After reading the latest Nintendo flashback I feel like I'm suddenly transported back to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium where Nintendo is reeling off tons of statistics again, except this time Cyril isn't sitting next to me making snarky retorts. Nintendo has issued a missive touting their strong first half of sales both in terms of hardware (2.3M units sold in North America) and in terms of software (the top three games are all Nintendo games). The fun thing is that they point out how the Wii already has 180 games but that 120 of them are Virtual Console games.
The numbers are still fairly impressive but it should be noted that the real meat of the gaming season hasn't started yet. Sure the Pokemon games have sold well but
Madden 08 is right around the corner and are you really going to be interested in playing
Wii Play when
Halo 3,
Lair,
Mass Effect, and
GTA IV all hit stores in a few months? Sure there's the new Metroid game and the new Smash Brothers game coming out for the Wii but it's a pretty steep drop after that (OK,
Boogie looks good). Time will tell if the strategy pays off but it's a little early to call the battle won.
10 Fast Facts from Nintendo – First Half 2007*
--Through the first half of 2007, the total Wii™ hardware sell-through in
the United States and Canada combined is more than 2.3 million units (2.1
million United States, 222,000 Canada).
--For the first half of 2007, Nintendo represents nearly 70 percent of the
industry growth in the United States and Canada combined.
--In June alone, Wii was once again the top-selling home console with
nearly 435,000 units sold in the United States and Canada combined (381,800
United States, 53,000 Canada).
--In June alone, Nintendo DS™ was the top-selling video game system overall
with nearly 608,000 units sold in the United States and Canada combined
(562,000 United States, 46,000 Canada).
--Nintendo remained the top video game publisher in the United States and
Canada in June, as well as the top publisher for all of 2007.
--In June alone, Nintendo has six of the top 10 best-selling games in the
United States, including the top four: Mario Party® 8 and Wii Play™ for
Wii, and Pokémon® Diamond and Pokémon® Pearl for Nintendo DS.
--Of the top 30 best-selling games in the United States for all of 2007,
half are for Nintendo systems.
--The three best-selling games in the United States for all of 2007 are for
Nintendo systems: Pokémon Diamond, Wii Play and Pokémon Pearl.
--Wii already boasts more than 180 games, including 120 downloadable
Virtual Console™ titles. By the end of the year, that total number will
climb to about 330 games, including an additional 100 new games from every
major third-party publisher, along with an additional 50 Virtual Console
titles.
--Approximately 300 games are already available for Nintendo DS, with
another 140 titles expected by the end of the year from every major third-
party publisher.