Nintendo-branded game systems go 1-2 in sales. But which of them is on top?
The NPD Group released U.S. console sales data for the short month of February, and it should come as no surprise that the Nintendo DS is the top-selling piece of game hardware. According to the numbers, it sold through 485,000 units last month. Helping that total along was Diddy Kong Racing DS, making an impressive debuting at number three on the top ten software sales chart with 262,000 copies sold.
The other half of Nintendo's sweep was the Wii, which was the best selling home console for the month. Approximately 335,000 more systems found new owners in February. Wii Play might have helped sell some of those systems, because 371,000 packages of the game/controller combo were purchased, making it the number two February game behind the Xbox 360's Crackdown.
The Wii version of Twilight Princess (fourth, with 130,000 sold) and Wario Ware: Smooth Moves (9th, 109,000) were the other Nintendo games in the software top ten. In terms of other Nintendo hardware, the GBA is hanging tough at 136,000 units sold, and the GameCube wishes for better times, selling only 24,000 new systems in the month.
For comparison's sake, the Microsoft sold 228,000 Xbox 360 systems and Sony sold 127,000 PlayStation 3s in February. All is not doom and gloom for Sony, however; the PS2 is still flying off shelves, moving 295,000 units.
Update: Nintendo has issued their "we're number one" press release. You can read it below.
NINTENDO NEWS: WII WINS AGAIN
March 15, 2007 - According to independent sales data released by the NPD Group, the Wii™ from Nintendo was America's best-selling video game console in the U.S. again in February, with consumers snapping up virtually every system available in America totaling more than 335,000 units.
Only one game system sold more in February, the portable Nintendo DS™, with sell-through of 485,000 units.
Together, Nintendo systems represented 54 percent of all hardware sales in February, more than those of all other manufacturers combined.
"We're gratified that the explosive appeal of Wii, in terms of both new players and new ways to play, has created unprecedented demand, substantially beyond supply," says Reggie Fils-Aime, president, Nintendo of America. "But we also understand that there are hundreds of thousands of consumers still waiting to get their hands on the system so we continue to both ship more units to retail every week and work non-stop to build capacity."
Reports from households across the country indicate that Wii has become the centerpiece for weekend parties a new method for improving athletic technique and losing weight, and a landmark product for generating cross-generational fun.
The strength of Wii and Nintendo DS was also apparent in monthly software sales where three of the top four best-selling games for the month (Wii Play™ and The Legend of Zelda®: Twilight Princess for Wii, and Diddy Kong® Racing DS for Nintendo DS) play exclusively on Nintendo systems. In addition, so far this year 10 of the top 20 best-selling games are exclusive for Nintendo hardware.
Ok to be fair using the numbers from Wikipedia, December 31 2006, its 3.53... DSes for every 360 Shipped.)
