Not only has the Nintendo Wii been consistently leading sales for the current generation game consoles in the U.S., Reuters is reporting that the Wii outsold its rival Sony PS3 in console units by a whopping ratio of 5 to 1 in Japan last month.

In May Nintendo reportedly sold 251,794 Wii game consoles compared to 45,321 PS3’s from Sony. The trend appears to be a growing one as well, as the ratio was 4 to 1 in favor of the Wii the previous month.

The Wii game console has led sales of the current generation game consoles in the US for four months in a row including April, and is expected to have led sales again in May. For the first three of the four-month run, Sony actually led the number of sales with it’s PlayStation 2 game console which has been consistently outselling the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii in the U.S . until April.

The main reason its doing so well is because of the price.

Nintendo is Staging Wii Shortage to Feed Popularity Hype and Inflate Stock
By Triston McIntyre

There comes a point in a console’s lifespan at which it is simply ludicrous that it is not available on a day to day basis to whatever consumers should so choose to venture to their local Best Buy or Gamestop to pick one up. Such is the case of the little Nintendo Wii; it just isn’t available like it should be in the U.S. That begs the question: why is Nintendo, the company behind the supposedly hysterically popular Wii console, not distributing enough consoles to satisfy U.S. demand?

As one who has admittedly not been a fan of Nintendo consoles since the days before the GameCube, I haven’t been particularly inclined to take the matter into serious consideration. However, after speaking with a colleague about the possibility of reviewing Wii titles over at Gamer.Blorge.com, I started to do a little digging.

Even non-gamers know that the Wii is perpetually unavailable. In fact, it is widely considered to be the most demanded console ever made. If you want a Wii, you either have to stalk retailers and online vendors day and night, or pay exorbitant amounts to buy them secondhand or from less traditional retailers.

Obviously, as a gamer, I am forced to ask myself exactly why the console is in such high demand. After all, a recent study showed that the Nintendo Wii has the fewest titles given “good” reviews of any console on the market, and most serious gamers don’t even consider the console to be relevant to this generation’s level of console advancement.

There are a few theories floating around as to why this console is less available than Tickle-Me-Elmo that one fateful Christmas not so long ago. The first theory is that Nintendo is essentially shunning the U.S. market because the European market is simply more profitable. Bigger fish in larger quantities for the eager fisherman, as it were. In an interview with The Tribune, analyst Billy Pidgeon said, “There is much more of a battle for Europe…Europe represents the greatest potential for penetration.” The value of the U.S. dollar is deplorable, and the current economic recession isn’t very attractive for manufacturers looking to compete with big names like Sony and Microsoft.

A second theory holds that Nintendo can’t legitimately meet the overwhelming demand for the Wii. There simply aren’t enough factories or enough workers to meet the worldwide demand for such an amazing little game machine. The console appeals to a larger group of consumers than standard game consoles, so obviously, there is a greater demand.

With the console being “on the market” for nearly 2 years now, the above theory seems more like Nintendo hype than anything; if either Microsoft or Sony hadn’t produced adequate consoles in that same time period, there would be an angry uprising. I refuse to believe that Nintendo is unable to meet the demand.

The third theory has more underhanded implications than the first two. Some believe that Nintendo is creating a demand by simply withholding consoles it could easily distribute so as to continue the hype of it being an amazing console (and thus prolonging a circular creation of shortage), and to boost quarterly sales numbers. GeekSugar reports that Nintendo is exceeding its monthly sales goals for the Wii, and suggests that Nintendo is simply stockpiling consoles above and beyond those goals to force demand.

The longer Nintendo withholds consoles from the public, the more the media will portray it as some sort of amazing unit that you should sell your kidney to purchase, if need be. In that way, demand will grow, Nintendo will supply just enough consoles to walk the fine line between non-distribution and adequate circulation, and Nintendo stock will soar.

Though it might be a sound business strategy, creating and maintaining demand runs the risk of being simply unethical. What does that say about Nintendo, if it is able to distribute enough consoles to make consumers happy, but isn’t doing so only to inflate the hype around the console as well as stock prices?

The fact of the matter is that the Wii is a virus being spread purposefully by Nintendo. The media has duped the public into believing the console is something more than it is, and non-gamers are eating it up. By withholding consoles from the public, Nintendo is getting fat and rich of a manufactured lie. Waving a Wiimote around might be fun for a short while, but I refuse to be one of the duped masses that spreads the virus any further, thank you very much.

Wii purchase limit policy
As you may know, the Nintendo Wii is in great demand, and there are shortages of this product across the U.S. In an effort to provide as many customers as possible with the opportunity to purchase a Wii, we are limiting the total number of Wiis that can be purchased. As a result, each household may only purchase up to 3 Nintendo Wii units total

As I am moaning on my Wii’s death in just a month, news from the stateside comes that it has surpassed sales of all the current gen consoles to take the throne of the highest selling console. According to NPD figures, Nintendo sold 666,000 units alone in June and around 11 million units since its launch. It is a commendable feat because it managed to overtake Xbox 360 considering it had a year early head start.

The reason behind this huge success of Wii is because of its target market. Nintendo targeted the casual gamers who are available in abundance while PS3 and Xbox 360 went for the niche hardcore ones. Ok, we know that already and it doesn’t matter much now as Nintendo is the one who is raking in more moolah than its competitors.

The huge surge of sales last month was due to Smash Bros finally being released in Oz and Europe....finally

July 17 (Bloomberg) -- Nintendo Co. said U.S. retailers sold more than 666,000 of its Wii consoles last month, making the machine the overall leader among the new generation of video-game machines.

Consumers have purchased almost 10.9 million of the players since Wii was introduced in November 2006, passing the total rung up by Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360, researcher NPD Group Inc. said today in an e-mailed statement.

Wii, designed for easy-to-play games and equipped with a motion-sensitive controller that can be swung like a racquet or sword, has gained popularity among people who don't play traditional shooting and racing games. Wii has outsold Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 in all but one month since it went on sale, according to NPD.

``Wii is bringing people of all ages into the video-game experience,'' Cammie Dunaway, head of marketing for Nintendo's U.S. unit, said in an interview.

In June, stores sold 405,500 PlayStation 3s and 219,800 Xbox 360s, Port Washington, New York-based NPD said in an e- mailed statement.

Total industry sales rose 53 percent to $1.69 billion in June from $1.1 billion a year earlier, NPD said. Consoles and portable players jumped 54 percent to $615.1 million from $399.2 million. Game sales increased 61 percent to $872.6 million from $542.2 million.

Year-to-Date

For the first six months of the year, game sales are up 49 percent to $4.3 billion from $2.89 billion a year earlier, while consoles and portables have gained 23 percent to $2.88 billion.

Total sales likely will reach a record $22 billion this year, NPD analyst Anita Frazier said in a statement.

``Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots,'' made by Konami Corp. for Sony's PlayStation 3, was the top-selling single game with 774,600 copies purchased. The number doesn't include copies sold together with the console, NPD said.

Versions of ``Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure'' sold 1.1 million copies in multiple formats, NPD said.

Six of the 10 best-selling games in June were titles made for Nintendo, including ``Wii Fit,'' which ranked fourth, the company said. The exercise game is sold with a balance board for use in workouts and games that simulate skiing and soccer.

Upgrades

Wii, at $249, is the least-expensive of the newer consoles. Microsoft and Tokyo-based Sony both announced plans this week to increase the size of hard drives on their machines, without raising the price, to attract customers.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, tripled the storage capacity of a $349 version of the 360 to 60-gigabytes and Sony doubled the hard drive on its $399 PlayStation 3 to 80 gigabytes.

``Looking at historical data, hardware price reductions have been a good incentive for a broader consumer base to invest in a new-gen system, which encourages continued industry growth across all categories,'' Frazier said.

Nintendo, based in Kyoto, Japan, has no plans to add a hard drive to the Wii, Dunaway said.

Microsoft gained 26 cents to $27.52 today in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. It has declined 23 percent this year. Sony's U.S.-listed shares gained 71 cents to $42.26 and are down 22 percent this year. Nintendo fell 600 yen to 55,800 yen in Osaka and is down 17 percent in 2008.

Yeah Wii Fit is still selling like crazy everywhere.....except the US! I forget where I saw that but I found that funny.

After suffering from months of stock problems, Nintendo's Wii Fit has taken the number one spot in the latest all-formats games chart.

The Wii-exclusive exercise game saw sales increase by some 60% over the past week after Nintendo finally managed to replenish stock.

Sales of last week's number one Super Smash Bros fell by 37% as the title slipped to third place, but it was only 167 copies behind number two game Lego Indiana Jones.

Sports games Big Beach Sports and Beijing 2008 both slid down the chart this week, but sales of Take 2's Top Spin 3 climbed 7% to take it from number six to number four.

Movie tie-in Wall-E broke into the top 40 after its second week on sale, rising to number 16, but it is Activision's Kung Fu Panda that is the star performer after climbing seven places to number nine following the release of the film.

The top ten games in full:

1. (4) Wii Fit (Nintendo)
2. (3) LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (LucasArts)
3. (1) Super Smash Bros Brawl (Nintendo)
4. (8) Top Spin 3 (Take 2)
5. (2) Battlefield: Bad Company (EA)
6. (4) Big Beach Sports (THQ)
7. (12) Wii Play (Nintendo)
8. (9) Beijing 2008 (Sega)
9. (16) Kung Fu Panda (Activision)
10. (11) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega)

One of the biggest reason why it's doing so well is because it isn't just targeted at gamers. It's family friendly.

An interview on Casualgaming.biz shows that the executive producer of Ubisoft's Games For Everyone range, Pauline Jacquey, sees good potential for the PS3 to become a "family console". By the end of the PS2's life cycle, it has moved from being a hardcore gaming console into a more casual gaming-friendly device; the popularity of games like Singstar leads Jacquey to believe the PS3 will eventually pull off the same feat. She warns that, however, "the shape of the market is not the same when PS2 became mass market." Jacquey further states that she doesn't see the same potential in the Xbox 360, but this will be ultimately determined by the software lineup of each respective console. Rumors of new peripherals like a motion sensing controller and board shows that developers sees the same possibilities in the PS3, so we feel Jacquey's prediction is right on the money.

A little while back, we heard inklings of a Wii-like controller for the PS3 making its rounds in focus group testing. It seems those rumblings have been moved into the next stage: working units of said new remote may have already been delivered to some developer partners, sources say.

The reasoning behind this controller is simple -- create similar games that made the Wii such a huge hit and perhaps the PS3 will gain a bigger audience as well. The system's got pretty much everything else under the sun as a feature (insert in-game XMB stab here), but is creating their own Wii-mote a bit too far for Sony to step?

(PC World) May of 2006, Microsoft founder Bill Gates told MTV News that motion controls are "not mainstream for most games," before adding, "there's a lot to be learned about these controllers."

A purported list of Xbox 360 Spring Update features surfaced on Tuesday, lending further credibility to rumors that Microsoft will release a Wii-like motion controller for Xbox 360.

The list of features, obtained by Kotaku from a tipster claiming to be close to an Xbox insider, includes "options for motion sensor devices" and the ability to "store installation data on Storage Device for faster loading" among other things.

In response, a Microsoft official told Joystiq on Wednesday: "We don't comment on rumors or speculation, but what we can tell you is we've never seen this list before."

Rumors of an Xbox 360 motion controller surfaced in late 2007, something Microsoft did not outright deny.

In April, an anonymous developer told MTV News that Microsoft was hastily planning to launch a Wii-like controller later this year, in an effort to compete with the raging success of the Nintendo Wii. Ambiguous comments from both Microsoft and third-party tech companies since then have done little to diffuse the rumor.

Microsoft is currently the only console maker not supporting some kind of motion controls. The Wii uses them for primary input, while the PS3 recognizes secondary gesture-based movements on select games.

Yeah I knew about the Microsoft making some form of motion control in the near future but its kind of sad that no one can come up with their own innovating ideas anymore

The Nintendo Fanboys have won this time? Shall I get out the champagne?

Wii might be superior with the fun factor and have the greatest appeal out of the three (Xbox 360, PS3, and Nintendo Wii) as far as appeasing the market that complements traditionalist gamers and nostalgia freaks.

Mysterioso said:

Here's where the Wii's success is truely becoming PHENOMENAL: It's being bought used by HOSPITALS,OCCUPATIONAL THERAPESTS, and SENIOR CITIZENS HOMES! Who would have ever expected SENIOR CITIZENS to have it out for a game console?

Some call it "Wiihabilitation."

Nintendo's Wii video game system, whose popularity already extends beyond the teen gaming set, is fast becoming a craze in rehab therapy for patients recovering from strokes, broken bones, surgery and even combat injuries.

The usual stretching and lifting exercises that help the sick or injured regain strength can be painful, repetitive and downright boring.

In fact, many patients say PT - physical therapy's nickname - really stands for "pain and torture," said James Osborn, who oversees rehabilitation services at Herrin Hospital in southern Illinois.

Using the game console's unique, motion-sensitive controller, Wii games require body movements similar to traditional therapy exercises. But patients become so engrossed mentally they're almost oblivious to the rigor, Osborn said.

"In the Wii system, because it's kind of a game format, it does create this kind of inner competitiveness. Even though you may be boxing or playing tennis against some figure on the screen, it's amazing how many of our patients want to beat their opponent," said Osborn of Southern Illinois Healthcare, which includes the hospital in Herrin. The hospital, about 100 miles southeast of St. Louis, bought a Wii system for rehab patients late last year.

"When people can refocus their attention from the tediousness of the physical task, oftentimes they do much better," Osborn said.

Nintendo Co. doesn't market Wii's potential use in physical therapy, but company representative Anka Dolecki said, "We are happy to see that people are finding added benefit in rehabilitation."

The most popular Wii games in rehab involve sports - baseball, bowling, boxing, golf and tennis. Using the same arm swings required by those sports, players wave a wireless controller that directs the actions of animated athletes on the screen.

The Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital west of Chicago recently bought a Wii system for its spinal cord injury unit.

Pfc. Matthew Turpen, 22, paralyzed from the chest down in a car accident last year while stationed in Germany, plays Wii golf and bowling from his wheelchair at Hines. The Des Moines, Iowa, native says the games help beat the monotony of rehab and seem to be doing his body good, too.

"A lot of guys don't have full finger function so it definitely helps being able to work on using your fingers more and figuring out different ways to use your hands" and arms, Turpen said.

At Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the therapy is well-suited to patients injured during combat in Iraq, who tend to be in the 19 to 25 age range - a group that's "very into" playing video games, said Lt. Col. Stephanie Daugherty, Walter Reed's chief of occupational therapy.

"They think it's for entertainment, but we know it's for therapy," she said.

It's useful in occupational therapy, which helps patients relearn daily living skills including brushing teeth, combing hair and fastening clothes, Daugherty said.

WakeMed Health has been using Wii games at its Raleigh, N.C., hospital for patients as young as 9 "all the way up to people in their 80s," said therapist Elizabeth Penny.

"They're getting improved endurance, strength, coordination. I think it's very entertaining for them," Penny said.

"It really helps the body to loosen up so it can do what it's supposed to do," said Billy Perry, 64, a retired Raleigh police officer. He received Wii therapy at WakeMed after suffering a stroke on Christmas Eve.

Perry said he'd seen his grandchildren play Wii games and was excited when a hospital therapist suggested he try it.

He said Wii tennis and boxing helped him regain strength and feeling in his left arm.

"It's enjoyable. I know I'm going to participate with my grandkids more when I go visit them," Perry said.

While there's plenty of anecdotal evidence that Wii games help in rehab, researcher Lars Oddsson wants to put the games to a real test.

Oddsson is director of the Sister Kenny Research Center at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. The center bought a Wii system last summer and is working with the University of Minnesota to design a study that will measure patients' function "before and after this 'Wiihab,' as someone called it," Oddsson said.

"You can certainly make a case that some form of endurance related to strength and flexibility and balance and cardio would be challenged when you play the Wii," but hard scientific proof is needed to prove it, Oddsson said.

Meantime, Dr. Julio Bonis of Madrid says he has proof that playing Wii games can have physical effects of another kind.

Bonis calls it acute "Wiiitis" - a condition he says he developed last year after spending several hours playing the Wii tennis game.

Bonis described his ailment in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine - intense pain in his right shoulder that a colleague diagnosed as acute tendonitis, a not uncommon affliction among players of real-life tennis.

Bonis said he recovered after a week of ibuprofen and no Wii, and urged doctors to be aware of Wii overuse.

Still, as a Wii fan, he said in an e-mail that he could imagine more moderate use would be helpful in physical therapy "because of the motivation that the game can provide to the patient."

You've got to be shitting me, dude! Maybe they were Mario and Sonic fans, even at the ages of 40 WHEN THEY WERE FIRST RELEASED!!! But seriously, what are the odds. Well, I guess Wii has more reason for appeal to it than I realized.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — Until two weeks ago, Ruth Ebert never had the slightest interest in the video games favored by her one and only granddaughter.

"I'm 82 years old, so I missed that part of our culture. Soap operas, yes. Video games, no," chirped Ebert, who recently started playing a tennis game on Nintendo's new Wii video game console at the Virginia retirement community she calls home.

"It was funny, because normally I would not be someone who would do that," said Ebert, who picked up the console's motion-sensing Wiimote and challenged the machine to a match.

"I played tennis, if you can call it that, as a high school student. I had such fun doing it," she said.

Ebert swung the Wiimote just like a tennis racquet and said playing the game reminded her of the feeling she had all those years ago.

While she took the early on-court lead, the Wii beat her in the end. Still, it hurt less than her real-world losses: "I didn't mind losing to a video game. It couldn't rub it in."

Underdog delivers

Japan's Nintendo has been on a mission to expand the $30 billion global video game market far beyond the children and young males who make up its core consumers.

And the company, a former underdog best known for fun, high-quality games based on off-beat characters like plumbers — think Mario Bros. — has sent shock waves through game industry with the unexpected and runaway success of the Wii.

That $250 console has been stealing the show from Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3, higher-powered consoles that are much more expensive than the Wii.

While those rivals focused on cutting-edge graphics and high-tech bells and whistles, Nintendo focused on making game play easier, more intuitive and more appealing to a mass market.

That bet paid off.[/b]

The Wii outsold the new Microsoft and Sony consoles in January and February and is generating its own buzz with everyone from nuns to cancer patients to toddlers.

There are Wii parties and Wii bowling contests. Players, who often look quite silly and occasionally injure themselves in fits of overzealous play, upload video of their Wii antics to a variety of technology websites like GameTrailers.com and Google's YouTube.

"I thought it was tremendous," [b]said Ted Campbell, 77.

Last week he played the Wii for the first time at Springfield, Virginia's Greenspring Retirement Community, where Ebert is also a resident.

The community hasn't yet decided where to keep the Wii, although Ebert has volunteered her one-bedroom apartment, with its big-screen TV.

Wii wave

Flora Dierbach, 72, chairs the entertainment committee at a sister facility owned by Erickson Retirement Communities in Chicago and helped arrange a Wii bowling tournament — the latest Wii craze.

"It's a very social thing and it's good exercise ... and you don't have to throw a 16-pound bowling ball to get results," said Dierbach, who added the competition had people who hardly knew each other cheering and hugging in the span of a few hours.

"We just had a ball with it. You think it's your grandkids' game and it's not," she said, noting that Erickson paid for the Wiis in its facilities.

Greenspring resident and long-time bowler Sim Taylor said his grandchildren are also great fans of video games.

"I never could understand it," said Taylor, who at 81 has surprised himself by adding video games to his list of hobbies.

That isn't the case with Millicent, his wife of 55 years.

"She sticks with bridge," Taylor said.

bboy87 said:

Nintendo got those COPY-CATS fair and square!
Sony has RIPPING OFF Nintendo since day one!