wii a success

600,000 First-Week Purchases Attracting Veteran and New Gamers



Built on a foundation of pure fun, Nintendo's new Wii video game system sold through to more than 600,000 consumers in the Americas in just its first eight days of availability. That's a rate of nearly one per second continuously since the Nov. 19 launch. Including just first-party software and accessory sales, Wii instantly has become a $190 million business in the Americas. During the Thanksgiving holiday shopping weekend, there was plenty of conversation across the nation about the high demand for the Wii system, with the acknowledgment that if you see one, you'd better buy it. "Even with sales already in excess of 600,000 units, demand continues to exceed supply, as it's clear this is one of the 'gotta-have' products for the holiday season," says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "We've shipped retailers several times the amount of hardware the other company was able to deliver for its launch around the same time - and we still sold out. Given the inclusive nature of Wii game play, we're seeing this new form of video gaming is already a huge hit with gamers and newcomers alike. It continues to be a phenomenal launch." The system also is succeeding in its stated mission of reinvigorating current players, while attracting new ones. Every Wii system includes the five-game Wii Sports software, which is the talk of the Internet, featuring countless reports on how previously devout non-gamers have suddenly been converted via the amazing new way games are experienced using the system's remarkable controller. At the same time, the masterful The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, a favorite of avid gamers, already has achieved sales of more than 454,000 units in the Americas, representing more than 75 percent of all hardware purchasers. Licensees, pleased not only with the sales performance of the Wii, but also its creative development capabilities, are publicly sharing their comments: "Madden NFL 07 is a great example of how the Wii gives players a whole new experience on their favorite games," says EA Studio President Paul Lee. "EA's creative teams are working to build more Wii features into some of our most popular franchises." "The creativity we've been able to unleash on the Wii system with our game Red Steel has been eye-opening for our development teams," explains Ubisoft President Laurent Detoc. "Having the opportunity to design and develop entirely new game-play experiences using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk is both exciting and rewarding." Classic games also are proving to be a hit on Wii, which offers downloadable access to 20 years of the best of Nintendo, Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx16 hits via the system's Virtual Console feature.