Nintendo said Monday that its globally popular Wii has become the top-selling video game console in the United States, a crown coveted by rivals Microsoft and Sony.
Market-tracking firm NPD Group reports that 666,000 Wii consoles were sold in the United States in June, raising the total sales count in the country to nearly 10.9 million units.
Will sales eclipsed those of Microsoft's Xbox 360 consoles, which went on the market a year before the Wii was released in November of 2006, according to industry figures.
Earlier this year, U.S. sales of Xbox 360 consoles topped 10 million and prompted Microsoft to tout the milestone as a sign Xbox is destined to be more popular than Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3.
The rivals battled this week at an Electronic Entertainment Expo, each claiming to be the inevitable victor in the video game console war.
Wii consoles are credited with expanding the video game market beyond "hardcore gamers" with simple motion-sensing controllers and group-oriented games.
"As we have demonstrated this week during the E3 summit, Wii continues to pioneer new ways for people to interact with their video games and with one another," Nintendo marketing vice president Cammie Dunaway said in a statement.
The Japanese video game giant scored another victory with its DS portable devices, selling more than 783,000 in the United States in June to raise total sales there to 20.8 million units.
© Wire reports
9 Comments
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rjd_jr
Unfortunately good games are far too few for the Wii to sustain its momentum in the long run. Where are the next Mario and Zelda games? You can only come out with so much exercise or party type games before the fun wears out.
More games Nintendo or it's lights out.
BigRobu
Since it's geared for kids, the parents are buying them in droves. It will thin out soon as every kid has one. As for me, boring!
Zen_Builder
WII in japan has more games/titles for adults than the wee ones.
They cover a ton of other stuff like Yoga, health, etc same with the DS(they now even got an adapter to watch TV on the DS).
I would say in Japan the major market now is adults vs kids for both the WII and the DS.
Not surprising as the population ages the focus shifts, who got the REAL money now the teens or the baby-boomers.
Most companies worldwide now target the 40+ crowd vs the teen market. Been happening for years when the companies like BMW, etc started to market to the baby-boomers (50+ crowd) vs the newly-rich.
Hate to trump my own horn, but my company caters for the guys that like the old 70's and 80's Bikes. Doing a killing customizing and painting them, myself part of the crowd so we speak the same lingo.
Watch out for the 80's to kick in shortly just part of the 20~30 year cycle.
delitachan
They DO realize that most of the Nintendo Wiis purchased are sold on Ebay right?
Badsey
still very hard to find a Wii on store shelves = hotter than Ebi-chan eating a McD burger in summer.
Some people still don't understand the Wii and it's growth. Notice Nintendo has the portable market also.
JohnBecker
@delitachan: I'd love to see the facts to back up your statement. The fact is, it doesn't matter if they're being sold at retail or on Ebay. If Nintendo is selling all they can make, they don't care if consumers are buying them in Akihabara or Ameyoko.
Badsey
fact: I have only rarely seen a Wii on store shelves. I would say Craigslist is more popular though (local and free)
japanyesterday
the wii is just trendy, nothing else.
delitachan
Go to Ebay and check the listings yourself. Facts enough.
My point being that the console is not sold because OMG EVERYONE LOVES THE WII AND ITS AWESOME GAMES, but a lot of people are doing it to earn cash.