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[Thespis721]

According to VGCharts.Com the GC sold 3.8 million in 2001 in the US and Japan only.

Although Nintendo has the capability (At least it sounds like they do) to produce Wii in larger quantities for US and Japan launch they have deliberatly kept supply lower to produce lines. This isnt a bad plan, but pure numbers wise it is interesting to note that the Wii will sell less in it's first week in the US then the GCN did. In the November 2001 NPD had GCN at about 625K sold in the US during it's first 7 days. Today we get the November 2006 NPD and Nintendo has already said the Wii sold ~600K in all of North America for the first 8 days of launch (The last Sunday falls in the December NPD). So probably 450K-500K in the US for the Wii first 7 days. Will Nintendo sell another 700K-800K in the US alone in December to meet the GCN launch in the US?

Depressing...

 

[apujanata]

I see nintendo fans posts that try to celebrate Nintendo's launch success, and I see Other-console fans posts that try to dismiss Nintendo's launch success by pointing out areas of possible problem.

What an interesting (and normal) GAF topic.

Congratulation Nintendo. Hope you can keep the momentum.

 

[Deku]

Their target is 4m isn't it by Dec 30 2006, and given they are launching WW its not that hard to beat but its still a gigantic number.

And GC had an old school staggered launch so it was actually in the market much longer than the Wii.

 

[Thaedolus]

You know thats not true, people were probably doing the same thing with the 360 when it first launched.

And if MS has 1million at launch available it would have sold 1million just like the Wii did.

Of course I know it wasn't true, that's why I deliberately labeled my evidence as anecdotal.

 

[pswii60]

In future, all console manufacturers need to ensure they have 10 million units available and shipped worldwide for xmas launch.

 

[KeithFranklin]

Depressing...

Actually no. I dont know anyone that would ever think a Nintendo console launch wouldnt be a success. With a new Zelda game the Nintendo faithful were going to insure a good launch. A Nintendo console will also always be a good Christmas gift for familys with younger kids. This all insured a great launch as long as Nintendo has supply.

The truth will come out after the holidays and the first million or 2 sell in each territory. Is the Wii something truly new that the general population really wants or just the next Nintendo console.

 

[3rdman]

Congratulations to the N! I really wish that they had put a bit more emphasis on graphics, but you can't argue against these sales numbers! Congrats!

 

[Ikael]

This is probably the best launch of the next gen (saleswise), and it is quite useless to try to spin it.

However, it is wayyyyyyyyyyy early to say that Nintendo has won the next gen war. The next year is gonna be crucial, they will need to be prooven in sales, games quantity, software sells and future game announcements. I really don't think that the games that Nintendo has announced so far are enough to ensure this next gen war. We are seeing really little new franchises for hardcores and too much cubeports and shovelware, not to mention that this machine needs major RPGs and rail shooters badly.

 

[Oblivion]

According to VGCharts.Com the GC sold 3.8 million in 2001 in the US and Japan only.

What? that seems a bit too high for the GC.

 

[Mrbob]

In a strange, perverse way, Sony should be happy that the Xbox 360 is available. As it may be the reason the PS3 doesn't lose a ton of game support. While hardware sales have been lukewarm, 3rd party software sales have been amazingly strong on the platform. So when making a game, they can at least count for the game selling on the 360, and then getting some more sales on PS3. But seriously the multiplatform nature of development will probably end up helping the PS3 quite a bit.

 

[CrushDance]

Wow what a annoying bunch of ****ing trolls. "Zomg! a Nintendoe thread, hey lets rain on their parade guys!" Now granted some people make good points and I agree that these sales don't mean much right now. But ****ing going on to the "its a gamecube so its easy to make" and other dumb shit, which Microsoft and Sony were to retarded to do! and saying its a bad thing when first sales clearly show how it did then **** off!

Man I try time and time again to keep my outh shut in 360 threads but then these damn trolls come rolling in ****ing ruining every thread. Grow the hell up, if you don't like it or think its kiddy then GTFO! Nobody cares!

 

[davepoobond]

This is probably the best launch of the next gen (saleswise), and it is quite useless to try to spin it.

best launch of nextgen hooray

so what does that do for anything?

 

[AdmiralViscen]

What? that seems a bit too high for the GC.

Definitely. It sold less than 1.5M in the US in those two months, didn't it? That leaves 2.3M for Japan, which is over half of its lifetime sales.

**** vgcharts.

 

[pswii60]

In a strange, perverse way, Sony should be happy that the Xbox 360 is available. As it may be the reason the PS3 doesn't lose a ton of game support. While hardware sales have been lukewarm, 3rd party software sales have been amazingly strong on the platform. So when making a game, they can at least count for the game selling on the 360, and then getting some more sales on PS3. But seriously the multiplatform nature of development will probably end up helping the PS3 quite a bit.

But would the Wii exist if MS hadn't entered the console market? Would the Gamecube have been more successful in the first place?

 

[d[-_-]b]

But would the Wii exist if MS hadn't entered the console market? Would the Gamecube have been more successful in the first place?

I think a better question would've been would the Wii exist if the DS bombed? The Wii really has nothing to do with MS entering the console market.

 

[Magicpaint]

Definitely. It sold less than 1.5M in the US in those two months, didn't it? That leaves 2.3M for Japan, which is over half of its lifetime sales.

**** vgcharts.

VGCharts is definitely way off.

 

[CrushDance]

But would the Wii exist if MS hadn't entered the console market? Would the Gamecube have been more successful in the first place?

Gamecube wouldn't be more successful as a Nintendo fan I admit this, PS2 would have steamrolled it. Xbox only came and put a wedge in between them so not much was really lost in the greater scheme of things.

Wii would exist, don't forget that most companies start on their new hardware almost right away when their done the current one. It may or not have had waggle which makes it a "Wii" and the graphics would be touchy as well, I doubt they would have included it though.

 

[EphemeralDream]

There's no doubt that Nintendo needs a lot more 3rd party support to win people over from 360 or PS3. However, the 2007 lineup for 1st party is VERY impressive (both for hardcores and casuals) and I definitely think it can keep the momentum going for more 3rd parties to jump on. If Nintendo could keep making games like Wii Sports that largely impress all audiences, then they could probably win the console war with mild 3rd party support as a whole.

BTW what are Sony's big titles in the first 3-4 months of 2007? Not trying to troll, I just really haven't been keeping track of their lineup.

 

[Oblivion]

Definitely. It sold less than 1.5M in the US in those two months, didn't it? That leaves 2.3M for Japan, which is over half of its lifetime sales.

**** vgcharts.

Yeah, exactly. Hell, a number like that would be like PS2 level growth.

 

[Petrarca]

this is a cheap shot from nintendo


Sony was battling MS head-on when nintendo blind-sided them

 

[TigersFan]

According to VGCharts.Com the GC sold 3.8 million in 2001 in the US and Japan only.

Although Nintendo has the capability (At least it sounds like they do) to produce Wii in larger quantities for US and Japan launch they have deliberatly kept supply lower to produce lines. This isnt a bad plan, but pure numbers wise it is interesting to note that the Wii will sell less in it's first week in the US then the GCN did. In the November 2001 NPD had GCN at about 625K sold in the US during it's first 7 days. Today we get the November 2006 NPD and Nintendo has already said the Wii sold ~600K in all of North America for the first 8 days of launch (The last Sunday falls in the December NPD). So probably 450K-500K in the US for the Wii first 7 days. Will Nintendo sell another 700K-800K in the US alone in December to meet the GCN launch in the US?

Wait.. what....

From VGCharts: The Cube released in Nov in America and sold 1,320,000 in America in 2001
The cube released in Dec in Japan and had sold 960,000 by the end of 2001. That brings the grand total to: 2,280,000 in 2001 for both combined. Where the hell are you getting your numbers from? The other, first week data looks... sorta correct.

 

[Souldriver]

best launch of nextgen hooray

so what does that do for anything?

Ow shit. It's doesn't do anything for anyone*. It must be forbidden to talk about it then.

*

Spoiler

except for us who get more units and for Nintendo for making a shitload of money, and stockholders probably are happy, and third parties might be interested too, ...

What were you saying again?

 

[Pellham]

best launch of nextgen hooray

so what does that do for anything?

console fanboy/GAFfer bragging rights, duh

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Isn't that what they've always done, though? (Didn't the Cube launch at $200?) I think it just stands out that much more compared to the pricing strategies of MS and Sony. Which will make it an even more effective strategy this time around, IMO.

Edit: yikes, i think that was your point. Damn drugs. :lol

Yeah, exactly. Though all consoles have had price increases, Nintendo had the cheapest console last generation and the smallest increase this generation, unless you count X360 Core as a 0% increase.

Why do people always insist on a link
You think i made that nonsense up?

So they can tell it's real? Source it themselves for another story? Translate better?

yes, because I sure loved paying £70 for a copy of Streetfighter II :/

Well, uhh, here's hoping they don't inexplicably start selling expensive Wii cartridges?

Oh god... getting flashbacks from when I was waiting in line for my Wii...

Weird how people can get so excited for a company's success when they have no financial ties with them.

The better the Wii does, the better the Wii does us. Or something.

The one thing I think we are all wondering is how long Nintendo can keep up WW sales like this. If they can get to 12-15 million by next Christmas, I would say that's all they would ever need to do to ensure that we all get the games we want on the platform. However, the real question is how long this platform can stand as the PS3 price drops and FFXIII and MGS4 are released?

That depends on the PS3. If we're 2 years past launch and Wii is comfortably ahead of where GameCube was (or PS3 is?), sales patterns just don't turn around on a dime.

Well Mystic makes a good point but in a slightly troll-y kind of way. N64 was mega-hyped, beyond Wii at launch, and in fact did very well for its first couple of years.

And it did fairly well, selling far more units than GameCube or Xbox did. To do N64 numbers again would be a success.

The GC did close to 4 million units sold in 4 months (iirc), i'll be surprised once the Wii beats that number quicker.

Four months after Japanese launch (mid-January 2002), it had reached about 1 million in Japan and 1.3 million in the US, so maybe ~2.5 million units worldwide? Four months after US launch (mid-March 2002)... well, Q1 was pretty slow, so it still wouldn't have reached 3 million worldwide or even launched in Europe yet.

 

[davepoobond]

Ow shit. It's doesn't do anything for anyone*. It must be forbidden to talk about it then.

*

Spoiler

except for us who get more units and for Nintendo for making a shitload of money, and stockholders probably are happy, and third parties might be interested too, ...

What were you saying again?

hmmm...

console fanboy/GAFfer bragging rights, duh

sounds good to me.

 

[Souldriver]

hmmm...




sounds good to me.

Seriously, if you say people shouldn't post things like that, you can close gaf down today...and most other forums for that matter. It's not like every comment has to be full of precious data en information to be posted on a forum...
Just admitt that you're annoyed because of the excessive Wii praise.

I also think it's getting kind of boring/annoying, and the NPD numbers aren't even out yet.

 

[Earthstrike]

Wait.. what....

From VGCharts: The Cube released in Nov in America and sold 1,320,000 in America in 2001
The cube released in Dec in Japan and had sold 960,000 by the end of 2001. That brings the grand total to: 2,280,000 in 2001 for both combined. Where the hell are you getting your numbers from? The other, first week data looks... sorta correct.

The number sof VGCharts are not to be favored over the numbers of the NPD or Media Create.

Gamecube sold 1.2 million in NA in 2001.

Unless you've been here for a long time and been in a lot of sales threads, don't argue numbers.
The people here are pro.

 

[[Nintex]]

There is no denial that Nintendo sold a shitload of consoles. But there are also alot of customers who couldn't find one(next week for me).

 

[soundwave05]

To clarify the GameCube sold 3.8 million systems by the end of March 2002, not by the end of 2001. This was actually below Nintendo's forecast for the system of 4 million. Infact, I believe the GameCube pretty much came in at under Nintendo's sales forecasts just about every year, even when Nintendo downgraded them.

Nintendo is winning the PR/mindshare battle with the Wii, because of the unique controller and solid all around design/marketing. They didn't do this with the GameCube. This is a big difference. Right now, the Wii is the hottest thing on the market, hotter than PS3, hotter than the iPod, it's what everyone wants and no one can get.

That's the biggest difference I notice. GameCube never crossed over into the mainstream.

 

[dark10x]

Good, hopefully they'll be able to supply enough of the demand so that it is possible to actually FIND a Wii. :\

 

[Allen]

That's the biggest difference I notice. GameCube never crossed over into the mainstream.

That is why the Wii will certainly has a strong chance of being the dominant sales-leader this generation but it has little to do with launch numbers.

The naysayer’s here are interesting—as a game enthusiast I can’t help but love a rift in the market, especially a market where many consider the medium stagnant. I’m still in awe of DS sales—not to mention the gender, age, class, etc. data. I can understand not enjoying the software but one has to love that Nintendo is pushing the medium to a broader audience. Gaming deserves to be mainstream and now is certainly the time for that to happen.

 

[Ikael]

best launch of nextgen hooray

so what does that do for anything?

Best software sales, and thus increasing chances of attracting third parties. It is physically impossible to make a million seller on the PS3, while that can be archieved on the Wii. Everyone is interested on hardware sales because that ends up traducing into more software produced for the platafform, as it happened with the DS. In the beggining it noone gave a crap abou it, then once Nintendogs became a megahit and the HW sales exploded, Contact, ffIII, Revenant Wings, Hotel dusk...

 

[dark10x]

I can understand not enjoying the software but one has to love that Nintendo is pushing the medium to a broader audience.

That sounds a bit odd, though...

Why would someone who dislikes the software be happy that software they don't enjoy is selling well therefore bringing about the release of additional, similar software.

I suppose I don't mind the rift. If the Wii can exist alongside the other two machines, I will be perfectly happy. There are plenty of areas where I see the Wii coming in handy and I'm looking forward to owning one for that reason.

Best software sales, and thus increasing chances of attracting third parties.

Japan was one of those markets of concern, though, and initial Wii sales were rather disappointing on that front. Nintendo's software sold reasonably well, but third party software was far FAR below it. Will be interesting to see what happens in the long run.

I also just saw that Red Steel was the number 2 Wii launch title in the US. The situation is opposite in that regard. It is a 3rd party title that IS performing well, but is its success a good thing for gamers (considering the quality of the title, I'd say "no").

If developers can create a real hit, though, they will make tons of money on the Wii.

 

[plagiarize]

That sounds a bit odd, though...

Why would someone who dislikes the software be happy that software they don't enjoy is selling well therefore bringing about the release of additional, similar software.

I suppose I don't mind the rift. If the Wii can exist alongside the other two machines, I will be perfectly happy. There are plenty of areas where I see the Wii coming in handy and I'm looking forward to owning one for that reason.


Japan was one of those markets of concern, though, and initial Wii sales were rather disappointing on that front. Nintendo's software sold reasonably well, but third party software was far FAR below it. Will be interesting to see what happens in the long run.

I also just saw that Red Steel was the number 2 Wii launch title in the US. The situation is opposite in that regard. It is a 3rd party title that IS performing well, but is its success a good thing for gamers (considering the quality of the title, I'd say "no").

If developers can create a real hit, though, they will make tons of money on the Wii.

eh, you know, i love horror movies, but i don't cry every time a romantic comedy makes huge money at the box office.

the situation with third party software in japan has been gone over and over again. you have two great nintendo games (one of them cheaper than the other games on the market, the other a critically applauded classic in a revered franchise and likely game of the year) and one that comes with a wiimote for barely more than the cost of a wiimote. i firmly expect third party sales to pick up over the next few weeks, but i don't see how third party titles on any system could have competed against that kind of first party support.

red steel selling well is a good thing if you ask me, given the other software ubisoft threw at the system (rayman not included in this, i wouldn't be surprised if rayman sold healthily too). would i rather see say, super monkey ball selling great as i think it's a much better third party title? well yes, but i'm not sad to see a fairly large budget built exclusively for the console new ip sell well. quality aside (i don't think ubisoft purposefully made a mediocre game) i'm happy to see ubisoft's time, stake and effort pay off.

it's not like ubisoft will turn around and go 'okay, so crappy games sell well on the system let's make lots of them! make sure we don't accidentally make them fun!'

 

[dark10x]

eh, you know, i love horror movies, but i don't cry every time a romantic comedy makes huge money at the box office.

Apples and oranges (game industry vs movie industry).

red steel selling well is a good thing if you ask me, given the other software ubisoft threw at the system

I should certainly send a message to Ubisoft, though, if you know what I mean.

 

[soundwave05]

Turok wasn't the greatest game on the N64, but Acclaim supported the N64 heavily after that and gave Nintendo a lot of key releases over the next few years.

Ubi Soft is a much better developer than Acclaim. If they back the Wii heavily, in time good things will come from that, simply because they're too good of a developer. Red Steel and Rayman were obviously developed on a restrained scheduled, wouldn't really surprise me if development on both of those games really only got serious this year.

We know Ubi Soft can make good games. We know also Ubi Soft excels in genres that Nintendo has traditionally been weak in. So their support is doubly important for Nintendo.

 

[Buffy4ever]

I seriously doubt the PS3 would have sold out with 1 million units at launch. With no killer apps (lol resistance, w/e) and the huge pricetag, it would be retarded to think that there are 1 million consumers who would go out of their way to get one at launch.

I know the PS3 would have sold out if they had a million. Just the e-bayers alone would added fuel to the fire. What was the killer app for Wii?? Zelda?? That really just a gamecube game with wii controls added. Atleast resistance was built up from the ground up for the PS3. I do think the Wii will win in japan. As of late the japanesse seem to prefer the quirky type games.

I am happy that Nintendo is doing well. I think making the system different work for them. If the USA had the Japanese pricing of the Wii just think what the numbers would have been.

 

[dark10x]

Turok wasn't the greatest game on the N64, but Acclaim supported the N64 heavily after that.

Wha? Turok was f*cking awesome at time of release. Members of that original team eventually went on to work at Retro (Metroid Prime) and Turok certainly lays a lot of ground work for gameplay that would later show up in Prime. Turok was one of the very best games on the system at the time. It wasn't perfect, but it was a great game and took the genre in a new direction.

Red Steel, in comparison, is like one of those bargin basement Russian-made FPS games on the PC.

 

[GONZO]

I don't know. I'm still of the mind that the wii will sell to the same exact demo it always has. Retro gamers and the younger crowd. And nintendo will make much money of of it. but they won't be the console market leader.

edit: i see wii sales racing up to about 10 mill and then just topping off.

 

[soundwave05]

Relative to the hype the original Turok was somewhat of a let down to some people as I recall. Lots of complaints about the fog and no multiplayer IIRC. But it also did a lot of things right, so to me it's similar to Red Steel in that regard.

Red Steel had a lot of talented people working on it too.

 

[plagiarize]

Apples and oranges (game industry vs movie industry).

i think it's a valid comparison. studios still only have a finite amount of money. they don't just make the type of project that gave them the best profit margin while ignoring the markets for other type of projects or the size of the market that product was in.

what you need to is to prove that these new types of games are going to cannabalise sales of the old types, because if they don't, they'll keep on making the old types of games. that's the situation on the DS which still sees all the same kind of games coming out for it, despite how much money the tiny budget brain age games made.

this isn't a 2D to 3D type of situation, which was more akin to black and white to colour. whatever wii sports sells, there'll still be a market for games like zelda, and there'll still be people who want to make games like zelda.

 

[Y2Kev]

Red Steel, in comparison, is like one of those bargin basement Russian-made FPS games on the PC.

...that's actually a really good description.

 

[dark10x]

Relative to the hype the original Turok was somewhat of a let down to some people as I recall. Lots of complaints about the fog and no multiplayer IIRC. But it also did a lot of things right, so to me it's similar to Red Steel in that regard.

Red Steel had a lot of talented people working on it too.

Ah, I see. I was unaware of the hype surrounding the game back then, as I was mostly a PC gamer. However, upon actually playing Turok, I was completely blown away (after knowing nothing else about it prior to that). I played all the way through it and felt it was one of the coolest FPS I had played in years. The fog was crazy, I know, but everything else made up for it.

Oh, and I remember the little forward in the manual stating how one of their goals was to create a first person shooter for the Nintendo 64 capable of running at a rock solid 30 fps. That was some serious business for the time.

 

[soundwave05]

I don't know. I'm still of the mind that the wii will sell to the same exact demo it always has. Retro gamers and the younger crowd. And nintendo will make much money of of it. but they won't be the console market leader.

edit: i see wii sales racing up to about 10 mill and then just topping off.

Maybe ... but if the Wii takes off in Japan ... I'd say all bets are off. Because what will happen then is the Wii is assured at least DS-level third party support IMO. And that support will fortify their overall library in North America and Europe. Which in turn should make the system much more appealling to just about anyone. The main problem with the GCN and N64 is there wasn't enough content outside of the Nintendo staples.

Nintendo also has a lot more breathing space this gen IMO. Sony's PS3 launch has been a complete and utter f-ck up, and how long until they realistically can compete for a mass market with the price they have?

Nintendo vs. Microsoft .... that's a matchup I think Nintendo will gladly take. MS still appeals way too much towards a specific hardcore player market. Sony could sell millions of copies of Crash Bandicoot as easy as Gran Turismo ... Microsoft doesn't have that ability yet. MS also struggles in Europe and Japan, markets that I think Nintendo is poised to make key gains in.

For Nintendo this is about as good of a situation as you could ask for.

 

[emerge]

edit: i see wii sales racing up to about 10 mill and then just topping off.

That's not how it works. If you check the slopes of cumulative sales of consoles, you'll see that the first one, two years are very indicative and tend to replicate over at least another two years. Then it's either the market leader and will continue to sell at the same pace some more or it will slowly level off until generation transition. A console selling great in the beginning and then going flat is unlikely.

 

[birdchili]

I know the PS3 would have sold out if they had a million. Just the e-bayers alone would added fuel to the fire. What was the killer app for Wii?? Zelda?? That really just a gamecube game with wii controls added. Atleast resistance was built up form the ground up for PS3. I do think the Wii will win in japan. As of late the japanesse seem to prefer the quirky type games.

obviously the killer app for Wii is Wii Sports. it's the only game (in North America) that remotely justifies the controller and the graphical trade-offs they made when designing the hardware.

Zelda is (guess) mainly selling to Nintendo fans/Gamecube owners. Wii Sports is selling to the people who tried it out in the mall - ps2 users, and probably a not-insignificant number of folk who don't have a current-gen console plugged in in their house (yeah, in NA it isn't literally selling as it's bundled, but it's driving hardware sales).

Wii Sports is what makes Wii interesting right now.

 

[davepoobond]

Seriously, if you say people shouldn't post things like that, you can close gaf down today...and most other forums for that matter. It's not like every comment has to be full of precious data en information to be posted on a forum...
Just admitt that you're annoyed because of the excessive Wii praise.

I also think it's getting kind of boring/annoying, and the NPD numbers aren't even out yet.

i'm not annoyed at the excessive wii praise. this is just pr, and atp its no more praiseworthy than the "psp sales rise by 280 percent". i'll get excited when the npd numbers come out.


and i'm not saying this shouldn't be posted...its just not something to really get all "omg its good for the stockholders" (which is a bs point to bring up anyway) about.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

I don't know. I'm still of the mind that the wii will sell to the same exact demo it always has.

Based on historical Wii data?

 

[robertsan21]

I told you guys way back at E3 that this was going to happen and you know what else will be happening.....


gaming has now changed forever and Nintendo started it all once again just as it did with Nes!

soon Sony and MS will follow and stop the classic push button controllers so we will see a PS4 with a wii´ish controller but far more advanced.

 

[davepoobond]

Based on historical Wii data?

based on DS data!!! :[