DS and Wii continue sales blitz in Australia

  • By James Kozanecki, GameSpot AU
  • Posted Nov 24, 2008 2:24 am GMT

More than 1.5 million Nintendo DS units and 750,000 Wiis sold down under.

To say that that Nintendo has done well down under when it comes to the DS and Wii would be quite an understatement, considering that both devices have been breaking sales records in Australia. The Wii, for instance, was the fastest console to reach 500,000 units sold in Australia, whereas the DS was the top-selling games device in 2007. It looks like Nintendo's strong results have continued unabated, given that newly released figures show that the DS has now reached more than 1.5 million units sold, and the Wii now has 750,000.

The DS reached its milestone in 194 weeks, whereas the Wii took 102 weeks. Both devices broke the record for fastest-selling console to reach 1.5 million and 750,000 units sold, respectively. The previous holder of both these records was Sony's PlayStation 2. A spokesman from industry data tracker GfK Australia told GameSpot AU that the PS2 took "over 200 weeks to break 1.5 million units sold, and 136 weeks to meet the 750,000 mark." Although the spokesman was certain that other consoles before the PS2 had sold more than 1.5 million units, he was unable to confirm which ones because GfK Australia only started tracking console data in 2000. Currently, the PS2 has a total install base in Australia of 2.4 million consoles.

Unlike the weekly software-sales data that GfK Australia puts out, these hardware numbers include figures from one of the nation's leading video game retailers, EB Games Australia.

The week of November 10-16 proved to be a particularly good week for Nintendo, with the Wii selling more than 35,000 units around Australia. That week also treated Wii Music well, considering that it sold more than 28,000 copies and beat Activision's Guitar Hero World Tour in the overall top 10 chart.

At the time of publication, both Sony and Microsoft were unable to provide recent sales figures for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to GameSpot AU for comparison.

12 Comments

  • nidon64

    Posted Nov 24, 2008 11:17 pm GMT

    i aggree with wolfienigma

  • Nintendo_Man

    Posted Nov 24, 2008 9:41 pm GMT

    Andre Rieu is huge, maybe him coming here has got people more interested in that type of music. Plus the big reason it is selling is as usual, advertising. Thats why Nintendo first party games sell so much better than 3rd party ones because they actually advertise their games.

  • Tacoman001

    Posted Nov 24, 2008 8:40 pm GMT

    Good god why would any gamer in their right mind get Wii music? Just why??? Hell I'm an Aussie gamer and I refuse to touch it. But if parents are buying it for their kids, well thats their decision. I just wonder if the Orchestra idea ever got anywhere, I wouldn't mind conducting the Zelda theme at least once.

  • wolfienigma

    Posted Nov 24, 2008 7:59 pm GMT

    Funny to see all the Nintendo haters here. Nintendo took a chance and went for innovation rather than graphics and it has succeeded whether you Sony/Microsoft fanboys can accept it or not.

    Get over it, Nintendo has won this round, it's nothing to get your panties in a knot about.

  • Sillygostly

    Posted Nov 24, 2008 7:01 pm GMT

    That's all well and good, but the quality of DS games in Australia has PLUMMETED. All we ever seem to get these days are endless slews of so-called "casual" and *insert skill/habit/body function here* training titles. It seems that all the good third party titles are being discontinued within a couple of months of their initial print.

    I think I've been more than patient waiting for Dementium : The Ward to come to Australia... and I find it especially sad that Resident Evil on DS has been sitting on the shelf at JB-Hi-Fi for $10 for over a month now, and still nobody's bought it yet. >

  • SpareJesus

    Posted Nov 24, 2008 11:39 am GMT

    It's, it's, a salesroom blitz. It's, it's, a salesroom blitz..

  • Golbez_77

    Posted Nov 23, 2008 11:11 pm GMT

    good god Australia... 28k wii music sold... why..

  • Dark_knight109

    Posted Nov 23, 2008 10:09 pm GMT

    I think it's pretty clear that the Wii and DS have this generation in the bag.

  • maxgil2

    Posted Nov 23, 2008 9:58 pm GMT

    Well doesn't really mention how many that hav since been collecting dust & being resold

  • zig_star posted Nov 23, 2008 9:40 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    zig_star

    Posted Nov 23, 2008 9:40 pm GMT (hide)

    WTH!!?? Nintendo aren't that good are they? i thought microsoft would out sell the nintendo. Nintendo sux.

  • elozl

    Posted Nov 23, 2008 8:51 pm GMT

    yep, the wii will still be sold on the next next gen era
    and of course the DS will be king

  • Nintendo_Man

    Posted Nov 23, 2008 7:36 pm GMT

    Both platforms will end up outselling the PS2 in their lifetimes. Wii sales certainly have gone up, Nintendo must have boosted shipments. It would be interesting to see total sales for Mario Kart and Wii Fit.

    To think the GC only sold 240,000 last gen, the Wii is already more than triple that.

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