Wii And Nintendo DS Experience Unprecedented Sales As Europe Enjoys A Nintendo Christmas

15th January 2007 –Nintendo’s Wii and DS games consoles topped the must have gifts chart this Christmas, with thousands flying off the shelves across Europe at an amazing rate throughout the festive period. Record-breaking numbers of Nintendo DS and Wii consoles sold out as quickly as they could be restocked, proving that Europeans are embracing Nintendo’s revolutionary new take on gaming.

In the UK, independent sales figures released by Chart Track confirm Nintendo’s Wii and DS games consoles topped the must-have gifts this Christmas, in total almost 200,000 Wii consoles were sold in the UK over the Christmas period. Nintendo DS further cemented its status as the market leading hardware format in the UK for 2006. The total number of Nintendo DS units sold in the UK in December topped 500,000 making it not only the best selling console of any kind in the UK this Christmas - but the best selling console of any kind in 2006.*

In Europe, Nintendo’s consoles have been going from strength to strength over the last few months with the Nintendo DS and Wii accounting for over half of all European video game hardware sales in December.

Two years after its launch Nintendo’s dual-screened handheld console, the Nintendo DS is leading the console market in Europe. Nintendo DS, enjoyed a record breaking Christmas experiencing its highest ever monthly sales since its launch in March 2005, 1.7 million units were sold across Europe during December making it the best selling games console in Europe across all formats, both in December and 2006, by a substantial margin.

Wii also took Europe by storm when it launched on 8th December 2006 and became the fastest selling games console in European history after its first weekend. In a matter of days Wii was totally sold out across the continent. Since launch Nintendo has been continually shipping more stock to retail outlets to meet unprecedented demand from both gamers and non-gamers alike. Despite selling out faster than it could be restocked, over 700,000 Wii consoles were snapped up across Europe in December 2006.

Wii software has performed equally well with more than 500,000 copies of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess sold in December, meaning that over 70% of Wii owners purchased this game. Wii Play has seen similar success with 320,000 copies sold to date, accounting for 45% of all Wii owners and showing that playing together was a priority for over half of Wii gamers thanks to the Wii Remote bundled with the game.

Laurent Fischer, Marketing Director for Nintendo Europe commented:

“We have enjoyed one of the most successful Christmas holidays ever, with both Nintendo DS and Wii selling at staggering rates. The success of our products this Christmas clearly shows that Nintendo’s drive to make gaming accessible to everyone has attracted people of all ages and abilities to the industry. We are facing such high demand for both platforms that unfortunately we are facing stock shortages, however we are doing everything possible to combat this by attempting to deliver both consoles and games to retailers on a daily basis."

Last week, Nintendo increased its projected worldwide financial performance for the year ending on March 31 to be the best in company history.

Wii launched across Europe on 8th December 2006 and retails at an estimated retail price of €250 (£179 UK) with Wii Sports. Nintendo DS and DS Lite are available across Europe at an estimated retail price of €130 - €150 (£89 - £99 UK).

Click onto www.Wii.com for all of the most up to date official information on Wii.

*Hardware Source - Chart Track: Month 12 Year 2006 26th November - 30th December 2006.