AfterDawn: News

Wii overwhelms Amazon's 2009 video game best sellers

Amazon has released the list for sales for 2009 in the "Video Games" category of the site, including all games, consoles, and accessories.

The Nintendo Wii overwhelmed the entire sales list, taking nine out of the top ten spots.



The top 10 list (plus other notables):

01. Wii
02. Wii Remote controller
03. Wii MotionPlus
04. Wii Nunchuk controller
05. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
06. Wii Fit Plus (Wii)
07. Wii Sports Resort (Wii)
08. Wii Fit (Wii)
09. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
10. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)

13. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3)
16. Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360)
17. PlayStation 3 120 GB
18. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
21. Blu-ray Disc Remote (PS3)

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 2 Jan 2010 16:56

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• 21 comments

• Josipher

  thats just amazon..and i dont believe it says much for now..Wii has peaked out..and i think a few months ago there was an article speculating a "Wii2" on 2011.. i think its gunna be announced soon and shown first on this years E3. nintendo knows they juiced the product. its time to squeeze some more from the consumers with another hyped up paper weight. just to clear things i dont own any of the next gen consoles. though i have played them all.
  peace out

  2.1.2010 17:44 #1

• dragnandy

  i am actually quite surprised at the results. i thought that the wii has been dying out, but it seems that 2009 has been a strong year. i doubt the same will happen in 2010 though. I myself have purchased atleast 4 of the choice listed, some for me, others for presents.
  
  i think the sells on amazon do show something, because amazon is such a large online retailer. i also HIGHLY doubt there will be a wii2 in 2011. It doesnt seem like a smart move for Nintendo, since the wii has been doing so well.

  2.1.2010 18:07 #2

• Oner

  Dying out or not 60 Million consoles sold equates to a damned large audience nonetheless. I personally have not really played anything since Wario Land Shake It! I have been wanted to check out NSMBWii but since I got rid of my extra Wii & haven't bothered to buy another controller it hasn't been a high priority...I'll probably use this months Blockbuster Online game rental coupon for it and see if it's really worth it.
  

  
  
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  2.1.2010 19:07 #3

• elbald90

  Originally posted by Oner: Dying out or not 60 Million consoles sold equates to a damned large audience nonetheless. I personally have not really played anything since Wario Land Shake It! I have been wanted to check out NSMBWii but since I got rid of my extra Wii & haven't bothered to buy another controller it hasn't been a high priority...I'll probably use this months Blockbuster Online game rental coupon for it and see if it's really worth it.really ill just download it :)

  2.1.2010 19:40 #4

• Run4two

  We've had a Wii for a year now. It RARELY gets used. I have no intention on buying the next gen Nintendo until I see lots of games. This thing is one ugly paper weight. They may have won this battle of the game consoles, but I think they have lost the war.

  2.1.2010 20:17 #5

• regzgz

  My two cents on the issue, it may be an ugly console but so far is the only system that its not collecting dust in my house, you got to look at the console from a different perspective, the Wii is targeted to kids and not hard core players that criticize the looks but not the playing content. The Wii is by far the best system to own if your kids are under 14 years old, hands down regarding of looks and specs the Wii is the winner. I owned the PS3 and Xbox360 but the choices of games are not even close to what the Wii offers for kids, in a few words we can classify the Wii as the family system and the other consoles are more oriented to mature audiences. Are you ever played a session of Mario Bros for the Wii with your kids?
  I think the comparative being made here of the Wii Vs the rest is unfair, since is a console for a different audience. By the way, I'm a PC gamer and for me the best games are played on the PC.

  2.1.2010 22:47 #6

• KillerBug

  Originally posted by regzgz: My two cents on the issue, it may be an ugly console but so far is the only system that its not collecting dust in my house, you got to look at the console from a different perspective, the Wii is targeted to kids and not hard core players that criticize the looks but not the playing content. The Wii is by far the best system to own if your kids are under 14 years old, hands down regarding of looks and specs the Wii is the winner. I owned the PS3 and Xbox360 but the choices of games are not even close to what the Wii offers for kids, in a few words we can classify the Wii as the family system and the other consoles are more oriented to mature audiences. Are you ever played a session of Mario Bros for the Wii with your kids?
  I think the comparative being made here of the Wii Vs the rest is unfair, since is a console for a different audience. By the way, I'm a PC gamer and for me the best games are played on the PC.I don't know about 14 and under. My boss's son is 9 and he is already a hardcare gamer who makes fun on the Wii. The fact is, anyone with a reaction time under one second probably hates the wii just for the delay in the controller. That said, it is a great system for a middle-age women looking to do some aerobics, and the very elderly love the system because it allows them to do things that they can't do for real anymore, such as bowling in a nursing home.
  
  I still think that most of the wII's sales are due to lack of research...mostly bought by parents who want to buy a video game system...and they just buy the cheapest one there is. They also make a lot of sales to people who never even try the controller, but think it will be a realistic form of control for something (the only thing it actualy resembles is a bluray remote...without the bluray support). Then there is the middle-aged woman category, who buy it for wii-sports-plus, not knowing that there are dedicated excercise video games for under $50 that are just as good for what they want. IMHO, most of the people who actualy like their wII are either extremely old, extremely young, or female (I know that sounds sexist...but Nintendo's own numbers show this; there are hardcore female gamers who hate the wII as much as hardcore male gamers...but there are not a lot of them)

  3.1.2010 00:56 #7

• regzgz

  Quote:Originally posted by regzgz: My two cents on the issue, it may be an ugly console but so far is the only system that its not collecting dust in my house, you got to look at the console from a different perspective, the Wii is targeted to kids and not hard core players that criticize the looks but not the playing content. The Wii is by far the best system to own if your kids are under 14 years old, hands down regarding of looks and specs the Wii is the winner. I owned the PS3 and Xbox360 but the choices of games are not even close to what the Wii offers for kids, in a few words we can classify the Wii as the family system and the other consoles are more oriented to mature audiences. Are you ever played a session of Mario Bros for the Wii with your kids?
  I think the comparative being made here of the Wii Vs the rest is unfair, since is a console for a different audience. By the way, I'm a PC gamer and for me the best games are played on the PC.I don't know about 14 and under. My boss's son is 9 and he is already a hardcare gamer who makes fun on the Wii. The fact is, anyone with a reaction time under one second probably hates the wii just for the delay in the controller. That said, it is a great system for a middle-age women looking to do some aerobics, and the very elderly love the system because it allows them to do things that they can't do for real anymore, such as bowling in a nursing home.
  
  I still think that most of the wII's sales are due to lack of research...mostly bought by parents who want to buy a video game system...and they just buy the cheapest one there is. They also make a lot of sales to people who never even try the controller, but think it will be a realistic form of control for something (the only thing it actualy resembles is a bluray remote...without the bluray support). Then there is the middle-aged woman category, who buy it for wii-sports-plus, not knowing that there are dedicated excercise video games for under $50 that are just as good for what they want. IMHO, most of the people who actualy like their wII are either extremely old, extremely young, or female (I know that sounds sexist...but Nintendo's own numbers show this; there are hardcore female gamers who hate the wII as much as hardcore male gamers...but there are not a lot of them)I agree with some of your points, but there is more to the Wii.
  I'm a hard core gamer, playing games like World of Warcraft, Call of Duty 4, Crysis, Far cry 2, etc... and I like the Wii a lot for the easy gaming, love the controller that pales in comparison to the precision we love from our mouses(Logitech G8 anybody?), the silly graphics (Compare that to my ATI HD 5770!!), its a shame that your boss kid cannot appreciate a good old classic like Mario Brother for the Wii.
  Some friends of mine had never play a computer game and are scare of the keyboard, but give them a Wii remote and they act like naturals; we have to wonder!
  Sony and Microsoft can learn that some times the low tech can pay-off when the games are done properly.
  The Wii as we all know is the lesser system in terms of hardware, but remember that they have some of the best games that people like me love to play, even when is not even close to World of Warcraft, the best thing is that those are the games we play before, when we first began our journey into gaming.... like 35 years ago! Classics!!!
  
  I do agree with you %100 on some parents buying the system without knowing what the kids expect from the console and what the console offers, but most of parents that fall into that trap are probably the ones that never owned a console in their youth.
  Like I said before, the best gaming is done with a PC.
  Lets do some research people, the Wii controller is one of the best innovations in gaming, if you ask motion control what comes to mind?
  I hope Nintendo is watching this interesting thread, I sound like a "Nintendo fan boy already." :)

  3.1.2010 01:47 #8

• cazer

  had a wii and after a year it found a new home. it has cheap games and they all seem the same. my 8yr old doesnt even like it. yes it is fun to play with others but only for a short time.

  3.1.2010 01:47 #9

• dragnandy

  Originally posted by cazer: had a wii and after a year it found a new home. it has cheap games and they all seem the same. my 8yr old doesnt even like it. yes it is fun to play with others but only for a short time.ill admit that there are alot of games out there for the wii that do not have much of a replay value, but you have to try the games that do. I would not consider Mario Galaxy, Metroid Corruption, and Zelda: Twilight Princess to be a game you play for a short time. Even games like Wii Sports Resort has A LOT of replay value, its just hard to keep interested in that game. I have played that game for months and still have not gotten all the stamps (achievements) and unlocks.
  
  the Wii has not collected dust for me, either. I dont have a PS3 or 360, but i mainly play PC games. I mean, when my little cousins come over to play, they can't simply start playing COD:MW, TF2, Crysis, and such. the Wii is like a balance between hardcore games and cartoon-y fun games.

  3.1.2010 02:29 #10

• av_verbal

  this news is not at all that surprising if you have followed any charts for the last few years as the wii has continually dominated them.
  
  the wii did so well because they offered fun games that everyone could get involved with instead of the continual 1 player generic FPS or button bash frenzy games that we have played sice the birth of the home computer like devil may cry4, halo, cod, borderlands, uncharted2, assasins creed1&2, well pretty much all except a few like viva pinata, rock band, DDr, etc.
  
  20 years of the same games with better effects gets a little tiresome.
  
  the wii is for fun while the pc is for serious games in my home, the 360 & ps3 are only used by my 15 year old boy, with the curtains closed & his head set on, shut off from the world, i think if i didn't pull the plug he would stay on them all day & night like some saddo with no life.

  3.1.2010 08:06 #11

• regzgz

  Originally posted by av_verbal:
  20 years of the same games with better effects gets a little tiresome.
  
  the wii is for fun while the pc is for serious games in my home, the 360 & ps3 are only used by my 15 year old boy, with the curtains closed & his head set on, shut off from the world, i think if i didn't pull the plug he would stay on them all day & night like some saddo with no life.As a parent we need to balance the game play, good for you for trying to keep it under control. For me the hard part is to keep my kids off the computer, the Wii is the second most used system after the PC.
  My kids are now playing Supreme Commander that requires a lot of strategy, they thought it was a boring game before, now they can't stop playing it. I think we have a good balance with the Wii at home, we can welcome players with lesser skill and still have fun at the same time. Now trying to get new players to understand Mass and Energy and why is important; its a different matter.... ;)

  3.1.2010 12:47 #12

• NINVIN21

  Duh If PS3 was as cheap as the wii It would have sold triple that.
  
  Everyone bought the wii Because it was cheap.
  There is a soft Mod out for it and I still Don't want it.
  The Graphics are trash and the games are geared towards middle age women and Kids. It's Trash I still Like the Original Nintendo the Best.

  3.1.2010 16:08 #13

• regzgz

  Originally posted by NINVIN21:
  There is a soft Mod out for it and I still Don't want it.Ahoy, me Hearties! I smell a Buccaneer on board!!! raising the Jolly Roger!!!
  Shiver me timbers!

  3.1.2010 18:02 #14

• embo22000

  Quote:Originally posted by NINVIN21:
  There is a soft Mod out for it and I still Don't want it.Ahoy, me Hearties! I smell a Buccaneer on board!!! raising the Jolly Roger!!!
  Shiver me timbers! lol i mod everything i own

  4.1.2010 01:23 #15

• SProdigy

  Originally posted by NINVIN21: Duh If PS3 was as cheap as the wii It would have sold triple that.
  
  Everyone bought the wii Because it was cheap.
  There is a soft Mod out for it and I still Don't want it.
  The Graphics are trash and the games are geared towards middle age women and Kids. It's Trash I still Like the Original Nintendo the Best.I'll give the original a tie with SNES: I dearly loved the upgrade in graphics and the controller!
  
  Seriously though, how many games do we all buy for a console in a given year? I'm sure we don't touch 95% of the games that come out, even if you are a hardcore rental type. The other 5% are games we DO care about. New Super Mario Bros. is off the hook BTW.
  
  The difference between Wii and PS3 is not only price, but Sony shot themselves in the foot with all the different versions and at first, their 5% of "top" games were crap not worth $60!
  
  Nintendo on the other hand, appealed to different markets, and had ONE SKU; the only true add-on/extra has been the Wii Fit, which also had a specific demographic and sold like hot cakes.
  
  It's simple marketing. You can cater to the already existing gamer market, or you can try to expand your market by tapping into another demographic. Nintendo went after women and children instead of males 18-35; it's no secret and it's smart. If I were advertising, would I only advertise on Facebook, knowing X amount of people have a computer, internet connection and/or FB account, or would I advertise during a NFL game or something like CSI, where MILLIONS will see it?
  
  The math is simple and I don't blame Nintendo for their wise business decision. In the interim, it has paid off better than force-feeding the PS3 as a Blu-Ray trojan horse!

  4.1.2010 13:16 #16

• NINVIN21

  Nice I agree 100%.except I like the PS3's graphics Better it was a nice upgrade but I Don't no To each his own I guess I just was expecting better it's like they held back to keep there system cheap. I also Don't care for the controller it's cool but not for me.
  It makes me mad thinking about what we are missing out on due to them tapping into another demographic.
  I might still get a wii I wanna Play Mario I seen It but Didn't Play it and I wanna try Marines: Modern Urban Combat.

  4.1.2010 13:51 #17

• SProdigy

  I welcome the Wii remote for one reason: having big hands, I feel cramped on PS/Xbox controllers. The Gamecube controller was incredibly small, so having the individual Wiimote/Nunchuck combo lets my hands rest more naturally. I also like holding the Wiimote sideways for the VC games and New SMB; gives it a retro feel.

  4.1.2010 14:14 #18

• mrp73

  I'm a 36 year old male who owns a Wii, 360, & PS3. I LOVE playing the Wii as well as my other systems. Why do so many of you always refer to me as an elderly woman or child. After all according to many of you that is the ONLY people that could possibly enjoy it. I love the graphics on my PS3 & Xbox. But I must tell you that after growing up with a Commodore 64 I quickly realized that smart developers back then had to find a way to appeal to people on a "Good game" basis not on a "Killer graphics" basis. That's why the Commodore outsold superior machines that competed against them. Why must Wii fans always be dubbed as casual gamers only or worse yet as people that have no idea what they are talking about. Come on people, we are all gamers, don't devour our own!

  5.1.2010 09:13 #19

• gtmtnbike

  @mrp73
  
  Great comments. I hate all of the feedback from people complaining about the graphics of the Wii. It's really about the gameplay folks. The Wii is a fun console and one that I enjoy playing with my kids. Even the grandparents can get involved. You can't really do that with the Xbox360 or the PS3.

  7.1.2010 09:02 #20

• regzgz

  Originally posted by mrp73: I'm a 36 year old male who owns a Wii, 360, & PS3. I LOVE playing the Wii as well as my other systems. Why do so many of you always refer to me as an elderly woman or child. After all according to many of you that is the ONLY people that could possibly enjoy it. I love the graphics on my PS3 & Xbox. But I must tell you that after growing up with a Commodore 64 I quickly realized that smart developers back then had to find a way to appeal to people on a "Good game" basis not on a "Killer graphics" basis. That's why the Commodore outsold superior machines that competed against them. Why must Wii fans always be dubbed as casual gamers only or worse yet as people that have no idea what they are talking about. Come on people, we are all gamers, don't devour our own!I'm with you bro, at 40 I find myself loving the Wii, the Mario bros game is just so much fun to play with my kids, but if you look at all the negative talk about the Wii is all because they either don't have kids or never played the classics from Nintendo, each console is aim to a different market, but lets be honest, I love to see the underdog kick some A$$ with the lesser hardware and lesser so call hard core "gamers."
  Wanna play hard core, come over to the PC side, we are waiting for you.

  7.1.2010 15:11 #21