Three Million Wiis Sold in December 2009

Submitted by Paul Munn on January 5, 2010 – 2:58 pm9 Comments

A B C Wii! Nintendo has solved its supply problem. Proof? Three million Wiis were sold in December 2009 in the United States alone, or so Nintendo says. Official NPD numbers are coming on January 14th.

What else has sold millions? The New Super Mario Brothers game, 4 million copies to date in the US to be exact. As someone who plays games on the PS3, a console that cheers when 200,000 copies of anything are sold, that’s amazing.

But is that game selling on name alone? I’ve heard of The New Super Mario Brothers, and I don’t have a Wii. What have I heard? That everybody who plays it for any length of time grows to dislike it because it’s hard and has a punishing save system. That and for a system that is best at local multiplayer games it is marital poison.

But still, 4 million people bought it. Go figure.

Seen on Gamespot.

http://www.aeropause.com mclazyj

If they sold 4 million copies of Super Mario Brothers Wii, it had to do gangbuster business in December, including outselling its opening month by double. It had sold 1.25 million I believe in the month of November if I am not mistaken, which means it had to sell 2.75 million in December. While not impossible, it seems an incredible number to reach for in one month for a title that has such mixed opinions.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tony-Sadowski/506807615 Tony Sadowski

Proof that you gaming news site types/hardcore game fanboys don't really matter outside of this very exclusive circle, right here.

Into which I really don't fit.

But I still love you.

And even the people bitching about it still BOUGHT it. So…yeah. Big numbers. Despite the Kurse of Koss (TM), a few podcasts ago.
http://www.fourhman.com Joe Fourhman

Agree, agree, agree. Nintendo has reached outside the core audience and made it work. The other two will have a tough time riding that wake.

That said, it would be nice if all these four million NSMBW owners would get their act together and maybe buy a couple other games a year. That's the unspoken heartbreak behind all these Wii Sales Success Stories. It's a gold rush but almost no one but Nintendo knows where to find the mine.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tony-Sadowski/506807615 Tony Sadowski

Agree, agree, agree back on that one.

Step up, Wii owners. Nintendo doesn't hate you as much as you think – and third party companies WANT to love you. They TRY, but you push them away.

Cruel little bastards, you are. All because of friend codes, or whatever.

You know what I think some of it is? People are paying for Xbox Live. I won't work out on my own, at home, but with the gym membership…there's money involved. I've PAID for this, better use it. So, those kiddies are just trying to make the most of the buckaroos being sucked down the drain so they can play Call of Warfare with the other <strike>homophobes</strike> 360 owners.

Or, as mentioned on the Game of the Year podcasts…if those big name 3rd party Wii releases weren't half-ass crap (Madworld, any Sonic game, etc.), people might jump in.

Not to mention the demographics. I'm not going to buy Dead Space Extraction. I don't want the REAL Dead Space on the other consoles. I don't own them, and that game wasn't a draw enough TO own them. Hence, there's no interest in the Wii-exclusive/watered-down tie-in for me, a Wii guy. If I wanted Dead Space, I'd buy a PS3. I don't. I want Mario and Blob and Harvest Moon and Wii Fit.

Those other companies would do well to look at Nintendo and see what they're doing, anyway. I'm looking forward to Epic Mickey. I wanted Boy & Blob forever. I wanted a NiGHTS sequel forever. I still <3 Mario games. I have my system and my games.

Please, feel free to release exclusives that seem tailored SPECIFICALLY to my interests elsewhere, and I'll be there.
http://www.fourhman.com Joe Fourhman

Only thing is, NiGHTs sold for crap and Boy and His Blob is selling for crap. So it's not like there's some “Nintendo-esque” formula that brings big sales. Good reviews did not help Dead Space Extraction or Little King's Story much.

The vast majority of Wii owners simply are not paying attention. They can play living-room-tennis and they're done. It takes something huge to break through that door (Guitar Hero III did it, for one), but lots of great “little” titles are getting ignored in the process.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tony-Sadowski/506807615 Tony Sadowski

Had those games been on other systems, though, I'd be more likely to be there. But no one cares about me, because I fall in the middle. I'm not one of those hardcore “gotsta' get me the biggest and best and prettiest” types, and I'm not a super-casual, “I only own Wii Sports and that's enough” type.

I fall in the middle – I like what I like, and remain annoyingly elusive and difficult to impress without something made JUST FOR ME. Those games you mentioned convince me that I'm where I should be. If experiences I, personally, want show up elsewhere…I'm interested.

For all the talk of Nintendo losing the “hardcore,” the other guys are struggling just as much, if not MORE, to tap into the huge market that is The Casual Wii Owners (TM). Why else would Natal or Gem exist?

They aren't winnable, though. It's a weird console generation, because Nintendo's almost in a world of its own – with some crossover, sure – where what's happening elsewhere in gaming isn't much of a concern. Usually, competition is a concern. Especially when the systems are more powerful and offer more features. But, no. They're non-factors.

Wii continues going gangbusters.

And, yet, we keep debating, like Nintendo's going to have HUGE problems if they don't release something TOMORROW that's gorgeous, covered in blood and with the best online multiplayer action ever conceived. Sure, it'd be nice if they DID…but no one would care.

Wii Fit Plus is just fine, thanks.

People are fighting a console war that ISN'T THERE. And it's not casual Wii owners. They don't read this stuff and don't care. They just like Guitar Hero III, because their friends think it's fun at parties. They like Bowling. And that Find-a-Mii game in Wii Play.

That's all they need.

“Gamers” need more. Always and insatiably. And, again, they're moody that their supposedly (and technically) superior systems are shivering in Wii's shadow.

It'd be nice if the Wii audience, at large, started buying deep, innovative third party experiences tomorrow. They won't. But, somehow, the Wii is working. For Nintendo. And, really…isn't that what REALLY matters?

If you have a system, on which there exist enough games to keep the bulk of your user base happy…why change anything?

Keep throwing bones to the hardcore crowd, as if they'll care…but keep the goofy stuff coming, so the rest of us are placated. Someone will try another “Blob.” Someone will try another “NiGHTS.”

99% of Wii owners will fart at it. But I'll be there.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tony-Sadowski/506807615 Tony Sadowski

Agree, agree, agree back on that one.

Step up, Wii owners. Nintendo doesn't hate you as much as you think – and third party companies WANT to love you. They TRY, but you push them away.

Cruel little bastards, you are. All because of friend codes, or whatever.

You know what I think some of it is? People are paying for Xbox Live. I won't work out on my own, at home, but with the gym membership…there's money involved. I've PAID for this, better use it. So, those kiddies are just trying to make the most of the buckaroos being sucked down the drain so they can play Call of Warfare with the other ~~homophobes~~ 360 owners.

Or, as mentioned on the Game of the Year podcasts…if those big name 3rd party Wii releases weren't half-ass crap (Madworld, any Sonic game, etc.), people might jump in.

Not to mention the demographics. I'm not going to buy Dead Space Extraction. I don't want the REAL Dead Space on the other consoles. I don't own them, and that game wasn't a draw enough TO own them. Hence, there's no interest in the Wii-exclusive/watered-down tie-in for me, a Wii guy. If I wanted Dead Space, I'd buy a PS3. I don't. I want Mario and Blob and Harvest Moon and Wii Fit.

Those other companies would do well to look at Nintendo and see what they're doing, anyway. I'm looking forward to Epic Mickey. I wanted Boy & Blob forever. I wanted a NiGHTS sequel forever. I still <3 Mario games. I have my system and my games.

Please, feel free to release exclusives that seem tailored SPECIFICALLY to my interests elsewhere, and I'll be there.
http://www.fourhman.com Joe Fourhman

Only thing is, NiGHTs sold for crap and Boy and His Blob is selling for crap. So it's not like there's some “Nintendo-esque” formula that brings big sales. Good reviews did not help Dead Space Extraction or Little King's Story much.

The vast majority of Wii owners simply are not paying attention. They can play living-room-tennis and they're done. It takes something huge to break through that door (Guitar Hero III did it, for one), but lots of great “little” titles are getting ignored in the process.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tony-Sadowski/506807615 Tony Sadowski

Had those games been on other systems, though, I'd be more likely to be there. But no one cares about me, because I fall in the middle. I'm not one of those hardcore “gotsta' get me the biggest and best and prettiest” types, and I'm not a super-casual, “I only own Wii Sports and that's enough” type.

I fall in the middle – I like what I like, and remain annoyingly elusive and difficult to impress without something made JUST FOR ME. Those games you mentioned convince me that I'm where I should be. If experiences I, personally, want show up elsewhere…I'm interested.

For all the talk of Nintendo losing the “hardcore,” the other guys are struggling just as much, if not MORE, to tap into the huge market that is The Casual Wii Owners (TM). Why else would Natal or Gem exist?

They aren't winnable, though. It's a weird console generation, because Nintendo's almost in a world of its own – with some crossover, sure – where what's happening elsewhere in gaming isn't much of a concern. Usually, competition is a concern. Especially when the systems are more powerful and offer more features. But, no. They're non-factors.

Wii continues going gangbusters.

And, yet, we keep debating, like Nintendo's going to have HUGE problems if they don't release something TOMORROW that's gorgeous, covered in blood and with the best online multiplayer action ever conceived. Sure, it'd be nice if they DID…but no one would care.

Wii Fit Plus is just fine, thanks.

People are fighting a console war that ISN'T THERE. And it's not casual Wii owners. They don't read this stuff and don't care. They just like Guitar Hero III, because their friends think it's fun at parties. They like Bowling. And that Find-a-Mii game in Wii Play.

That's all they need.

“Gamers” need more. Always and insatiably. And, again, they're moody that their supposedly (and technically) superior systems are shivering in Wii's shadow.

It'd be nice if the Wii audience, at large, started buying deep, innovative third party experiences tomorrow. They won't. But, somehow, the Wii is working. For Nintendo. And, really…isn't that what REALLY matters?

If you have a system, on which there exist enough games to keep the bulk of your user base happy…why change anything?

Keep throwing bones to the hardcore crowd, as if they'll care…but keep the goofy stuff coming, so the rest of us are placated. Someone will try another “Blob.” Someone will try another “NiGHTS.”

99% of Wii owners will fart at it. But I'll be there.