35 Million DSes Sold, 6 Million Wiis By End of March 146
Wowzer writes "Nintendo just announced its quarterly sales for the end of 2006. Sales for the 9 months were up 72%, while net income was up 43%. From the article: '[There will be] worldwide shipments of 6 million Wii systems by the end of March 2007. Nintendo has sold 35 million DS and DS Lite to date ... As for the next fiscal year, Nintendo expect to sell around 23 million DS Lites, bringing the estimated total of DS units to 58 million by March 31, 2008.' New Super Mario Bros. seems to have legs of its own with 8.64 million copies sold worldwide and continued strong sales. But they seem slow to ship out those Wii with 4 million manufactured last year and 810,000 of those not arriving to stores until now."
Hmm (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Hmm (Score:4, Funny)
Avoid the link if your IT department checks logs! (Score:3, Informative)
So, thanks. Thanks for sharing that.
Faulty NPD Numbers (Score:2)
Sounds like even more evidence that the NPD numbers were faulty. 1.1 million in NA in 2006? I think not!
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Actually, NPD didn't give the numbers for our 51st state* to the North, did they? So I suppose that would explain the discrepency between their numbers and Nintendo's. Nintendo tracks by North America as a whole while NPD only gave the US.
P.S. Can we fix the ecode tag so that it's no longer broken? It's annoying to no longer be able to lay out tabular data co
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I still can't get a Wii ! (Score:5, Interesting)
(For the record, this will be my first gaming system since the original NES, which I played as a kid.)
I'm looking forward to Wii Sports as a fun way to get my somewhat rounded body back into shape. Guess I'll just have to wait a bit longer. That or stop eating junk food.)
Re:I still can't get a Wii ! (Score:4, Interesting)
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And I am also in the crowd of those that still don't have one yet (I am not willing to spend time over nite, buy a bundle that includes games I don't want, and I flat
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Zelda
Redsteel
Elebits (this is a questionable one)
Exite Truck
possibly maden, I really have to try it out first, and the same goes for DBZ (I want to paly it a bit more before hand).
Get Madden, it rocks...
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I need to paly a bit more elebits before I descide if I want it or not.
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1) I hate paying a premium for items I could go out and buy if I wasn't lazy, mainly b/c I am lazy and patient (Zelda will rock jsut as hard a month from now as it did at release)
2) There are far to many instances of scumbags on E-Bay, where what what they do is technicaly not illegal or against ebay's rules, I still can't stand giving money to them.
And I am probably in the same camp as you about maden, it looks like an great control setup, however is that really enough
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I knew I had forgoten atleast one game, and rayman is it.
I am also very tempted by rampage, but that might jsut be nastolgia talking.
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It will change balance, but not ruin it. I own a Street Fighter game for the Cube, which has a "simple" input option. You can start special moves with just one button. The thing is, they still take quite a bit of time to execute and leave you open for attack. There are definitely way more special moves, but the "normal" moves are still used most of the time, and the whole game becomes quite a bit more frantic because you need less time to execute a special move, and therefore need to keep the other player f
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I have found the rumors to be accurate. I will say I lined up at target last Sunday. they opened at 8:00am and by 7:30 all 42 Wii's were accounted for. They had classic controllers and nun chucks, but no wii-motes.
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Also, by the time I get to that point, I'm hoping there are some new sporty games out. (Any suggestions?)
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Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 [ign.com]
SSX Blur Snowboarding [ign.com]
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link [thewiire.com]
Wii Sports = Fun Workout (Score:2)
I play about half an hour of Wii Boxing every day. I put small weights on my wrists (you can buy these at sports shops), and I can tell you, after 15 minutes, I'm sweating like a pig and my heart rate is pretty high. Obviously, you could just sit down, but it's a lot more fun while standing, especially for Boxing, which really requires you to move your body left and right to dodge hits.
And yes, I'm hoping there will be more "physical" sports games. There's another Golf game, but I'm guess it won't do too m
Re:I still can't get a Wii ! (Score:4, Informative)
At least in the case of Wii Sports, that doesn't work as well as it sounds. You *can* do it, but the movements are a lot less natural. Getting up and moving around makes the games a lot easier to play, which helps keep you on your feet.
The other thing that Wii Sports does is that it ramps up the challenge as you play. (Make sure you make yourself a Mii, or you won't have a save file!) So while you may start playing Wii Sports Tennis using leisurely swings, it won't be long before you find yourself concentrating hard on making more powerful swings in the direction you need the ball to go.
Last but not least, play some boxing. I know the "exhaustion" of your character takes some getting used to. Especially when he fails to punch for seemingly unknown reasons. But once you play it enough, it starts to make sense. You need to dodge the blows of your opponent, then knock him from the inside when his glove whooshes by your head. A nice strong punch followed by various jabs usually has him down on the ground in no time flat. Since there is no better cardiovascular workout than Boxing among the Wii Sports games, I highly recommend that you get acquainted with the gameplay. It will leave you breathing heavy and drenched in sweat. But you won't care because it feels just so darn good to get the exercise!
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True dat. I play Wii Sports on a daily basis, because it's fun for quick bursts, and I like to pretend the Fitness Age test actually has merit.
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And I still haven't got one either, waiting to find one.
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http://www.corwin.ca/wii/index.php?item=console [corwin.ca]
http://check4change.mozdev.org/ [mozdev.org]
New units are going on sale at both futureshop.ca and bestbuy.ca a couple of times a week. A batch of 100 sells out in about two minutes.
Wii Finder monitors the Wii pages from several online retailers and updates when they do. Check4Change is a Firefox plug-in that alerts you when a web page updates.
It's key that you create an account, and provide your address and credit card inf
4 million confusion (Score:2)
It is disappointing that they couldn't live up to their word. They may not have flubbed as much as Sony, but they still didn't get 4 million consoles into our hands when they said they would.
However, I'm much more concerned about their ability to sell another 2 million consoles before March ends and hit 6 mi
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From what other responders have said, the DSLite remains sold out even as we approach its first birthday. Were the Wii to duplicate that kind of demand, it's only criticism could likely be Nintendo's failure to provide adaquate supply.
I sincerely hope they can meet demand sooner rather than later. Eventually some rather beautiful and stunning games will come out for the PS3 and 360, and if Nintendo doesn't match those in a timely fashion with games
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They haven't been able to really ramp up their DS Lite production either, even though it's been out of stock since its release (Mars 2, 2006) in Japan and is becoming *very* hard to find in europe since November or so...
Re:4 million confusion (Score:5, Insightful)
It's a manufacturing capacity problem. Nintendo's business is sized according to the requirements of their previous generation of hardware. This unexpectedly high demand for Wiis has left them in dire need to increase their production capabilities. Unfortunately, it takes months to tool up a new factory and begin moving parts to that factory. And that factory won't even be able to work at full capacity if there's a shortage of some particular part. For example, the Wii cases are highly customized pieces of plastic. If the provider of those cases can't make enough to meet production needs, then the entire pipeline won't be able to operate at maximum capacity.
All I can say is that it's a good thing that Nintendo gets their chips from IBM. IBM is probably the only company that could provide Nintendo with enough customized microprocessors to scale with their needs.
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Manufacturers introduce new parts all the time. They usually take over the manufacturing facilities of the parts they're replacing. Accelerometers have been around long enough to where supply shouldn't be that big of a problem.
Actually, the Wii/GCN optical discs are the exact same technology as DVDs. The only difference is in a firmware update that allows the drive to
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Manufacturers don't introduce the first single chip three-axis accelerometer every day. We're talking about a new unique single-sourced chip from a manufacturer with relatively limited fab capacity.
They could produce more, but don't want to (Score:2)
I'm guessing that Nintendo probably could easily ramp up production. However, sooner or later, a large part of the "launch demand" will be satisfied, and they'll end up with production capacities way above what they need. You can't adjust production capacity to meet demand during the launch period, bcause it will always be very high. It's just bad business.
But you are right, they should at least meet Gamecube production.
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Bazillions sold (Score:4, Insightful)
If PS3 has showed us a lesson, is that we need a new metric for "x millions sold" with game consoles, that is, "x millions sold minus y millions returned after being unable to sell them at ebay for a premium price".
No, seriously, most PS3 were bought for reselling, while most wii's are bought for playing. And it, for me, it's a pretty big difference.
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Re:Bazillions sold (Score:4, Informative)
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Re:Bazillions sold (Score:4, Informative)
I'm not sure I agree with the GP -- however, as partial support for his claim, I believe that at least in Japan, the tie ratio (number of games sold / number of consoles sold) for the PS3 is less than one, which is pretty damning. I don't think that's true in the US, but I believe the ratio is still much worse than the Wii...
I share your skepticism that this means most are being bought to resell, but I think it does at least suggest a statistically significant chunk of them.
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Don't forget that many people buy the PS3 as a Blu-Ray disc player.
Is there any evidence for this? There certainly hasn't been any hype or media coverage of this phenomenon -- I don't think people were camping out in order to obtain a Blu-Ray player. This may account for some of the market, but unless there is evidence I really doubt it's a sizable percentage, certainly not enough to explain the poor game sales all by itself...
During the first year of my 360 ownership, the tie ratio was *zero*. All I
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GTHD (US and Japan) and Toro Station (Japan only). Those two are free, and Tekken 5 DR just came out as a download exclusive, which is not a bad deal for 2000Yen.
It's a considerably bad deal when you factor in the price of the console. Is there some reason it's plausible that a sizable fraction of the market would buy a $600 (or marginally less in Japan) next-gen machine just for the free downloadable content? It seems like you're claiming that these games explain why lots of people would buy a PS3 and n
DS sells out in April (Score:5, Interesting)
If you think the DS is hard to find now (apparently, it's hard to keep in stock, just like the Wii), just wait until April. April sees the release of Pokemon Diamond/Pearl. The Pokemon series has always been a huge seller for both the games and the Game Boy, but these DS games also include the functionality to use WiFi to battle and trade online. Battling and trading with friends has always been a staple of the game, but you'd have to physically find someone to battle/trade with first. Now you have the entire world to choose from.
I know that's when I'll be buying my DS. (Well, a bit earlier, to beat the rush.)
Re:DS sells out in April and June (Score:2)
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Well, that's because some games are significantly different between regions. That's not a DS problem, it's a general problem. If a game is release in Japan, they then fix some bugs and maybe even change some gameplay elements, and release the game in Europe, the two version may not be compatible with each other anymore.
Poor Sony (Score:2)
That makes their handheld killer, the loser.
And that makes their console, the loser.
All this from the company that entered this race pompously telling the world they were the top dog.
It wouldn't be utterly tragic for them if it weren't Nintendo that was kicking their ass. Nintendo
is a tiny, tiny company compared to Sony.
How soon will it be until heads roll at Sony corp?
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The trick to it is (Score:2)
Now, can anyone help me find some accessories? I can't find any wii-motes or classic controllers or anything.
Re:The trick to it is - Amazon.com (Score:1, Informative)
Get wireless Gamecube controllers instead (Score:5, Informative)
I play all of my VC games with wireless GC controllers after returning the unopened Classic controllers that I bought. Haven't regretted it for a second. And now that rechargeable batteries are dropping in price, there is no reason to get the Classic controller unless you simply want it for the sake of having it
And I've not seen a place out of stock of wireless GC controllers while the CC area remains out of stock.
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-f
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Besides, there are 3rd party, wireless GC controller manufacturers out there. I got three genuine controllers and a smaller, 3rd party controller for my daughter. I've played several hours of Sonic and SMB with the GC controller and haven't had a problem. Admittedly, it's not like those games require a lot of controller action.
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I must have gotten really lucky. I managed to get three additional Wiimotes and an additional nunchuck within a week of each other from two different stores.
Classic Controller == much better d-pad (Score:2)
Yep, the classic controller has a great d-pad (seems to be the same as the one on the DS lite). It totally blows the Cube's d-pad away. OTOH, the classic controller has the awkward "sony-style" analog controller placement. Can't have it all, I guess.
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My worst memories of GC were trying to play Soul Calibur 3 and never being able to do the B+X or B+Y
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I love the GC controller, but the d-pad was indeed a piece of shit. Fortunately, the classic controller and the wii remote have great d-pads (similar to those on the DS lite).
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Re:Get wireless Gamecube & Classic controllers (Score:2)
You know, I agree to a point but I like the mix of both.
I have a Gamecube, and I now have 5 Wavebirds. Yeah
great - the store will never load now (Score:1)
Great job Nintendo.
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I don't see anything about the DS that could be classified as a "lack of vision"
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Lack of vision? So the Touch Generation and the Nintendogs/Animal Crossing/Brain Age games show lack of vision to you? As opposed to the "let's just port PS2 games to the PSP it'll work well enough" and "Hey I've got that awesome idea of creating a handheld console with 3 hours of autonomy"?
Damn, if the DS shows a lack of vision, what does the PSP show? Utter blindness?
It has a
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Er... yeah, do you have any issue with the GBA?
You're aware that other games have been released since Super Mario 64 right?
You may be aware that the Nintendo DS is a game console, its first and foremost goal is to allow you
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uh, that depends, are they distributing GAMES on the UMD (which then, umd is no different from the DS cartridges, other than rediculous load times... 4+ minutes for some games) or 3rd rate sony movies on UMD to show on a tiny screen that only play on the DS? Hey, AC, are you Ken katarugi?
Re:Kind of makes you wish Nintendo had vision (Score:4, Interesting)
It's not because of marketing, Sony is no slouch there, nor because there aren't people loyal to Sony's platform. Sony's product simply makes it difficult to be loyal. Why do people want to re-buy their DVDs in a low res medium they can only play on the handheld, with no TV output, especially when Sony wants people to buy movies again in the high def Blu-Ray now? If the DS utilized UMD, I doubt it would be as small nor have the same battery life as the DS light. The media would be larger as well. Handhelds get carried around, sometimes on long trips, and these factors can be important. My wife and I used our DS systems on our last trip to Japan and had no worries about battery life on either ~11 hour flight - nor the extra connecting flights in Narita. No problems fitting both DS systems and all our games in carry-on luggage.
We picked up a bit of software for the DS in Japan as well, including DQM:Joker, a Japanese dictionary application for myself that uses the stylus to recognize input Japanese characters, and an English TOEIC training game for my wife. We also left a game from the US for my brother-in-law's kids. The lack of region coding (this even extends to the AC adapters between the US and Japan, both unlike the Wii unfortunately) in the DS systems makes it ideal for our usage. Not sure about the PSP, perhaps it also has no region encoding, but it felt good to not have to worry about regions.
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Not at all, that's an excellent point. I mentioned between US and Japan, as the US is typically 110-120v at 60hz; both our DS systems come with chargers that work from 100-120v at 50 and 60hz. Since my wife's family is in Japan I tend to travel there more than other places, so it's been perfect for us.
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$Target == "My Wii" or $Out-of-the-way = "Wii" (Score:2)
Another thing to do is to avoid the chain stores that are in prime locations. I got three Wiimotes and an additional nunchuck in a Toys R Us and GameS