Wii Breaks Sales Records in UK

pluke writes "According to the Daily Telegraph, the Wii has sold 1,000,000 units during 38 weeks in the UK. This makes it the UK's fastest selling console ever, beating the Playstation 2 (50 weeks) and the Xbox 360 (60 weeks). Some industry analysts are also reporting that the Wii has overtaken the XBOX 360 to now become the worlds market leader across console and handheld fields. 'The sales figures are particularly impressive because the Wii was in short supply following its much-heralded launch just before last Christmas [ie, Xmas 2006], and has only recently become easily available again.'"

Comments

Just have to

[RendonWI]

-insert funny comment about how my Wii is big enough to break stuff in the UK-

Re:Just have to

[monk.e.boy]

I just wish they'd release some games for it.

Even my non-hard-core gamer friends down the pub are complaining about the lack of quality titles.

It's either kiddie games (mario, harry potter), or "lite games" (wii play), we want some easy, quick adult games. Please!

monk.e.boy

Re:Just have to

[Zelos]

Eledees and Excite Truck are fun, Mario Strikers is excellent.

Metroid 3, Mario Galaxy and Super Paper Mario are on the way in the next few months.

Re:Just have to

[Phisbut]

It's either kiddie games (mario, harry potter), or "lite games" (wii play), we want some easy, quick adult games. Please!

Define "adult games" please.

Just because a game features Mario does not mean it's a kiddie game. Try Super Paper Mario, or Mario Strikers Charged.

Just because a game doesn't have loads of gore and blood doesn't mean it's a kiddie game. Try Zelda.

You want easy and quick? Try Brain Age, or WarioWare. If you want quick and action-packed, even Mario Strikers Charged can fit your bill, with games being played in about 5 minutes.

Re:Just have to

[monk.e.boy]

Paper Mario was soooo cool. My GF loved Final Fantasy, so she was loving it more than me. That's what sold Nintendo to her :-) she was Playstation all the way.

monk.e.boy

Re:Just have to

[steveo777]

I'm thinking a Chuck Norris fact could certainly apply.

Re:Just have to

[seebs]

What do you think "kiddie" means? Why do you think Mario is a "kiddie game"?

C. S. Lewis once observed that, as a ten year old, he would have been horribly embarassed had anyone found out that he read fairy tales. As an adult, he outgrew such childish things -- such as the fear of being seen to be childish. He read fairy tales openly, because he no longer worried that people would look down on him.

I've never seen anyone over about twenty-five worrying about whether games are "kiddie games". By thirty, people are enjoying Mario games because they're fun.

Re:Just have to

[Pojut]

Kiddie games, eh? I know it's on the 360 and not the Wii, but I point you in the direction of Viva Pinata...Every adult that I know that has played it (including a few "go-hard" fellas with a very "fuck you" mentality) have loved it (For reference, I'm 23, however most of my friends are in the 28-40 age bracket) It's a very deep and engrossing game that takes some real planning and skill to excel at.

Just because it's so cute it hurts shouldn't stop you from playing it...it was easily up there in the top 5 games of the year.

Re:Just have to

[thetagger]

I've never seen anyone over about twenty-five worrying about whether games are "kiddie games". By thirty, people are enjoying Mario games because they're fun.

As someone who became a Mario fan at 26 (blessed Virtual Console), let me be the first to say amen.

Re:Just have to

[xtracto]

I think he meant games like Scarface, Resident Evil 4 or HeatSeeker...

Which coming to think now... are available for the Wii right now.

Personally I disagree with you in that I am very seek and tired of the Mario this and Mario that... I bought Zelda and got bored pretty soon (my girlfriend loved it though...).

Of course I am more than happy with the Wii sports golf and bowling !

Re:Just have to

[bentcd]

As someone who became a Mario fan at 26 (blessed Virtual Console), let me be the first to say amen. I seriously doubt that you are the first to say amen.

Re:Just have to

[bigstrat2003]

Er... Metroid Prime 3 is out now, I went out and bought it on Tuesday. Super Paper Mario has been out for quite a long time too, like 2 months or something.

Re:Just have to

[bigstrat2003]

I dunno, your inability to get past what you deem as "kiddie" and see a good game regardless of what age group it may or may not be intended for is pretty kiddie. Grow up, it doesn't make you less of a man if you play Mario (not that I blame you for not playing Mario, as I never felt the series translated to 3D very well...). In fact, you'll get MORE respect from people, in general, for caring about a game's substance, not its style.

Re:Just have to

[Tacvek]

This is mostly just a resumarization of my previous post at http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=284221&cid=204 16563 but here is a quick glance some of the Wii's target areas.

First there is the non-gamer market. This is one of nintendo's current primary markets. The games for this market usually do not interest the hardcore gamer. They may or may not interest the average (semi-hardcore) gamer.

There is also the younger child target market. Nintendo tries to make sure that many of its games are appropriate for this market. These games may still interest the average gamer, and perhaps the occasional hard-core gamer.

Then there is the local multi-player area. This contains a fair amount of the previous two sections, with things like Wii Sports. It also includes party games like Mario party. It also contains a few semi-hardcore games like SSBB. This is likely to become the Wii's primary niche.

As the hardcore markets, recent nentendo systems have had fairly little to offer. Most of the best Hardcore/semi-hardcore games on the nintendo system come from the some classic franchises (Metroid, Zelda, Mario, Star Fox), and usually only a few major third-party games. This is one of the weaker areas of the system, but for some people it is more than enough to buy the system.

As for online play, the Wii does not even attempt to compete with the XBox360's "Live" system. (I have never used nor seen the online system of the 360, o I have no comment about that). This is partially because of the first two groups. Nintendo's consoles have always been the most child freindly systems, and if they were to have a full and decent online system, the newspapers would have a field day with think-of-the-children stories.

Re:Just have to

[prockcore]

The fact that he called it "Eledees" instead of "Elebits" tells me he's in the UK. They won't get Metroid 3 until October.

Re:Just have to

[arodland]

Or, put a different way: Childish Things :)

Re:Just have to

[drsquare]

Just because a game features Mario does not mean it's a kiddie game. Try Super Paper Mario, or Mario Strikers Charged.

They haven't bothered releasing Paper Mario over here. Just shows that Nintendo don't give a shit about their British customers.

Re:Just have to

[coolios]

You people don't even know wtf Nintendo is up to. All retailers selling Nintendo product are on their NAR program , everyone had to agree to use it or faced not being able to sell Nintendo product Nar is a way to control their product into the market. Anyone living in europe knows the deal you buy it and you own it. Here in North America with these BS return policies allow customers to misuse the products they buy. They figure wtf I can use it then just get my money back, and on and on. I lived in europe and I know how things work different there. Being in retail and close to some Nintendo reps NAR is to finally put the returns problem in North America under control. Since November 2006 till now we have not had a single exchange or return for ANY NINTENDO product!!!! Simply put Nintendo is not flooding the market with their products. There is no damn shortage or Nintendo product people!!! it is NAR ( Nintendo Auto replen) any store on NAR can NOT order any product it comes in AUTO!!! Now SONY is using the same system 2 weeks we got news that we no longer can order Sony games or Consoles. they will come in auto from Sony Furthermore Disney is the next company doing this. Wild Hogs is a good example.."funniest comedy of the year" they send 10 copies to smaller stores and 30-40 units to bigger stores that is it!! why you ask? well simple they dont trust the market anymore so they are not flooding stores with movies as they get most of them back from when the stores do their second week returns period. Things are going to get more serious as these are the companies that will not flood stores or have put all stores on auto replen ( no more ordering) Nintendo - Auto Replen NAR Sony game and consoles - Auto Replen Disney - Auto replen can not be ordered Fox movies - Pay scan Sony movies - Switched from paid to pay scan This is just the tip of the ICEBERG. All these companies know what needs to be done and to fix these moronic return problems in North America is to limit the stock or product available.. create a demand for it by crazy limits. I work in a big retail company and We have not had a single return or exchange for any damn Nintendo product since last november. Simply put people do not want to return any Wii's or accessories because they know they get a chance to buy another for weeks or even months.. Thanks.... When you create a demand people HOLD ON TO THE PRODUCT!!!!! Or maybe it's time in North America to have a "NO REFUND" policy like in many countries in Europe

Re:Just have to

[richy freeway]

Chip your Wii and import it. It's a fantastic game. Just make sure your Wii is fully updated before trying to play it our you'll end up with a bricked system.

Correction

[EveryNickIsTaken]

Some industry analysts are also reporting that the Wii has overtaken the XBOX 360 to now become the worlds market leader across console and handheld fields. Some industry analysts are morons then. According to vgchartz.com, the DS has sold 48.99M worldwide, compared to 10.91M for the Wii (10.67M for 360). However, the current market leader is the PS2, with 117.89 million shipped as of March 31, 2007 (according to wikipedia).

Re:Correction

[Barny]

Volume isn't the story, its the rate at which they are moving them (volume/time) that they are talking about.

Hell, I didn't even rtfa and I picked that up.

Re:Correction

[cowscows]

I didn't see any source for that quote in the linked article, so it sounds to me like the slashdot submitter might be the moron (not that I have much faith in "industry analysts"). The Wii does, however, appear to have the lead in terms of sales of 'Next-Gen' consoles, which is still significant and there aren't many people who would've imagined that to be likely a couple of years ago.

Re:Correction

[vonPoonBurGer]

While I agree with your argument for the DS, I'd hardly call the PS2 "current." Comparing a 7-year-old console to a one-year-old console is pretty apples to oranges. Despite the mistake made in the article, lumping handhelds in with consoles, what they're saying is still pretty much true: of the next-gen consoles, the Wii is the current market leader, and it's gaining market share at a much faster rate than the 360 or PS3.

Re:Correction

[UbuntuDupe]

I don't know ... I'd still say it's pretty impressive for the Wii to have any showing at all in the handheld fields, when it's not even a handheld system...

Re:Correction

[Anonymous Coward]

you only have to walk down any high street in the UK to see the rise and rise of the Wii.. Every shop is offering deal after deal on the ps3 and, to a lesser extent the 360. Yet the same shops are ones with notices in the windows advertising new deliveries dates of Wii stock. Either this means that nintendo have a supply problem or that the UK can't get enough Wii consoles to meet demand.

Certainly I'm not seeing any discounting or games bundles of wii machines, whereas I do see them for ps3 and xbox.

It certainly LOOKS like Wii is selling like hot cakes and ps3/360s aren't.

Re:Correction

[pluke]

Yup. Typo. Mine. Cripes. Apologies.

Re:Correction

[poot_rootbeer]

I'd hardly call the PS2 "current."

Why not? The platform still sells a tremendous number of new consoles and titles. When people want to play a Guitar Hero or DDR game--and they do, often--not everybody fires up an Xbox 360 to do so.

The PS2 is the best choice for budget-conscious gamers in the current sales climate. The Wii is half the price of the PS3, but not just half the fun; and likewise, the PS2 is half the price of the Wii, and not just half the fun.

Re:Correction

[vux984]

...and it's gaining market share at a much faster rate than the 360 or PS3.

Its selling faster than any console ever has ever sold. Including the DS and PS2.

Re:Correction

[darkshadow]

If you're comparing an old system like the PS2 to the DS, I think you would need to add in the Gameboy Advance and the Gameboy Advance SP.

Re:Correction

[Anonymous Coward]

One time I threw a brick at a duck.

One time I threw a duck at a brick.

Re:Correction

[Anonymous Coward]

One time I threw a duck at a brick.

One time I ducked when a brick was thrown at me.

Heh

[Eddi3]

Not only is the Wii the cheapest next-gen console available, but it's also the only one being sold at a profit, it's breaking records everywhere, and it's a universally liked console. The people over at Nintendo must be happy.

Re:Heh

[EveryNickIsTaken]

but it's also the only one being sold at a profit It's well known that MS has been making at least $75 per console sold for almost a year now.

Re:Heh

[faloi]

The people over at Nintendo must be happy.

Relieved is probably more like it. They had one shot as surging back to prominence, and they nailed it. Now hopefully more and more game developers will realize it's worthwhile to develop on the console, and hopefully they'll develop stuff using the consoles unique control methods effectively.

Re:Heh

[Anonymous Coward]

Unfortunately - the fact that it is universally liked is enough to make it universally hated by anyone who didn't get on the ground floor.

Re:Heh

[spocksbrain]

Actually, no.

http://xbox360news.com/Blogs/News/hqs/blr_976.aspx

When the console launched it was losing well over $100 per machine, I doubt that the parts have dropped that much in the last year to make that kind of money for M$. Especially considering the fact that the price of the console has been cut $100 already since launch.

Re:Heh

[Eddi3]

As well as the fact that in order to make a net profit per console, they'd need to sell as many for $100 profit as they did for a $100 loss.

Re:Heh

[EveryNickIsTaken]

Way to post a one and a half year old link.

Here's something a little more recent: From Nov 2006

You clearly need to work on your Google skills.

Re:Heh

[LKM]

Sources?

Re:Heh

[Anonymous Coward]

Two shots. Three, if you count the GBA. Considering Nintendo ruled our pockets long before the Revolution was announced, I'd say their prominence in the console world wasn't that big of a stretch.

Re:Heh

[vux984]

They had one shot as surging back to prominence, and they nailed it.

Oh I don't know about that. The gamecube was pretty much neck and neck with the xbox one, and because its still being sold while the xbox has been discontinued means that in the final analysis it will have sold more.

It was also profitable, which made the endeavour worthwhile, while xbox lost money hand over fist. I'm sure they were disappointed to be in 3rd, and the lack of 3rd party developers didn't help. But of all the console makers -- they are the only ones that really didn't NEED to be in first.

They were selling at a profit, and have enough first party franchises to successfully carry their own system.

To top it off, the DS was a license to print money, so they had a 2nd highly profitable and highly successful product. The Wii was gamble to be sure, but frankly it was a gamble they could have afforded to lose (and by 'lose' I mean end up with a profitable, but not dominant position in the console market and repeat the gamecube's story.)

As for the rest of your post, yes, 'they nailed it'. And 3rd party developers will inevitably sit up and take note, and they have.

Re:Heh

[moderatorrater]

I would disagree with the statement that they had one shot. Nintendo will have mind share for at least another decade, and the gamecube wasn't that bad. With the gameboy they could fund a few generations of mistakes if they wanted to.

Re:Heh

[Glytch]

Yes, but I'm sure Microsoft can make up for it in volume.

Re:Heh

[mjhacker]

It doesn't matter if Microsoft is losing money on the 360. The money is really in the games, anyway. Microsoft has enough money to throw away in the short term, if they think it's going to profit them in the long run by cornering the console market, which they have pretty much done. Microsoft and the 360 have done very well this generation, and they have realized the mistakes of the last Xbox. The 360, an American console, has more Japanese RPGs than the Japanese consoles do! Not to mention, they have solid, well made games coming out at the same time as they cut their hardware prices. They're looking at winning in the long run.

Re:Heh

[spocksbrain]

If you bothered to read my entire post, I said

When the console launched hence the old link. If you bothered to read the entire link you posted:

a $399 price tag now nets Microsoft $75.70 - before the unit has been shipped however. that profit amount is before shipping costs - and before the 50 dollar price drop to $349.99 that it is currently at. So not only did you post an outdated link as well, it does not support your argument terribly well. My Google skills are doing OK... and so are my critical reading skills.

Re:Heh

[gamesplayer]

Congratulations Nintendo! A job well done. They could have reached the 1m target a few months earlier, had they the ability to surply the demand for wii packages. Presently they are still hard to get at most shops. I can't see the situation improving until next year. http://www.ecbiz.co.uk/ Wii Player : AKA Emma :

Re:Heh

[Anonymous Coward]

So... last november (almost a year ago) when it was selling at $400 (it still was) it was making $75 per console before shipping (less expensive in mass), like he said originally. Presumably it can be made now for less than it was last November, so while the profit may not be $75, it wouldn't be entirely surprising if it was that or greater. I wouldn't get too high on your critical reading skills there, his link was contextual to the original statement.

- guy reading 4 day old threads

Ye-haw Ye-haw, Andelea Andelea Ye-haw!

[Anonymous Coward]

The Wii selling faster than any console ever? Very interesting coming from the "underpowered" console of this generation. I guess its finally proving what all of us hardcores have been begging for for a long time:

Innovation > Graphics

It's also amazing that the only real games are Wii Sports and Zelda and RE:4 and its doing this well!

Re:Ye-haw Ye-haw, Andelea Andelea Ye-haw!

[Pojut]

I'm hoping this is the start of a trend similar to the CPU market...less emphasis on clock speed and more emphasis on architecture...

Re:Ye-haw Ye-haw, Andelea Andelea Ye-haw!

[KZigurs]

Pentium-M?

Re:Ye-haw Ye-haw, Andelea Andelea Ye-haw!

[Nazmun]

Um yeah... welcome to two years ago (athlon xp and pentium m's, maybe even older then that). Also this is a poor comparision with the wii. The wii is just a budget console with a tremendous amount of hype and a pretty damn fun controller.

I don't think i want a weaker performing cpu to be released with tremendous hype and slower performance (wii simply has weaker performance not just lower frequency).

fact or fiction?

[achilles777033]

"Some industry analysts are also reporting that the Wii has overtaken the XBOX 360 to now become the worlds market leader across console and handheld fields" did the poster even RTFA? or have I gone blind? I don't see anything even remotely resembling this statement anywhere in the article. It says the Wii sold 1Mil units faster, but it doesn't say that it has sold more units in total than 360/DS or any other console (except PS3, but that hardly counts)yet. If there's another article being quoted, it ought to be linked, otherwise this is just poster-bias BS.

Re:fact or fiction?

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.vgchartz.com/ - maybe? There are others about.

Re:fact or fiction?

[ookaze]

It's no fact nor fiction. Or rather, it's a fact, but not officially approved yet.
Even the most conservative analysts and sites analysing sales have admitted that the Wii is market leader, and reached that status in August, perhaps even in July. Except joke sites like nexgenwars of course, but they always were completely wrong (they had XB360 at 10 millions sold in January !!).
Actually, the only region that causes problems is Europe, as the informations are scarce.
But we know that among the big 5 of Europe (UK + FIGS, meaning France Germany Italy Spain in that order of market share, representing 85% of Europe sales), Wii has passed the XB360 in all of them except UK, and UK will fall soon.

ALl this means is that for now, Wii is market leader, and leader in one region (Japan). Europe will fall soon (before end of 2007 by most estimates), and USA will fall last, as it's the best (the only good actually) XBox 360 market and they have 2 M+ lead there, which will grow higher with Halo 3 release and Wii shortages that are to be expected in the holidays.

wii will wii will rock you

[JCSoRocks]

You mean a console designer made something for the people rather than for themselves and it's working? that's preposterous. You mean people don't want to spend more on one gaming console than they have on their computer!? that's crazy!

Nintendo has always been about gaming. Sure, they've missed the boat a few times (I still think DVD's should be natively supported) but for the most part, I think we could all pretty easily agree that they've done a good job. Graphics don't make games, gameplay / fresh ideas make games. Wii is based on that idea, and that's why it's winning.

Readily available...

[RootsLINUX]

Mind sharing WHERE it is readily available? I go to game/electronics stores every so often, always with the premise that "if I see a Wii console in this store, I will buy it". In almost a year, I can sadly report that I have not been able to lay eyes on a Wii box :(

Re:Readily available...

[archen]

Same here. And actually up until a month ago I hadn't actually seen another living person that owned one - well, i don't get out much, but still. Then about 3 weeks ago I had friends from various parts of the U.S. (and Canada) call me asking me if I was still looking for a Wii because they could now get one (since I went on and on about it before it even came out). So I'd say you'll probably be in luck within the next month or so. They're actually starting to stick on shelves. After the Christmas season starts they'll probably be nowhere to be found again until January.

Re:Readily available...

[joe 155]

If you live in the UK pretty much every GAME has them for sale... as does HMV, and pretty much all other music shops. Gamestation seems to have them in too; as does amazon (periodically)

Re:Readily available...

[TheDauthi]

Here in Jackson, Mississippi [US - I realize this story is about the UK], Wiis are everywhere. I saw three in Wal-Mart a few days ago, there are two in-stock at the local GameStop. All the rednecks want are copies of "Deer Hunter 2005" and maybe a few racing games for their 360. Of course, that would entail being in Mississippi.

Re:Readily available...

[SteelFist]

Did you ask the sales people if they had a Wii? When I got mine, there were none on the shelves, but they had a couple in the back so I could get one.

Re:Readily available...

[MaximvsG]

I still see them sold out at the Best Buy I frequent near work. I'm surprised they've already overtaken XBOX360 in worldwide sales since they never seem to be in stock anywhere. I'm wondering what percentage on sales they are losing every month buy not having enough in on the shelves. With the recent price drop of the 360, the lack of merchandise on the shelves will result in sales loses for sure. Overall I'm happy for Nintendo. After the N64 and Gamecube, this is great news for them. Good to see them back on track.

Re:Hmm...

[BarneyL]

We have one already: The Bunnies don't go to the dentist minigame in Rayman Raving Rabbids taught me all I know about dental hygiene...

Viva Pinata would be amazing...

[GregPK]

Viva Pinata would be an amazing game on the Wii. and you know it. Especially with the superiro interface that you can get on the Wii. :)

Re:Viva Pinata would be amazing...

[Pojut]

I entirely agree... I think instead of being in the "best game you never played" catagory as it is in 360, I think it could be a major title for the Wii

Re:Viva Pinata would be amazing...

[Pojut]

By the way, in case you weren't aware, a port-like version of Viva Pinata is coming to the DS:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viva_Pi%C3%B1ata_(Nin tendo_DS)

Things for Brits and Scots to remember re Wii

[WillAffleckUW]

1. Zelda is worth it - buy it when you get your Wii.
2. If Wii Sports is not in your bundle, buy it ... your Mii will thank you.
3. Rayman Raving Rabbids rocks! You so have to get that.
4. Excite Truck is cool.
5. FIFA 2008 is not yet out, so you footy fans will have to wait a bit.

Re:Things for Brits and Scots to remember re Wii

[pringlis]

Uh Brits AND Scots? Scotland IS part of Britain!

Re:Things for Brits and Scots to remember re Wii

[LBt1st]

Resident Evil 4!!!

And don't forget about the Virtual Console. There's over 100 games on there now. For those of us who never had an N64 or other consoles, the VC is a goldmine of great games.

Re:Things for Brits and Scots to remember re Wii

[WillAffleckUW]

You can take our lives, but you can never take our FREEDOM!

oops, sorry, force of habit there.

I'm sure the Scottish Parliament might not agree with what you said.

And to my direct ancestor in Wales, sorry I forgot to mention you. And sorry if I offended anyone in Northern Ireland, but it's a bit of a touch subject, even if my first two romantic girlfriends lived there.

Re:Things for Brits and Scots to remember re Wii

[WillAffleckUW]

oh, yeah, and there's Opera too, in addition. sorry, spaced that.

looking forward to the Wii versions of My Sims and Animal Crossing II as well - and you'll get them when we in the States get them!

Re:Things for Brits and Scots to remember re Wii

[ambrosen]

Just because you call your state parliaments houses of representatives doesn't mean we have to

Re:Things for Brits and Scots to remember re Wii

[WillAffleckUW]

Ha.

So, that wasn't a Referendum that I read about in Scotland?

Whatever.

Regardless, my advice is still sound. At least you'll get the cool new games at Christmas when we do - so it should be even more fun when you get a Wii! Lots of choices.

Re:Things for Brits and Scots to remember re Wii

[buffer-overflowed]

Brit refers to British, as in Great Britain, or even including the entirety of the British Islands if one wants to be pedantic(which includes all of Ireland, IIRC, I'm not from the UK, I just work with em and pronounce things like them now[Worcester = Woostah]). This includes Scotland, and arguably some parts of Ireland, as well as IIRC, the Welsh. Now, English and Scots otoh... that's different.