Wii sales up 100% over Christmas, says Pachter
by Chris Greenhough 
{ Jan 5th 2009 at 2:00PM }
A dry but happy piece of business news to start your week off: Wedbush Morgan's all-seeing analyst Michael Pachter reckons Wii sales in the U.S. accelerated dramatically over the holidays, with Christmas figures "up more than 100%."According to Pachter, that translates into "around 3 million" Wiis sold during December. As we previously mentioned, the record for U.S. hardware sales in a single month is 2.7 million, a figure set by the PlayStation 2 in December 2002. When the latest NPD figures are released on January 15, it looks like we'll have a new record-holder. Nintendo obviously didn't get the "recession" memo.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
XDragon @ Jan 5th 2009 4:32PM
The Wii's sales are impressive but also confusing.
I love the VC, Wii Sports and Wii Fit, but that's all folks!
There are no games I want other than Tatsunoko VS Capcom which we're not getting!
The confusion is due to the numbers; why aren't better games coming out on the system with the largest install base? ...AND I'm tired of the excuse that keeps coming up: only Nintendo games sell well on Nintendo home consoles! Really? Why is that? Because almost everything else sucks on the Wii! But for some reason there are other awesome games on other non-Nintendo systems that do sell well!
The formula is very broken and for most people requires them to own another system!
So the system with the largest install base has the lowest software attachment rate?
I miss the 16-bit era where games rocked and competition was alive on a Nintendo console!
XDragon @ Jan 5th 2009 4:57PM
I thought about how great a time it was:
I bought a Super NES and my first games were:
Super Mario World
Super Castlevania 4
Final Fight
Actraiser
Final Fantasy 2 (4J)
The next awesome memory was going to the store and having to decide which of the following to buy:
Zelda 3
Contra 3
TMNT 4
Space Megaforce
Super Metroid
Soul Blazer
There was always something good out that I didn't own and by the time I cought up, there was something else out!
The days Street Fighter 2, Final Fantasy 3 (6J) and Chrono Trigger came out will always be remembered!
I haven't had a videogame memory like any of these in the longest time!
Ok, Warcraft 2 coming out was pretty cool too but that's a different story plus I worked at a videogame store at the time lol!
Video games don't deliver the same way anymore; maybe I should get a modded Xbox 1 with all the emulators on the hard drive (A2600, NES, SMS, SNES, SG, TG16/CD, MSX, NG, GBA, MAME, PS), then again maybe that would be too much fun. - Yes I know PC can do the same and more and the PSP does a great job too, but its just not the same!
intro94 @ Jan 6th 2009 3:38PM
i think to me that great titles were released but they were not of your personal liking.I loved NMH more than i loved Contra, i loved Chocobo Fables more than i loved super metroid, im loving Castlevania judgement more than SF2 and i could play it for longer due to the online, and thats a small sample,Fire emblem was great just as well.I think that now people has to dig a bit more than before to find the great hidden games out there, but they are out there,they do exist and are in sufficient numbers.So if you think about it, it all adds up and makes sense.Is not like everyone is dumb or crazy.Think what is more logic and thats usually the answer.
XDragon @ Jan 6th 2009 4:31PM
I think I know a little about the VC considering I mentioned it in my 1st post and almost all my games are for the VC; paying for emulated games isn't the point I was making about new games!
I completley disagree on your game tastes and don't even get me started on Wii's bastard Castlevania! Anyone who thinks that game is better then SF2 is on serious crack and remember I'm comparing the game's impact when it came out; SSF2THDR being the more modern version spits on Wii's Castlevania and doen't even look back!
No one will remember Judgement come next gen but SF2 will never be forgotten.
Look, I respect your difference of opinion but I can promise you, you're in the minority group or you're too new to gaming to have experienced classics before they became classics!
Red Confession @ Jan 5th 2009 6:38PM
My parents want a Wii, but can't find one anywhere.
GenSpec @ Jan 5th 2009 7:44PM
I am in Australia and over the Christmas break (up to and including last weekend) you could not find a Wii anywhere. Everywhere you went there were signs saying "SOLD OUT. Preorder now".
I was lucky to pick one up on special on Boxing Day at a store where every second person at the checkout had a Wii under their arm. I asked the salesman and he said that less than a month ago they got a shipment of about 1000 in. The one that I bought was one of the last ten they had.
I think that Nintendo should give our Prime Minister a nice present because I believe that a lot of these Wiis were probably purchased with the handouts that were issued to invigorate the economy.
intro94 @ Jan 6th 2009 3:40PM
and btw, the wii has emulators for all those games you mentioned.