58.4% of Game Consoles Sold from Nintendo

written by LLS and Newswire (The NewsMarket) • April 16, 2009 Leave a Comment 

Last month, Nintendo shipped their 100 millionth DS unit, showing just how popular the handheld gaming device is. According to The NewsMarket on March 12th (a newswire service “The Lion Ledger” subscribes to):

Somewhere – perhaps in Chicago, maybe in Paris, possibly in Tokyo – the 100 millionth system in the Nintendo DS™ franchise has been shipped to a distributor or a retailer as of March 6, 2009. The combined total sales of 100 million Nintendo DS systems, Nintendo DS Lite systems and Nintendo DSi™ systems represent a significant milestone in the life of this franchise, which is still going strong.

Below is a related press release this month, directly from the Nintendo PressRoom.

*NOTE: Make sure to take our “Speak Out!” Survey and tell us which video game system(s) you have at home!

from Staff Reports
News Team / THE LION LEDGER

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NINTENDO SYSTEMS ACCOUNT FOR 58.4% OF VIDEO GAME HARDWARE SOLD IN MARCH

April 16, 2009– Nintendo’s Wii™ home console and the Nintendo DS™ portable video game system comfortably led U.S. sales in March, according to data from the independent NPD Group, which tracks video game sales in the United States. Pokémon™ Platinum Version for Nintendo DS emerged as the No. 2 video game of the month, with nearly 805,000 units sold.



Wii tallied sales of nearly 601,000 in March, while Nintendo DS sold more than half a million, even in advance of the April 5 launch of the new Nintendo DSi™ system. Both Wii and Nintendo DS extended their lead as the best-selling video game systems of this generation.



”Nintendo systems accounted for 58.4 percent of the video game hardware sold in March, more than all other systems combined,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Consumers continue to be attracted to the wide range of software available and the great value of Nintendo systems.”



Four games published by Nintendo finished in the top 10 best-sellers of March. These include Pokémon Platinum Version at No. 2, Wii Fit™ at No. 3 with more than 541,000 sold, Wii Play™ at No. 8 with more than 281,000 sold and Mario Kart™ Wii at No. 9 with more than 278,000 sold.



Early U.S. sales of the new Nintendo DSi hand-held system are ahead of those for Nintendo DS Lite, according to Nintendo’s internal tracking numbers. In its first week, Nintendo DSi sold 435,000 in the United States. After the same amount of time on the U.S. market after its launch, Nintendo DS Lite had sold 226,300 systems. These numbers demonstrate that the Nintendo DS brand remains strong, and that consumers continue to look for the best new experiences on their portable video game systems.



So far this year, video game industry revenues are on par with 2008, but Nintendo remains a key driver. Without Nintendo products, the industry would be down 14 percent for the year, according to the NPD Group.



For more information about Nintendo, please visit: www.Nintendo.com