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Nintendo’s Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ systems claimed the top hardware sales positions for October, making them well-positioned to become one of the must-have holiday gifts for the fourth consecutive year. U.S. shoppers snapped up nearly 507,000 Wii systems in October, bringing lifetime sales to more than 22 million, according to the independent NPD Group, which tracks video game sales in the United States. Wii sales spiked more than 9.5 percent over September, a remarkable result, considering that September was a five-week reporting month for NPD, while October included just four weeks. Consumers were attracted by top software like Wii Sports Resort™ and Wii Fit™ Plus, as well as the system’s new suggested retail price of $199.99.
Nintendo’s hand-helds, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DS Lite, combined to sell more than 457,000 units, and placed second in overall video game hardware sales. The Nintendo DS franchise has sold through nearly 34 million units in the United States since its 2004 launch and is poised to surpass the all-time single-year U.S. hardware sales record, set in 2008 by the Wii console, with more than 10 million units sold.
“Nintendo’s year-to-date share of total game sales and total industry revenues are up over the same period last year,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “We are very appreciative of the continued, strong consumer response to both of our systems as we head into the holidays, and are excited to bring to them our key games, like New Super Mario Bros Wii, which launches this Sunday, and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, which launches Dec. 7.”
Four games published for Nintendo systems finished in the top 10 best-sellers of October in the United States. These include Wii Fit Plus at No. 5 with nearly 232,000 sold, Wii Fit Plus (with the Wii Balance Board™ accessory) at No. 6 with more than 209,000 sold, Wii Sports Resort with two Wii MotionPlus™ accessories at No. 8 with nearly 179,000 sold and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi at No. 10 with more than 169,000 sold.
Along with Wii Sports Resort, which launched in July, games such as Wii Fit, Mario Kart™ Wii, Wii Play™, Pokémon™ Platinum Version and Mario Kart DS currently sit in the top 10 best-sellers for all of 2009.
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A little bit surprising considering that the Wii has really slowed dow in sales. Whats not surprising at all is the continued success of the DS line. The thing's a juggernaut and cannot be beat for sheer entertainment and variety of software. It's a shame that the PSP Go was such a massive failure, it would have been good to see some competition in the mobile market. Now we'll have to wait and see what happens with the rumored next-gen PSP and DS.
