Last Friday – December 8th – UK gamers queued outside many retailers to get hold of Nintendo’s latest console at its midnight launch. In the space of 12 hours, the Wii was sold at an incredible rate of one unit every second. After this intense period where 50,000 Wiis were brought, it was not surprising that some of the Wii consoles are now appearing on online auction site eBay, going for around £300 (around US $590).
Nintendo are very pleased by the amount of units sold and have today announced that sales of the Wii has hit the 325,000 mark in Europe in only two days. The Japanese firm claims that it has become the “fastest selling home console in history.”
Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which was hampered by hardware shortages, launched with 300,000 units in Europe, and Sony’s PlayStation Portable sold 185,000 units in its first week in the UK.
Meanwhile in the United States, the Wii has sold 600,000 units within the first eight days of the North American launch. Followed by 400,000 consoles on its December 2nd release in Japan.
Laurent Fischer, marketing director for Nintendo Europe, commented: “Wii has become an overnight success in Europe with people of all ages rushing out to get their hands on the console.”
Fischer also assure Europeans gamers still looking to buy the console that their time would come, saying: “More stock is already on its way and we are doing everything possible to ensure that a steady supply of Wii units is shipped to stores across Europe throughout December and into 2007.”
The launch games have also been a momentous benefit to Nintendo’s revenue with more than 240,000 copies of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was sold in Europe. This means almost 74 percent of gamers who bought the hardware also took a copy of Zelda. Wii Play (which is bundled with a Wii Remote) was purchased by 50 percent of people who bought the gaming system.
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Nintendo Wii says:
European Nintendo Wii sales hit 350,000 December 14th, 2006. Author walking leaf. Cats: Videogames, Features, Nintendo Wii Last Friday – December 8th… Original post byWiiHaa | Nintendo Wii News and Information
Dec 14, 2006, 11:08 am