And amazingly, it wasn't even a close race.
The NPD hardware figures for last month are in, and it looks like all the hub-bub about the Wii being really popular has translated into big sales. According to Nintendo, 453,503 of the hard-to-find Wii consoles were purchased last month, which is an impressive 33% more than the widely available Xbox 360, which sold through more than 294k systems. The PS3 brought up the rear with 244k sold in January.
Nintendo's press release calling everyone's attention to this fact is below.
NINTENDO NEWS: WII ARE NO. 1
Feb. 21, 2007 - Nintendo's new Wii™ has become the best-selling video game system of any kind in January in the United States, and the fastest-selling new-generation home system. According to the independent NPD Group, Wii sold through 435,503 systems to customers in its January reporting period. By comparison, that's 70 percent higher than any other new video game system in its first January of availability during the last 10 years.
In addition, Nintendo DS™ once again triumphed as the top-selling portable system, with nearly 239,000 hardware and more than 2.4 million software units sold. In combination, Nintendo game systems accounted for nearly as many unit sales (46 percent of the total market) as those of all other manufacturers combined.
The continuing success of Wii and DS demonstrates that the public has embraced Nintendo's philosophy of entertaining current gamers in new ways, and expanding gaming for the masses. Four of the top 10 best-selling games in January were for Nintendo systems, both home and portable.
The only limit on Nintendo's success is the availability of Wii and DS systems, which continue to sell out as fast as Nintendo can ship them. Shipments are being made continuously to feed the huge demand around the country.
