Sony & Microsoft.

Just like Apple, Nintendo do it their own way and influence the market, without doubt Sony & Microsoft will follow, motion controllers will be out ASAP for their systems and the next gen will def have them.

It was clear when Nintendo first showed off the motion controllers both Sony & Microsoft thought f**k! Hence the Sony's sudden and last minute change to their controler prior to release.

So, whatever you think Nintendo have changed the games industry forever, not only have sales spiked they have altered the landscape of the gaming experience.

How can that be bad?!

there is no alteration to the gameing landscape the industry is still impoporionatly chasing power and graphics even the main companies that make games are not making WII games EA and 1 other multi console dev is porting down to the WII the rest are not.

The WII is doing well but mostly through its multi headed penetration in the consumer market, between gamers,non gamers and casuals its able to grab a wider consumer base, the trouble is non gamers and lite casuals wont buy games regularly, the attach rate is kinda low for something selling so well.


Speaking of the attach rates, the manufacturers all complain about piracy hurting sales. MS didn't drop the ban hammer for Live until devs started complaining about bootlegging.

I hate to say this, but we all know it's true: when the PS3 gets cracked, and Blu-Ray burners/media are cheaper, that's when the PS3 will catch up in this race. It's fairly obvious, especially in the handheld realm of the DS and PSP, where consoles are flying off the shelf, but software... not so much!



Well looking at how the PS3 is doing its catching up fairly well, but it would probably try and out pace the WII (if the WII attach rate drops which I don't think it will) when the PS3 games can be easily copied.

But true be told piracy is neither a gain nor a loss for a console because thos willing to pirate and knowhow to do it are to small a number,it might up console sales but I see it doing little for sustanited software sale.


For all the console/game fanboys out their.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles...Console-Rundown
Oh god I can't stop laughing!!!
---
And for the format nazi's I bring you HHD DVVD BVD's!!

Comment by: wetsparks (May 24, 2008 21:51)

Quote:
Speaking of the attach rates, the manufacturers all complain about piracy hurting sales. MS didn't drop the ban hammer for Live until devs started complaining about bootlegging.

I hate to say this, but we all know it's true: when the PS3 gets cracked, and Blu-Ray burners/media are cheaper, that's when the PS3 will catch up in this race. It's fairly obvious, especially in the handheld realm of the DS and PSP, where consoles are flying off the shelf, but software... not so much!

the ds has the highest attach rate of any handheld, ever. it has an attach rate that usually happens on consoles.

I have a Wii, got Zelda and Mario Galaxy for it. And quite frankly after one and a half play throughs of Zelda and one time through Galaxy I have gone back to my PS2. The novelty of waving the remote around to get something done wears off fast. I got to admit it works good as a light gun, rail shooters are making a come back and Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles is a tonne of fun, but it does tend to wear off. If you think that all consoles in the future are going to have motion sensing then there is going to be a huge uprising in PC gaming, or someone else (Apple, EA) are going to come out with a console that has normal gaming and they are going to sell bundles because there is still a market for it since people are still buying ps3s and 360s.

Comment by: ZippyDSM (May 24, 2008 23:15)

wetsparks

for me there is no diffrance in the input data for motion and the analog sticks, the industry has not realized as much the industry also dose not quite understand the need for consumers to have control options in interactive media.

Comment by: wetsparks (May 24, 2008 23:45)

there is a difference. that is why Nintendo did it, to be different. with it comes less functionality because there isn't as much easily accessible buttons and having to replace it with flailing your arms in different directions to get things done. can you imagine trying to put a game like kingdom hearts or god of war on the wii, the controls would be a disaster. I understand no more heroes is a button masher also, but from what I understand it isn't the same kind of button masher as the other two.

Comment by: ZippyDSM (May 25, 2008 00:14)

Originally posted by wetsparks:
there is a difference. that is why Nintendo did it, to be different. with it comes less functionality because there isn't as much easily accessible buttons and having to replace it with flailing your arms in different directions to get things done. can you imagine trying to put a game like kingdom hearts or god of war on the wii, the controls would be a disaster. I understand no more heroes is a button masher also, but from what I understand it isn't the same kind of button masher as the other two.

note I said "data", when it comes down to what can be done you get maybe 3X as many combinations of course the big trouble with the motion sensing on the wii is no fine tweaking to taste and no high resolution sensing in the motion.

point is the wii has 2-4 less buttons and 1 analog stick than the current standard, for a game like GOW you'd just bind the attack buttons to the triggers and the big button on the mote,jump would be one of the smaller ones or on the Dpad or the button under the analog stick, block,magic and magic selection could be simple motion setups,plus with alil foresight in layout design a jump or block button could toggle a diffrent button to do something else while its depressed.

One of the the troubles with the wii is fine motion sensing if you keep it simple it will work fine.


The wii is not a bad idea its implamentation ia bit off, I drew up some half arsed designs over a control system based off the WII's NC it had 3 face buttons,plus the 2 trigger/shoulder buttons, a button would be under the each analog stick and it would have a small Dpad off to the corner these can be used indapendantly or connected together to make a whole pad, and you can connect them as with the Dpad facing in or have both Dpads facing out, a start and select button could be placed on above the analog stick to finish off the design, also would like a left/right switch on each pad as so the user can adjust when they need to.

its almost like a dual shock pad but with the analog sticks pushed into curved areas a bit, with 3 buttons under it,start and select over it,the Dpad is off to the left on one and the right of the other.

The point of this design is to ensure you can do motion if you want it or not if you don't.

Comment by: wetsparks (May 25, 2008 04:24)

the problem with putting jump on the d pad is that you can't quickly switch between attacking with a and b and then move your hand to the d pad to jump. I can see maybe, and that is a big maybe, using magic with motion controls, but that would get really old, really fast in places where you need your magic and you need it repeatably. maybe jump with c and block being z. the +/- are positioned so that you can't get to them quickly, same with 1/2 buttons. it just doesn't work well for button mashers and the like, slower paced games like zelda and mario it worked fine for though.

Comment by: ZippyDSM (May 25, 2008 05:05)

Originally posted by wetsparks:
the problem with putting jump on the d pad is that you can't quickly switch between attacking with a and b and then move your hand to the d pad to jump. I can see maybe, and that is a big maybe, using magic with motion controls, but that would get really old, really fast in places where you need your magic and you need it repeatably. maybe jump with c and block being z. the +/- are positioned so that you can't get to them quickly, same with 1/2 buttons. it just doesn't work well for button mashers and the like, slower paced games like zelda and mario it worked fine for though.

thats why the shoulder buttons are used for attacking, the down dpad or analog stick button would be prefect for jump, I see your point the WII is not best designed for "real" games, because the motion deal is shorehorned in you are forced to use it even if its not the best option for the game .

Comment by: SProdigy (May 25, 2008 17:13)

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by wetsparks:
the problem with putting jump on the d pad is that you can't quickly switch between attacking with a and b and then move your hand to the d pad to jump. I can see maybe, and that is a big maybe, using magic with motion controls, but that would get really old, really fast in places where you need your magic and you need it repeatably. maybe jump with c and block being z. the +/- are positioned so that you can't get to them quickly, same with 1/2 buttons. it just doesn't work well for button mashers and the like, slower paced games like zelda and mario it worked fine for though.

thats why the shoulder buttons are used for attacking, the down dpad or analog stick button would be prefect for jump, I see your point the WII is not best designed for "real" games, because the motion deal is shorehorned in you are forced to use it even if its not the best option for the game .


Mario Kart can use the Gamecube controllers, and I believe the Classic as well. I know the classic controller isn't mandated, but it has plenty of buttons to compare to the 360/PS3 controllers.

So, some devs could use the "other" Wii controllers if they really needed it. Considering some gamers buy a console just to play that "must have" game (MGS, GTA) then I don't see a problem with shelling out $15-20 for a controller.

Comment by: ZippyDSM (May 25, 2008 17:27)

Originally posted by SProdigy:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by wetsparks:
the problem with putting jump on the d pad is that you can't quickly switch between attacking with a and b and then move your hand to the d pad to jump. I can see maybe, and that is a big maybe, using magic with motion controls, but that would get really old, really fast in places where you need your magic and you need it repeatably. maybe jump with c and block being z. the +/- are positioned so that you can't get to them quickly, same with 1/2 buttons. it just doesn't work well for button mashers and the like, slower paced games like zelda and mario it worked fine for though.

thats why the shoulder buttons are used for attacking, the down dpad or analog stick button would be prefect for jump, I see your point the WII is not best designed for "real" games, because the motion deal is shorehorned in you are forced to use it even if its not the best option for the game .


Mario Kart can use the Gamecube controllers, and I believe the Classic as well. I know the classic controller isn't mandated, but it has plenty of buttons to compare to the 360/PS3 controllers.

So, some devs could use the "other" Wii controllers if they really needed it. Considering some gamers buy a console just to play that "must have" game (MGS, GTA) then I don't see a problem with shelling out $15-20 for a controller.


last I checked its the same "13" button setup everyone else has, only less ergonomic than the dual shock pad, the dual shock lay out is pretty much the best it just has lose analog sticks...I hate that.....

But the current standard is 1-2 "function" buttons
(this could be MSs MS button or the normal start/select buttons) then you have 4 shoulder buttons,4 face buttons and 2 buttons under the analog sticks, 4+4+2+2 is 12 I know I can count..(sometimes) but the Dpad counts as a button even if its 4 in one.


The 360 layout is ok but better than the Cubes was the cubes was the most odd it felt like they were trying to be different for the sake of it and the wii mote/NC carry some of thos design quirks, it would be ncie if they came out with a better egronomicly designed set sale it for 60-90$ put some turbo features on it and maybe some sentivty dails...at least admit non causals/non "non gamers" play the damn thing.....


For all the console/game fanboys out their.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles...Console-Rundown
Oh god I can't stop laughing!!!
---
And for the format nazi's I bring you HHD DVVD BVD's!!

Comment by: borhan9 (May 27, 2008 00:49)

I love the nintendo wii its great and i just bought one and i have to say its the best investment that i have made so far. I truely urge parents out there if you want to get your kids active get the nintendo wii it makes them move around and the wii fit is a great addition to accquire as well.

I wish i was getting money for the above statement.

   

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