AfterDawn: News

Wii sales were 'huge' on Black Friday

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has noted that Wii console sales in the US for the Thanksgiving weekend were 'huge', with the company selling 800,000 units in three days.

Last year for the same period the company sold only 350,000 units of the popular game console.



As if there was any question on where the Wii would fall on the hardware sales charts, these numbers guarantee the top spot. However, many retailers are reporting that they are sold out of the console, with one notable exception, Wal-Mart, which says they have "tens of thousands" extra in stock.

"When the economy is strong, people tend to buy three things from the top of their wish list," Iwata said to Reuters. "But when things are bad, people often buy only the first thing on their list - Fortunately for us a lot of shoppers put our products at the top of their list."

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 8 Dec 2008 15:54

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• 33 comments

• Paladore

  amazing, amazing so many people still buying this box. well nintendo proved they can sell a system with very few good games and people still gonna buy it. great marketing . lot of fat chicks who think they gonna lose weight with this and kids whos parents dont know any better are getting these for christmas.

  8.12.2008 16:01 #1

• bryston

  Hayley is getting one from Auntie Jo for Christmas !
  (I too bought it on black friday :) )
  
  
  Jo

  8.12.2008 16:10 #2

• PetahG

  Originally posted by Paladore: amazing, amazing so many people still buying this box. well nintendo proved they can sell a system with very few good games and people still gonna buy it. great marketing . lot of fat chicks who think they gonna lose weight with this and kids whos parents dont know any better are getting these for christmas.Nintendo really outdid themselves this time....bravo to them

  8.12.2008 18:57 #3

• varnull

  Quote:very few good gamesAnd what would you call a good game?.. more war, death and violence I suppose.
  

  
  
  Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work.
  I would rather you hate me for who I am than love me for what I am not.
  Welcome to the other side of the looking glass Alice

  8.12.2008 19:02 #4

• Paladore

  less mario and more original non kiddie games. yes and why not more violence in games. Nintendo isn't exactlly only kid games. They have had huge titles in past, good shooters, rpg's. It seems there is so much crap out ther for the wii minus literally 5 or 6 titles that are good. Boom blox is pretty fun and original but allthe good games are just sequals or clones of other games....Smash , mario kart are 2 that come to mind and both are excellent but they need to realize not just casual gamers are buying the wii. I gag when i watch my kid play his wii how lame some of these games are.

  8.12.2008 19:59 #5

• DVDBack23

  Originally posted by Paladore: less mario and more original non kiddie games. yes and why not more violence in games. Nintendo isn't exactlly only kid games. They have had huge titles in past, good shooters, rpg's. It seems there is so much crap out ther for the wii minus literally 5 or 6 titles that are good. Boom blox is pretty fun and original but allthe good games are just sequals or clones of other games....Smash , mario kart are 2 that come to mind and both are excellent but they need to realize not just casual gamers are buying the wii. I gag when i watch my kid play his wii how lame some of these games are.Im not a Wii owner but my roommate is and I must that although there are some horrible games on the Wii, the same crap is on the 360 and the PS3, its just in worse graphics for the Wii :P

  8.12.2008 20:22 #6

• Hyasuma

  yea, maybe they should have more violent games, but thats not what the Nintendo's are doing, they are making the game system that involves everyone, family, so you don't just sit in your own room and play kill kill kill, shoot shoot shoot, head shot, slash and dash games. Nintendo is different, why have to be the same as Xbox and PS? i'm not saying violent games are bad, hell, i love to play them, but do you think my parents would? probably not. Nintendo are just trying to involve everyone that all can play, so the parents can spent time with their kids, have family time, its not because is kiddy games, its about involving everyone around you, not just some ass- o in the game talking trash over the mic, or play games by yourself in your room and ignoring lunch, dinner and sleep, maybe munch here and there, and play more..<---is that a life? Anyways, all i'm saying is that Nintendo did a great job for involving family and friends together and I think thats a great for them, because they took a different role than what Sony and Mic did.

  8.12.2008 21:06 #7

• ZippyDSM

  Quote:Originally posted by Paladore: less mario and more original non kiddie games. yes and why not more violence in games. Nintendo isn't exactlly only kid games. They have had huge titles in past, good shooters, rpg's. It seems there is so much crap out ther for the wii minus literally 5 or 6 titles that are good. Boom blox is pretty fun and original but allthe good games are just sequals or clones of other games....Smash , mario kart are 2 that come to mind and both are excellent but they need to realize not just casual gamers are buying the wii. I gag when i watch my kid play his wii how lame some of these games are.Im not a Wii owner but my roommate is and I must that although there are some horrible games on the Wii, the same crap is on the 360 and the PS3, its just in worse graphics for the Wii :PQFGT the WII excels at casual crap(and highest game sales of all teh consoles) and saly the PS3/360 are riddled with just as bad csaul games...sure they might be T and M but they are rushed and under deved worse than the WIIs overly cute and fully...rushed and udner deved games..... 0-o

  8.12.2008 21:06 #8

• Pop_Smith

  There are a couple of decent games for the Wii, such as the Trauma Center series.
  
  However, I am not sure why it sells so well, maybe its partially due to the price, although the 360 has it beat now in that category.
  
  Originally posted by DVDBack23: Im not a Wii owner but my roommate is and I must that although there are some horrible games on the Wii, the same crap is on the 360 and the PS3, its just in worse graphics for the Wii :PSo very true, a large portion of horrible games are on all 3 consoles and just look the worst, graphic-wise, on the Wii.

  8.12.2008 21:30 #9

• varnull

  Hey paladore.. it's easy to edit a post to say something totally different to what it contained first time round isn't it?.. would you like a screenshot of your first trolling type totally anti post? .. I'm watching you for editing nasty comments to sound fair and reasonable now.. and under my gaze is not somewhere you really want to be. Ask creaky :)
  
  Just because tendo don't market to "serious" (read bedroom meat bashers) gamers doesn't mean they don't know their target audience.. How long have they been in the games console business?.. A lot longer than the other two that's for sure.
  
  Fair enough they keep on selling the same old dated stuff.. but there will always be children and families (unless the bedroom meat bashers don't manage to breed this gen.. which would be a relief if I'm honest) who will always want children and family oriented games..
  
  Vive la difference I say.. Tendo saw their market was being ignored by the minor league players (ha!) and did what they know so well.. Cheap family machine and games with replay value.. That's going to be a winner every time.
  

  
  
  Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work.
  I would rather you hate me for who I am than love me for what I am not.
  Welcome to the other side of the looking glass Alice

  8.12.2008 21:32 #10

• Hyasuma

  do you really care about the graphic that much ? or about the games? the story lines? because thats what i care about, don't care about the graphic as long as the game is fun. I still even play Super Nintendo once a while just because it is fun. Graphics are great, looks real and awsome, but you still need to buy a nice tv that supports it, cables etc.

  8.12.2008 21:33 #11

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by varnull: Hey paladore.. it's easy to edit a post to say something totally different to what it contained first time round isn't it?.. would you like a screenshot of your first trolling type totally anti post?
  
  Just because tendo don't market to "serious" (read bedroom meat bashers) gamers doesn't mean they don't know their target audience.. How long have they been in the games console business?.. A lot longer than the other two that's for sure.
  
  Fair enough they keep on selling the same old dated stuff.. but there will always be children and families (unless the bedroom meat bashers don't manage to breed this gen.. which would be a relief if I'm honest) who will always want children and family oriented games..
  
  Vive la difference I say.. Tendo saw their market was being ignored by the minor league players (ha!) and did what they know so well.. Cheap family machine and games with replay value.
  Well I look for polish and qaulity over generalized types..and I aint seeing it...just qaulity on the scale of Hollywood oozeing out of every pore from the gaming industry.
  
  and BTW if I don;t bash my meat no one else will :P

  8.12.2008 21:35 #12

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by Hyasuma: do you really care about the graphic that much ? or about the games? the story lines? because thats what i care about, don't care about the graphic as long as the game is fun. I still even play Super Nintendo once a while just because it is fun. Graphics are great, looks real and awsome, but you still need to buy a nice tv that supports it, cables etc.I dunno.... PS360 looks fine on a SD TV and better on a better TV, really it comes down to buying what ever you can stand as I see no qaulity difference in the 3 systems they might offer different genres and prices but beyond that its all the same.....

  8.12.2008 21:38 #13

• Shegax

  Very good. Well done.

  8.12.2008 22:51 #14

• DoomLight

  wow another 800,000 Wii's that have crap for games and more shovelware $19.99 games.
  
  people will get tired of that system. its a matter of when is all.
  the next Nintendo is prolly gonna have 820mhz processor and 2 gigs of flash memory with graphic power slightly more powerful than a Geforce 5700 ultra and a control interface using Telekinesis! only for $299
  
  Jedi Powers Not Included

  8.12.2008 23:23 #15

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by DoomLight: wow another 800,000 Wii's that have crap for games and more shovelware $19.99 games.
  
  people will get tired of that system. its a matter of when is all.
  the next Nintendo is prolly gonna have 820mhz processor and 2 gigs of flash memory with graphic power slightly more powerful than a Geforce 5700 ultra and a control interface using Telekinesis! only for $299
  
  Jedi Powers Not Included
  And the PS4 having rushed and unfinished 80$ download only games being a complete online system for a mere 800$ that requires a T1 while the 360 subs out manufacturing to dell to build their combustible entertainment centers that microwave your discs as so you may not lend them to anyone.
  
  IE........your statement...it failz...... you want shovel ware? just take a good hard look at the costly causal watered down and unfinished crap they are releasing as "mainstream" gaming titles.... GTA? don;t get me started, Halo ep 3 8 hours of SP content it might as well have training wheels and a MP only sticker on it, Spore? um no just no...Fallout 3 unfinished/unbalanced,ect,ect,ect

  8.12.2008 23:31 #16

• dragnandy

  Originally posted by DoomLight: Wii's that have crap for games and more shovelware $19.99 games.
  Your seem surprised that the Nintendo Wii is selling poorly made games. This has been happening for years. Game consoles have always sold crappy "shovel ware" games, like the E.T Extra Terrestrial game from Atari 2600. LOL. legendary..

  9.12.2008 00:45 #17

• ZippyDSM

  Quote:Originally posted by DoomLight: Wii's that have crap for games and more shovelware $19.99 games.
  Your seem surprised that the Nintendo Wii is selling poorly made games. This has been happening for years. Game consoles have always sold crappy "shovel ware" games, like the E.T Extra Terrestrial game from Atari 2600. LOL. legendary..Ya shovelware was they made it because they had nothing better to do with funding there was alot of that, but it faded for a time in the 90s where you had a level of qaulity that was respected by both the industry and the consumer...now adays what was once shovelware is now casual gaming, and by that I mean all casual gaming even the supposed hardcore gaming which has devolved into a tech fetish more than anythign else....

  9.12.2008 00:59 #18

• Paladore

  i might have come off as a bit as a nintendo basher but i loved the previous nintendos, its that im very disapointed with the games so far on the wii. I really wanted it to be an amazing system but it might just be that my xbox is better but the games are not as satisfying to play on the wii. 2009 will be better i hope. and i hope they will release a HD wii in new future.

  9.12.2008 02:44 #19

• Oner

  Originally posted by dragnandy: Originally posted by DoomLight: Wii's that have crap for games and more shovelware $19.99 games.
  Your seem surprised that the Nintendo Wii is selling poorly made games. This has been happening for years. Game consoles have always sold crappy "shovel ware" games, like the E.T Extra Terrestrial game from Atari 2600. LOL. legendary..WOW you brought me back a few years on that one! Thems where the good ol' days when boxing was nothing more than Pong with arms & the ghosts in Pacman where partially invisible.
  
  F'ing Classic
  http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=HL2p2ANFlQ4
  

  
  
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  9.12.2008 08:39 #20

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by Paladore: i might have come off as a bit as a nintendo basher but i loved the previous nintendos, its that im very disapointed with the games so far on the wii. I really wanted it to be an amazing system but it might just be that my xbox is better but the games are not as satisfying to play on the wii. 2009 will be better i hope. and i hope they will release a HD wii in new future.Nin ain't doing nothing different than the rest...water it down and feed it to the unknowing masses.

  9.12.2008 10:23 #21

• SProdigy

  Ugh! I wish people would make better arguments as to why the Wii is so bad, rather than just saying "it sukz" and whatever other LOL babble you can make against the system. It's okay to have an opinion, so here's mine:
  
  I first bought a Nintendo Wii and WAS disappointed with it. I have a 42" HDTV and I wasn't too thrilled with the look of launch titles such as Wii Sports or Red Steel; I also bought Monkey Ball and Zelda and though both looked okay, but I wasn't terribly excited with the direction the 3rd parties were going with the the "direct from Gamecube/PS2" ports at the beginning.
  
  So, I went and got a 360. Yeah, that wore out real quick. Zippy is right: something has been lost in the recent generation of consoles. Halo 3 was over-hyped and offers next to nothing for single player campaign. It is, however, a dream for those lost in the abyss of playing online games for hours on end. I'm sorry, but the FPS franchise has been around for so long, I'm truly surprised it hasn't died out like fighting games nearly have. There's only so much multiplayer/online "killing" or "fragging" that you can squeeze out of the genre. COD4 was a fresh take on that, but they will beat that horse to death too.
  
  That leads me to GTA IV. Everyone says the Wii is a gimmick, but what about this retread of the same old thing? Graphically it looks like it would work on Wii with no problem. Why does no one else look past the stupid gimmick of silly sex and violence and see it's a mission based game, no better than than an NES game! Heck, Zelda was OPEN-ENDED to some degree and it's 20 years old!
  
  How many other Tom Clancy, Metal Gear, or Medal of Honor remakes can we have? At least Tony Hawk disappeared. He should have taken EA Sports with him! It took 4 years for the new gen Madden games to catch up to the depth of the PS2 offerings! That's sick!
  
  So when you get tired of espionage plots, violence, war, and games that are 80% built on multiplayer online, where do you go from there? I think that's the real option Nintendo has picked up on. Boom Blox is something I can play in the living room with several friends sitting next to me, drinking beer or doing whatever; no broadband connection needed! I can think of other games, but you get my point.
  
  As for graphics, most of the games are looking sharper, and some, as the case with Mario Kart (and component cables) look just as good as some of the 360 titles, regardless of HD.
  
  And shovelware... well, did we forget about the PS2? The console with the highest installed base will get the most crapware. Kiddie games, movie and cartoon ports, they are all coming to Wii, like it or not, because more of the Wii has been sold. It's economics: supply the demand, and in this case, the supply is he Wii and the demand is the kids that own it. That means more Petz, Spongebob and Barbie games. Just because they're on the shelf, doesn't mean you have to buy them!
  
  Lastly, I need to come to the defense of Mario. Mario is the face of Nintendo marketing (or Pokemon, but let's NOT go there.) Mario appears so often, because he is a brand and a symbol of excellence. Don't believe me? Check out EGM and see how highly rated Mario games are; I do mean ALL Mario games, including Strikers, Kart, or just plain New Super Mario Bros. As a gamer and a consumer, if Mario is on the box, I feel more comfortable that I won't be shafted out of $50-60 of my money. Can the same be said for Crash Bandicoot?

  9.12.2008 10:24 #22

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by SProdigy: Ugh! I wish people would make better arguments as to why the Wii is so bad, rather than just saying "it sukz" and whatever other LOL babble you can make against the system. It's okay to have an opinion, so here's mine:
  
  I first bought a Nintendo Wii and WAS disappointed with it. I have a 42" HDTV and I wasn't too thrilled with the look of launch titles such as Wii Sports or Red Steel; I also bought Monkey Ball and Zelda and though both looked okay, but I wasn't terribly excited with the direction the 3rd parties were going with the the "direct from Gamecube/PS2" ports at the beginning.
  
  So, I went and got a 360. Yeah, that wore out real quick. Zippy is right: something has been lost in the recent generation of consoles. Halo 3 was over-hyped and offers next to nothing for single player campaign. It is, however, a dream for those lost in the abyss of playing online games for hours on end. I'm sorry, but the FPS franchise has been around for so long, I'm truly surprised it hasn't died out like fighting games nearly have. There's only so much multiplayer/online "killing" or "fragging" that you can squeeze out of the genre. COD4 was a fresh take on that, but they will beat that horse to death too.
  
  That leads me to GTA IV. Everyone says the Wii is a gimmick, but what about this retread of the same old thing? Graphically it looks like it would work on Wii with no problem. Why does no one else look past the stupid gimmick of silly sex and violence and see it's a mission based game, no better than than an NES game! Heck, Zelda was OPEN-ENDED to some degree and it's 20 years old!
  
  How many other Tom Clancy, Metal Gear, or Medal of Honor remakes can we have? At least Tony Hawk disappeared. He should have taken EA Sports with him! It took 4 years for the new gen Madden games to catch up to the depth of the PS2 offerings! That's sick!
  
  So when you get tired of espionage plots, violence, war, and games that are 80% built on multiplayer online, where do you go from there? I think that's the real option Nintendo has picked up on. Boom Blox is something I can play in the living room with several friends sitting next to me, drinking beer or doing whatever; no broadband connection needed! I can think of other games, but you get my point.
  
  As for graphics, most of the games are looking sharper, and some, as the case with Mario Kart (and component cables) look just as good as some of the 360 titles, regardless of HD.
  
  And shovelware... well, did we forget about the PS2? The console with the highest installed base will get the most crapware. Kiddie games, movie and cartoon ports, they are all coming to Wii, like it or not, because more of the Wii has been sold. It's economics: supply the demand, and in this case, the supply is he Wii and the demand is the kids that own it. That means more Petz, Spongebob and Barbie games. Just because they're on the shelf, doesn't mean you have to buy them!
  
  Lastly, I need to come to the defense of Mario. Mario is the face of Nintendo marketing (or Pokemon, but let's NOT go there.) Mario appears so often, because he is a brand and a symbol of excellence. Don't believe me? Check out EGM and see how highly rated Mario games are; I do mean ALL Mario games, including Strikers, Kart, or just plain New Super Mario Bros. As a gamer and a consumer, if Mario is on the box, I feel more comfortable that I won't be shafted out of $50-60 of my money. Can the same be said for Crash Bandicoot?Mario and Zelda and Metroid even are polished there might be design flaws that are annoying but they are a cut above the rest on design focus and polish, even with that said...the last a couple games not that great...good...but not great.... but thats mainly due to how the industry works now.

  9.12.2008 10:32 #23

• redux79

  I remember getting my n64 when it first came out and golden eye was the new crack. The n64 being a disappointment overall (at least to me) because they literally stopped making jrpg's.
  
  I had some friends who collected rare snes rpg's, I played earthbound for the first time and I was hooked. I bought a snes AFTER I got my n64 to play the myriad of rpgs and basically forgot about my n64. secret of mana, secret of evermore, breath of fire, chrono trigger, all FF's except for quest (puke green "shudders") and a good half dozen more that all seem to blend together in a long forgotten nostalgia. Snes was the last great nintendo console, n64 was good not great, and my game cube is sitting in the closet collecting dust along with 3 games. The wii well lets just say it’s a combination of the games of old being no more and me growing up.
  
  The wii is good as a "party" console if you have friends that can meet up on a regular basis. Everyone I know works different hours and really when a day finally comes where we all have time off there's better things to do than play video games, I'm not 12 anymore. That being said most games on the wii would get old real quick just playing them by yourself.

  9.12.2008 10:59 #24

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by redux79: I remember getting my n64 when it first came out and golden eye was the new crack. The n64 being a disappointment overall (at least to me) because they literally stopped making jrpg's.
  
  I had some friends who collected rare snes rpg's, I played earthbound for the first time and I was hooked. I bought a snes AFTER I got my n64 to play the myriad of rpgs and basically forgot about my n64. secret of mana, secret of evermore, breath of fire, chrono trigger, all FF's except for quest (puke green "shudders") and a good half dozen more that all seem to blend together in a long forgotten nostalgia. Snes was the last great nintendo console, n64 was good not great, and my game cube is sitting in the closet collecting dust along with 3 games. The wii well lets just say it’s a combination of the games of old being no more and me growing up.
  
  The wii is good as a "party" console if you have friends that can meet up on a regular basis. Everyone I know works different hours and really when a day finally comes where we all have time off there's better things to do than play video games, I'm not 12 anymore. That being said most games on the wii would get old real quick just playing them by yourself.Mystic Quest was not that bad one you get into ti has deeper gamepaly with more nuances than most new games sure the story was simplified..but look at FF5.
  
  MQ is better than FFX and FF12 in gameplay....

  9.12.2008 11:06 #25

• SProdigy

  The abandonment of games for the N64, such as RPG's, had to do with the deals going on with Sony. Many devs were ticked at the Big N for having a cartridge based system. Among them were Square (FF) and Capcom (Resident Evil, Street Fighter, etc.) so the N64 really suffered. Nintendo is just starting to get those devs back into the fold within recent years, but still, everything is a "cookie cutter" process, mostly a new FF here and there.
  
  My DS satisfies some of my nostalgic 2D game craves...
  
  As for the N64, I LOVED that thing. 95% of the games were crap, but that could be forgiven with Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, among a "few" other gems.
  
  I also wanted to mention that Halo 3 reminded me of Doom 64 with upgraded visual!

  9.12.2008 11:33 #26

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by SProdigy: The abandonment of games for the N64, such as RPG's, had to do with the deals going on with Sony. Many devs were ticked at the Big N for having a cartridge based system. Among them were Square (FF) and Capcom (Resident Evil, Street Fighter, etc.) so the N64 really suffered. Nintendo is just starting to get those devs back into the fold within recent years, but still, everything is a "cookie cutter" process, mostly a new FF here and there.
  
  My DS satisfies some of my nostalgic 2D game craves...
  
  As for the N64, I LOVED that thing. 95% of the games were crap, but that could be forgiven with Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, among a "few" other gems.
  
  I also wanted to mention that Halo 3 reminded me of Doom 64 with upgraded visual!Quest 64 sucked but Zelda was enjoyable even if flawed as was mario, I personal loved Turok it was my first real 3D FPS not a 2D sprit based one.

  9.12.2008 11:36 #27

• redux79

  I remember seeing the commercials for quest64 and thought nintendo was going to start making rpg's again... after forcing myself to finish the game I was quite happy that they never did. I gave the big N one more chance with crystal chronicles for GC which I beat in 6 hours and felt violated. Kind of reminds me of the new star wars movies vs. the old

  9.12.2008 14:22 #28

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by redux79: I remember seeing the commercials for quest64 and thought nintendo was going to start making rpg's again... after forcing myself to finish the game I was quite happy that they never did. I gave the big N one more chance with crystal chronicles for GC which I beat in 6 hours and felt violated. Kind of reminds me of the new star wars movies vs. the old
  Quest 64 was made by rare I think it was a generic RPG like most new RPGs today, crystal chronicles is spares attempt to make a simple FF action game in the view of FF adventures and Mana.

  9.12.2008 14:27 #29

• 7thsinger

  Originally posted by ZippyDSM: I personal loved Turok it was my first real 3D FPS not a 2D sprit based one.I too logged many hours in Turok. I had a blast with that one.
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  Dvd Backup Resource Thread

  9.12.2008 14:31 #30

• svtstang

  I just got a Wii.....it is awesome. Every system has crappy games, if you want to go that route let us remember to point out the ps3. Yeah it only outputs 480p, but if you equate graphics to fun factor you have problems. 360 is still #1 to me though.
  

  
  
  

  9.12.2008 20:38 #31

• shummyr

  this is good

  9.12.2008 21:09 #32

• kyo28

  Awesome news for Nintendo. They really are the big surprise of this generation. The ousider that will win the race, so to speak.
  http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/240749.html

  10.12.2008 08:34 #33