Nintendo Wants More Wii and DS Sales

At E3 Reggie Fils-Aime let the world know he wasn’t satisfied with the sales progress of the Wii or DS in 2007 and hopes Nintendo can do better this year. Perhaps Nintendo is playing the humble card? No doubt they bragged about their 10 million sales of the Wii and 20 million sales of the DS but quickly followed it by saying they’re not satisfied.

Or, is this a threat?

Nintendo has built some steep competition while both Sony and Microsoft scoff at their product and tell everyone its a novelty and it doesn’t really “count” in this next-generation console battle. It doesn’t count… really?

Perhaps Microsoft and Sony are right; maybe every Wii owner that wanted a PlayStation 3 and/or an Xbox 360 purchased their console too. There may be some truth to that as hardcore gamers may purchase a Wii for many reasons:

  • They want every console so they have the widest array of game purchases
  • They’re hardcore nature forces them to spend money on all products
  • They want to get their kids in on gaming early, to grow them up in their image
  • Mob mentality, if everyone has a Wii you must as well!
  • The technology is cool and you want to be there for its inception

It seems they don’t feel a threat because Wii is a non-gamer console and thus attracts a different crowd… yet they’re both mimicking some of the motion sensing in their own controllers and playing nice towards “casual games” and non-gamers of late. Maybe their not threatened, but impressed?

Fils-Aime isn’t impressed with their sales figures, perhaps because he expected a higher degree of Wii sales by now, but the fact that people cannot purchase them two years into production has hurt sales figures. Although 10 million units sold is an impressive figure, knowing you had such higher potential if the product was actually on the shelves has to hurt a bit of your pride.

The DS sales were impressive considering the product has been in the market for awhile and is easier to find (minus the holiday rush). We’re not sure why he’s not satisfied with the figures, but inspiring a higher degree of DS sales will require some work. Perhaps this is why they’ve gone with the GTA Chinatown approach; using the GTA name to grow their DS sales figures?

It will be interesting to see how Wii does through the next few quarters and if sales slow down now that we’re a few years into the product. What was the last home console Nintendo owned to get this high of a demand?

Perhaps none.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Post

Episode 634: The Best (and Worst) Games of the Year 2021Episode 634: The Best (and Worst) Games of the Year 2021

2021 is finally over. And for the first time in years, a proper Games of the Year Awards has been done by GameStooge/TD Gaming Podcast. While the Worst Game of the Year was a no doubter, the Best Game of the Year was not, with the nominees being Deathloop, Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite, Metroid Dread and Psychonauts 2.

But there are a whopping 26 award categories, technical and artistic, so listen in on this fat 2 1/2 hour episode to find out who the winners are.

Let us know what you think on the podcast’s Facebook page here.

Original music by Liborio Conti.

Episode 273: Flinging GutsEpisode 273: Flinging Guts

This week’s Gaming Podcast is a fairly routine one, with no Gaming Flashback or even a Question of the Week. However, this week features a ton of great news and industry discussion. Paul also announces that he will be unable to do the podcast in a few weeks for an extended period of time due to surgery.

The news items for the week includes:

  • Yoshida admits absence of Vita at E3 was a mistake
  • Irrational Games now includes 85+ Metacritic game requirement for employment
  • UbiSoft patches UPlay rootkit issue
  • Paradox Interactive announces dungeon builder Impire
  • EA: Current CEO John Riccitiello’s job is secure

All that plus Reader Feedback, check it out.

Episode 280: Episode 280: Full of Drugs and an XCOM ContestEpisode 280: Episode 280: Full of Drugs and an XCOM Contest

Jordan Lund can’t make Episode 280, but fortunately, Paul S. Nowak makes his triumphant return, albeit pumped full of medication. Enjoy his drug-fueled babbling as he waxes poetic on the virtues of playing social networking games while high.

He was lucid enough to discuss the following news items with the gang, however:

  • Cryptic calls for new MMO review system
  • BioWare Mythic “can’t make all Ultima fans happy” but hope they “enjoy nostalgia”
  • PS3 version of Black Ops 2 includes optional hi-res texture install
  • Wii U gamepad won’t be sold separately at launch

Gaming Podcast is also running a new contest to win a free Steam code for the hotly anticipated XCOM: Enemy Unknown remake. All listeners have to do is answer the Question of the Week in the comments section, “What is your favorite game from the 1990’s?”