Nintendo Sales News | European and Australian Success for Wii and DS

Nintendo continue to blow their own horn over Wii and DS sales, with both the European and Australian arms of the company speaking out recently.

In the UK, independent sales figures released by Chart Track confirm Nintendo's Wii and DS games consoles topped the Christmas sales, in total almost 200,000 Wii consoles were sold in the UK over the Christmas period. 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 also been doing rather well, with the Wii and DS accounting for over half of all European video game hardware sales in December.

Two years after it launched, the DS has experienced its strongest ever period of sales. 1.7 million hardware units were sold across Europe during December. This not only makes it the best selling console of December, but also throughout the whole of 2006. Wii also sold through a fair few units. Over 700,000 Wii units were purchased in Europe during December 2006. In the world of software, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess sold more than 500,000 copies and Wii Play sold about 320,000.

Laurent Fischer, Marketing Director for Nintendo Europe enthused:

"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."

Hopping across the world to Australia and Nintendo have equally good news. The Nintendo DS was the best selling console of 2006 and the Wii sold through 50,000 units in just 3 weeks of December.

"We promised innovation and creative thinking. We promised to bring gaming to the masses and make interactive entertainment relevant to a broader audience. We promised we would disrupt the industry", explains Rose Lappin, Director of Sales and Marketing. "I think we have delivered on these promises."

Last week, Nintendo increased its projected worldwide financial performance for the year ending on March 31 to be the best in company history. Lots of money, lots of success and a well earned pat on the back for Nintendo. More 'we did great' news soon.