AfterDawn: News

European Wii sold out

Nintendo announced the Wii European launch figures, 325,000 consoles were shipped in the first wave all over Europe, and during the weekend, or two days, every single Wii had been sold, which made it the fastest selling home console in history.

The first fanatics formed queues three days before the launch date to get their very own Wii, and after the weekend there are still many who await replenishment to their local retailers. Nintendo's own The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was sold with three out of four consoles, a total of 240,000 copies, and 50 percent of Wii buyers also bought Wii Play, which includes a Wii Remote.



Nintendo is assuring that tons of consoles will be shipped before Christmas and 2007, "For those who were unable to buy Wii during the launch weekend, rest assured more stock is already on its way and we are doing everything possible to ensure that a steady supply of Wii units is shipped to stores across Europe throughout December and into 2007,” said Marketing Director for Nintendo Europe, Laurent Fischer.

Not only Wii sold on a record-breaking pace, Nintendo DS sold more than 515,000 units in Europe during last week, bringing the handheld's European sales to 8,5 million units.

Source:
Press release

Written by: Matti Robinson @ 13 Dec 2006 3:46

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• 14 comments

• MightyOne

  Good for Nintendo....i've always liked Nintendo. My last unit was NES64, then i went to xbox...i'm thinking of going back though as i have a 3 and 10 year old and xbox games are just too adult and violent.

  13.12.2006 04:39 #1

• mrtoast2

  I am the same, I have a 360 and will get a ps3 in about two years. I think it is great Nintendo is doing so well and I hope they can sustain it into the future.
  
  Go Nintendo!
  
  
  Hell, GO anyone who has good games!

  13.12.2006 04:55 #2

• arcanix

  Go nintendo indeed!
  
  
  
  

  13.12.2006 08:09 #3

• tabletpc

  im very happy
  
  this is why sony cannot charge 600.00 for a videogame console because this not only is driving more gamers to xbox360 and the wii but do to all the problems with the ps3 gamers are quite mad at sony right now

  13.12.2006 13:02 #4

• ZippyDSM

  Good,shows nintendo is still in the game on a good scale its a shame the WII is a bit lacking but it makes up fr it..the 360 is still lost and the PS3 cant find its head for its arse....

  14.12.2006 06:17 #5

• Jay05

  they are releasing more Wii's in the US tomorrow...December 17, 2006. is anyone going out to get one?

  16.12.2006 11:23 #6

• igounfaze

  Well, I tell you that I have had some very bad years throughout the time that Nintendo was looked down upon by the majority of New Gamers.
  
  Always the talk about 'graphics, speed, et.' and how good it was that those things made their game look so real and life like.
  
  This may be a bit bias. I have, since right after coleco, been a Nintendo fan. I even painted my bedroom in the NES colors. (aahhhhh. Those were the days...)
  
  But to my point: New Gamers quest for better graphics and internal hardware left Old Gamers out in the cold from what we all really want: "GOOD GAMES" - Story lines, Character development, and overall ENTERTAINMENT.
  
  I left the counsel scene and moved on to PC. -Mainly because as I got older, I also became cheaper.
  
  But I went back to the counsel scene and bought me an eBay deal for 2 GameCubes, and about 16 games. One for me and one for my little cousin. (I will never buy for myself or other family member anything but Nintendo.)
  
  Then I realized: I should never have left the counsel for gaming. That is what they are made for. And they do it so well.
  
  And that is the main point for this: I read Bunny's book on xbox hacking and he pointed this out. Comparing the the xbox, PC, and GC. The GC was best for GAMING out of the three because that is what it was made for.
  
  The xbox and Pc were similar to each other. GC was not comparable to them because Nintendo made a system just for GAMING.
  
  I know the PS is for gaming, but that isn't its sole purpose, it plays movies as well. I can go on about that issue there and how they incorporate that into there games, but I am not.
  
  With the point that I am showing is this: Nintendo has always had their eyesight focused on one aspect of the whole gaming industry: THE GAMER. Yes, they work for a profit, how else could they continue and own a home and support a family. But they never loose sight of us, the gamers.
  
  Those other counsel makers don't have just us gamers in mind. That's one of the reasons for playing movies on their systems. "feature packed" counsels that get marketed to the regular person that may not be interested in games. Buy a $600 PS3 or a $1k B.R. player? Cover all fields and make a sale.
  
  That's why I am really glad that Nintendo never looses sight of themselves and their ideals. Gaming System made for Gamers. Games that Gamers will play 2 decades down.
  
  You don't want to know just how ecstatic I am about Sony biting the big one with their $600 system. Nothing really big against them. Other than the fact, that the only people they really care about, are the ones depicted on our currency.
  
  I hope Nintendo's most recent success serves to wake ALL people up about item costs and item uses. You don't need to pay $1,000.00 for something that does a great job when you can pay $250.00 for something that does that same job equal to or better than. Keeping item function in mind.
  
  We should all let Nintendo, and other companies that keep their customers in heart of their goals, know that their efforts are greatly appreciated.
  
  And to prove a point. Any Basketball enthusiast on the sight can go over to www.starbury.com and click "the goods" link to see exactly what I am talking about.

  16.12.2006 12:46 #7

• akaangus

  Since waiting in line for my Wii at launch day, I have not seen a single system anywhere (and I have been looking every time I go to a store that sells them). I have seen probably about 200 copies of Zelda around though (combined from different stores). Future Shop had two full racks of the game.
  
  I have heard people talking about the extremely high sell through of the game, but at least around here (North Eastern Ontario, Canada) there is a glut of Zeldas and NO Wiis.

  16.12.2006 14:28 #8

• ZippyDSM

  igounfaze
  I could kiss you in fact *KISS and leaves the area wet with drool*
  Mmm lest I didnt miss *L*
  
  
  My main gripe about consoles is pubs have forced devs to overlook game control and gameplay to worship at the house of the blind graphical goddess ,I am so sick and tired of shallow games look at Halo 2 (a 6) and Quake 4 (a 5) the main reason why halo 2 is not a 8 is because no button mapping just acouple of cheap ass cookie cutter crap setups,poorly setup for southpaws the graphical,piratical and other small glitches that take away from the game,Quake 4 is jsut poorly made sure the story and VAing is ok but the level design is piss poor and the weapons are poorly balanced....
  
  basically games that are not polished are not great games...and they don't make great games anymore...

  16.12.2006 14:38 #9

• akaangus

  Quote:basically games that are not polished are not great games...and they don't make great games anymore...I totally agree with you there ZIppy. Things are only going to get worse with these microtransactions and online upgrades. I don't remember the exact quote but someone from SquareEnix said online upgrades would be great because they can put games out faster and fix bugs later.
  
  Not only is this crappy because you will need to constantly update your games, but I don't think they realize that NOT EVERYONE CONNECTS THEIR SYSTEMS TO THE INTERNET!

  16.12.2006 15:16 #10

• ZippyDSM

  Quote:I totally agree with you there ZIppy. Things are only going to get worse with these microtransactions and online upgrades. I don't remember the exact quote but someone from SquareEnix said online upgrades would be great because they can put games out faster and fix bugs later.
  
  Not only is this crappy because you will need to constantly update your games, but I don't think they realize that NOT EVERYONE CONNECTS THEIR SYSTEMS TO THE INTERNET!and in lies that is the pain,only FLAGSHIP games will be updated the rest will be ignored I could see games that sale well getting some corporate approved patching but in all the gray death will frown on spending time and money and a buggy game that dose not sale well or is not one of their oh so crappy flagship titles....now add the pending doom "buy able" content that has a large chance to bring in "bought patch's" or games sold in pieces ....it seems only nintendo understands game are games and need to have some form of polish on them befor they get pressed.
  
  I am not sayign Nintendo is prefect but at least they are going is a better direction than the "OMG SHINY UPGRADE!*CLING*"
  >>
  

  
  
  FIGHT THE M.A.F.I.A.A.
  Sony has declared war on importers the consumer will be next with CD's,Videos/Games not far behind that....boycott SONY!
  http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/8062.cfm

  16.12.2006 15:47 #11

• DR34MER

  Oh please. Big N are going the same route as MS and Sony with microtransactions and pay-as-you-go content in the form of their older titles, min games and game addons.
  
  The only thing Nintendo did better than MS and Sony this time was to maximise their profit on a per console basis - hang on...! That's what they do every time.....sheeshkaboobies people --- learn your console history!
  
  

  16.12.2006 20:34 #12

• igounfaze

  Really? Counsel history!?
  
  Let me see... well, I am aware of NUMEROUS years of great games that have been provided by Nintendo. Those years of game titles (even if some retro are for a fee) are all inclusive.
  
  MS?? Some titles not retroactive,,, oh, hold on wait: buy this thing and then it works... sorry, we didn't think about the games we first made.
  
  Or how about this: Sure the old games work... But you have to continuously update your systems software in order to play current games.....
  
  Or even better: The next system will cost you $200 to $300 more than our previous system for X reasons. Yeah, I know everyone doesn't have that kind of money, but people will buy it anyway. (Lets not talk about the rips going on with eBay because of this mentality.)
  
  Sooo. History, thinking about it and what it means, will easily show that Nintendo has always been considerate to the customer. MS has been in the Gaming arena how long? It's short gaming history has already proven one thing: they sell EVERYTHING separately. Movies? Sure. But buy the control. If not, no movies for you. Sony locks every feature that is capable with their systems out from the consumer and gives you bits of it every upgrade (PSP version 8 now??).
  
  Nintendo: Wii: backwards compatible to GAMECUBE games you already have (even the Action Replay thing works on it) that you already own, and then retro nes, snes, and other titles they came to ownership of, all down-load-able.
  
  I'm sorry. But history doesn't compare. Nintendo has a longer history than the other two. And the other two's shorter history shows no love for the consumer, only the consumer's dollar.
  
  I guess before seeing the future, without knowing the past, you can always make an ASSumption.
  
  But hey. This is only my opinion.

  16.12.2006 21:14 #13

• humzaiq

  i got hit by lightning for spamming this fine site!!! edited by ddp

  5.2.2007 10:08 #14