A system is only so good as its games though, right? Well, in Japan the games pushing the Wii are Wii Sports (2.6 million copies sold as of now), Wii Play (2.1 million copies sold as of now), Mario Party 8 ( 1.1 million copies sold as of now) and Wii Fit (1.1 million copies sold as of now). Super Mario Galaxy comes in fifth place in the country, only selling a total of 843,961 copies.
Posts with tag wiiplay
Wii serves over 5 million in Japan
In little over 60 weeks, the Wii console has managed to sell over 5 million units in its home territory of Japan. As impressive as this is, it falls short of the DS, which achieved sales figures of this nature in 56 weeks. But, the Wii did manage to beat the PS2, which cracked the 5 million mark after 66 weeks on the market.
A system is only so good as its games though, right? Well, in Japan the games pushing the Wii are Wii Sports (2.6 million copies sold as of now), Wii Play (2.1 million copies sold as of now), Mario Party 8 ( 1.1 million copies sold as of now) and Wii Fit (1.1 million copies sold as of now). Super Mario Galaxy comes in fifth place in the country, only selling a total of 843,961 copies.
A system is only so good as its games though, right? Well, in Japan the games pushing the Wii are Wii Sports (2.6 million copies sold as of now), Wii Play (2.1 million copies sold as of now), Mario Party 8 ( 1.1 million copies sold as of now) and Wii Fit (1.1 million copies sold as of now). Super Mario Galaxy comes in fifth place in the country, only selling a total of 843,961 copies.
September NPD: It finally happened
Turns out, one man's prediction was correct, as the Wii was finally knocked off its throne in September, thanks to Halo 3. We know, if you need to take a moment, we understand. We are shocked and saddened here at Wii Fanboy Estates, as we lay in the fetal position in a puddle of our own tears, only breaking away to make the occasional blog post.
Without further ado, let's look at the hardware figures:
Without further ado, let's look at the hardware figures:
- Microsoft Xbox 360: 527.8K (6.8 million total)
- Nintendo Wii: 501K (4.5 million total)
- Nintendo DS: 495.8K (13.2 million total)
- Sony PlayStation 2: 215K (39.3 million total)
- Sony PSP: 284.5K (8.6 million total)
- Sony PlayStation 3: 119.4K (1.87 million total)
Average U.S. Wii owner has 2.2 Wiimotes
Analyzing NPD numbers, it's come to light that those who've purchased a Wii own an average of 2.2 Wiimotes. Personally, we were content with just two Wiimotes when we got our own system. What's weird, though, is that only around 21% of the Wiimotes sold come with Wii Play, while around 34% were purchased just as the base accessory.
How many Wiimotes do you own?
[Via Infendo]
How many Wiimotes do you own?
[Via Infendo]
August NPD: The view from on high
Even in a month when hardware sales are down, Nintendo's Straight Up Success bus just keeps on rolling. Let's hope this keeps on challenging Iwata and company to avoid "doing the easy." Even the re-priced Xbox 360 couldn't compete with the Nintendo juggernaut. - Nintendo Wii: 403K
- Nintendo DS: 383K
- Microsoft Xbox 360: 277K
- Sony PS2: 202K
- Sony PSP: 151K
- Sony PS3: 131K
Is Wii fever wearing off?
Here in the armchair analyst era, every slight change in sales trends seems to have become reason for panic, or at least in-depth discussion. Thus, when Gamasutra released the above chart as part of their NPD analysis, the rumblings began. Are Wii sales dropping off? Is there some truth in Dave Perry's recent doom-saying about the future of the Wii? Here's our question: can we really discern anything other than current sales numbers from this chart? For a variety of reasons, we'll say no.
This sales chart takes only that very thing into account: sales. While it's a great analytical tool for tracking said sales, we would caution anyone from drawing too many conclusions about market trends from hardware sales only. From this, of course, certain things can be extrapolated; US sales of anything and everything tend to drop in the pre-tax day period, but consoles are still riding a holiday wave of demand in January and February. In months when a particular console surges, there was probably a hotly-desired game driving those sales. But all of that is guesswork if we're only working with pure sales numbers -- in order to truly analyze what's going on, we have to look at a variety of factors.
Happy funtime Memorial Day video: Rejected Wii Play minigames
A caution to our readers: anyone with a conscience or refined sense of humor may want to stay far away from the above video, which features a host of "rejected" Wii Play minigames to hilarious effect. It even includes Ribbon Dancing Revolution, which we called back in August of '06. The excellent reproduction of the Mii's simplistic style is alone worth the price of admission, so go ahead, click on the play button.
We're not watching.
[via GoNintendo]
We're not watching.
[via GoNintendo]
Wii Play turns into Wii Bday

As far as friends go, Paul Pape has to be one of the best we've seen in recent history. As a birthday present to his friend, he was asked by that friend's family to create a video incorporating video games and the song "Hello, I Love You" by The Doors for his 30th. Paul went above and beyond, creating a fake Wii Channel and a rather lengthy music video, incorporating Miis of his friend's family.
You can see the video past the post break.
[Via The Last Boss]
Get a cheap Wiimote at Gamecrazy, maybe
Some bargain hunters at CAG have sniffed out a pretty cool deal on Wiimotes for US gamers: apparently, when Hollywood Video stores put Wii Play out for rent, they didn't feel the need to offer the included Wiimotes for rental. So they shipped them over to their game-retail satellite, Gamecrazy (and by "shipped" we mean "walked across the room"). Gamecrazy, in turn, is selling these brand-new, out-of-the-package Wiimotes for $29.99.Don't get your hopes up too much: the number of Wiimotes in stock at any store depends on how many rental copies of Wii Play were received by the attached Hollywood Video store ... and on how many CAGs live in your town.
[Via Siliconera]
Wii Sports and Wii Play sell one million copies each in Japan
Congrats are in order to Nintendo: both Wii Sports and Wii Play (Hajimete no Wii) have sold in excess of one million copies in Japan. Having two million-sellers already trumps the Gamecube, on which only Super Smash Bros. Melee reached that particular milestone.We know that the bundled Wiimote had a lot to do with selling Wii Play, though of course the degree to which it contributed cannot be measured. It makes sense that the two most casual, inclusive games on the system would sell to a Japanese audience that loves DS training games. We hope you guys like minigames, because it's safe to assume we're getting lots more of them!
Reggie downplays Wiimote's TV wrath, 360's European sales
NOA President Reggie Fils-Aime, ever the iconoclast, had some choice words for the San Jose Mercury News about the success of the Xbox 360 in Europe. In effect, he claimed that the 360's success in Europe is localized to the UK, while the Wii is (obviously!) doing great across the continent.Reggie also slyly wrote off the early (and not so early) strap issues, while blaming consumer ignorance for the few known cases. He said that the strap was originally meant to be a backup safety measure in case the controller slipped out of players' hands, but many users got too rough with their controllers and put excessive force into their motions. Of course, Nintendo has been kind enough to replace the straps.
[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Wii Play contest: and the winner is ...

Our contest is officially over and, now that you've seen the honorable mentions, it's time we presented the winner. Many of you might cry protest as the winner's video isn't particularly funny or original, however it managed to pluck at our heart strings and earn our winner the sympathetic vote. So, without further ado, let's see who won the Wii Play package...
Wii Play contest: honorable mentions

Well, our contest has come to an end and these fine folks had some great submissions, but either they didn't exactly fulfill the requirements or they just weren't good enough when compared to the winner. Whatever the case may be, we thank them for participating in our contest and wish them better luck next time.
We've embedded the submissions into the post, past the break.
Contest reminder: want Wii Play? Show us how you play!

Hey, did you know we were running a little contest where the winner is given the Wii Play package (which includes the software and extra Wiimote)? Well, where have you been? Get with it and enter the contest already! Oh, wait ... you don't know how?
Here are the specifics: entries need to be sent to nwf[dot]contests[at]gmail[dot]com and be received no later than 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, February 28th. Of course, we don't need to tell you to not send anything offensive or pornographic as it won't be considered (and it'll get you banned) ...
We've included a couple of good entries past the break. These folks did the right thing, however it just wasn't good enough to warrant them the package. Can you do better?
Continue reading Contest reminder: want Wii Play? Show us how you play!
Contest: want Wii Play? Show us how you play! [update 1]

We're passing the savings on to you! You might have read our review of the Wii Play pack recently, and you might be thinking that we're full of crap. That's OK, you aren't the first and you won't be the last, but most of all you'd like to tell us we're full of crap and have proof to back it up, right? What better way than to win Wii Play, play it, then tell us we're dead wrong as you laugh maniacally, fully content with your free bundle? There is no easier way, silly! So how does one win this package from us? Easy, show us how you play!
We're looking for images of you (and your friends, if available) playing the Wii together and having fun. Show us your gaming space, add hilarious captions, it's all up to you. Creativity and humor is going to win you this contest, which will award you with:
- Wii Play
- bundled Wiimote
- fancy box it all comes in
- a Fed Ex envelope containing the above items
Update: In the name of clearing the confusion, here's a couple of things:
- Yes, we will ship internationally
- Video is acceptable
- Bribery is fine, as long as it is in the form of delicious baked goods (can't leave any evidence behind, y'know?)
Wii Fanboy review: Wii Play

Upon inserting the Wii Play disc into your Wii's disc drive, you might feel elation and experience the levels of bliss only known to the few who would actually go on to write a sentence this long about some mundane physical exertion such as placing a disc into an electronic device. It's OK, we felt the same way too, and in being greeted with the snazzy music that accompanies the game's logo in the Disc Channel of your Wii, you might feel as if your life is about to change.














