Surprise surprise, Wii Sports Resort sells an unholy number of copies

by: Sean Colleli - posted: 8/8/2009 10:50:00 AM

From its July 26th launch date to August 3rd, Wii Sports Resort sold a scandalous 500,000+ copies.  And here I was thinking the waggle fad had passed, and the baby boomers had gone on to some shiny new knick nack for Oprah to talk up.  From what I've heard Resort really isn't that bad, but I've also been told not to believe the hype--only about half of the minigames are actually fun with some replay value, and MotionPlus has some serious calibration issues.  I'm also getting damn tired of these back-patting press releases Nintendo keeps sending out--don't they remember what happened the last time they got arrogant and self-indulgent? It was called the N64 and GameCube. 

I'm sure Resort will be like Wii Fit and the not-worth-the-plastic-it-was-pressed-on Wii Play, in that it will sell an ungodly number of copies for years to come.  At least this means WiiMotion Plus has a high attach rate...now, let's see if Nintendo does anything compelling with the peripheral, or if it will gather dust on the collective entertainment center of America with its plasticy white brethren Wii Wheel, Balance Board, Zapper and Wii Speak.  I'm hoping for a good Zelda or Starfox using the tech, but at this point it's a long shot.  At least we have Red Steel 2 to look forward to.

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nintendo has provided staycations to
thousands of people nationwide since the July 26 launch of its Wii
Sports Resort™ game. More than 500,000 units of the game for the Wii™
console sold in the United States through Aug. 3, according to
Nintendo’s internal tracking numbers. The collection of 12 fun
resort-themed sports lets players of all ages escape to a tropical
island for some year-round summer fun. The game comes with one Wii
MotionPlus™ accessory, which brings unmatched accuracy to games that
have been specially designed for it.

“Through Monday we sold one copy of Wii Sports Resort roughly every
1.5 seconds continuously since it launched in the United States,” said
Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of
Sales & Marketing. “This tells us consumers were eagerly waiting to
get their hands on these fun activities, and it’s a great start for a
game that will have long-lasting appeal.”

Wii Sports Resort includes archery, Swordplay, table tennis,
basketball, golf, bowling, Air Sports, Power Cruising, Frisbee®,
cycling, canoeing and wakeboarding. The game is easy enough for
novices to pick up but contains a tremendous amount of variety and
depth to keep veteran players and their friends and family members
entertained for hours on end.

Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage
the content their children can access. For more information about this
and other Wii features, visit Wii.com.

Wii Sports Resort is available at a suggested retail price of $49.99.
Additional Wii MotionPlus accessories are available at a suggested
retail price of $19.99 each. For more information about Wii Sports
Resort, visit www.WiiSportsResort.com.