Wii sells 105,000 in UK, breaks record
by Justin Murray 
{ Dec 12th 2006 at 11:20AM }
Now that the Wii has hit the UK, the numbers are rolling in. As it stands, Nintendo had an outstanding launch. However, those numbers may not mean anything.
Nintendo has reported sales of 105,000 Wiis over the weekend, smashing the record of 70,000 set by the Xbox 360. Nintendo is off to a great start, but one question remains ... can they keep up the momentum?
If the DS is any indicator, the Wii should enjoy its life (the DS sold 110,000 the week the Wii launched). However, trumpeting a record launch is meaningless. Simply put, marking a record launch is almost entirely dependent on how many units you launch with. Sony can do well to beat that with the PS3 if they delay until 200,000 PS3s are available to sell in the UK. What matters is if Nintendo can keep the Wiis flying off the shelf and the record launch will only offer short-term publicity ... Nintendo needs to make sure they offer a reason to keep the units flowing.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Flit @ Dec 12th 2006 11:30AM
Yeah, like PAPER MARIO 2! Where the hell is it? I want this game.
kodec @ Dec 12th 2006 11:35AM
So, in other words, if it's not a record-breaking launch for Sony then it doesn't count.
SuperStupid @ Dec 12th 2006 11:37AM
That's 105,000 people in the UK who'll wish they never crossed me by getting a Wii before I did.....
Jeff T.L. @ Dec 12th 2006 11:40AM
Wow, thanks for the ... uh, insightful commentary.
So, production capabilities and timing both play a role in a successful launch? Brilliant! And a successful launch does not necessarily indicate long-term success? Unbelievable! Someone give this man the Nobel Prize.
But in all seriousness, why should the DS be any indicator? What exactly does it mean that it sold 110,000 units that week? I thought the DS started slowly, and then achieved its current level of success. What parallel am I supposed to be seeing here?
Jeffler @ Dec 12th 2006 5:29PM
Flit, Paper Mario 2 came out for gamecube, like, 3 years ago? Maybe 2.
It goes Paper Mario -> Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door -> Super Paper Mario
Hugh Mann @ Dec 12th 2006 11:44AM
Quote: " Nintendo had an outstanding launch. However, those numbers may not mean anything."
What bollocks. How can you say in one breath that the launch numbers are meaningless, and in the next say how important it will be for Sony to break that record, and that the Wii should enjoy a good life if the DS launch numbers are anything to go by.
What this record shows is that the demand for the Wii is out there, I cannot see how they will not sell as many units as they can make as quickly as they can make them
> @ Dec 12th 2006 11:45AM
Well, considering they've sold zero gamecubes in the past year, this is good news.. they have a lot of catching up to do.
Spence @ Dec 12th 2006 11:49AM
PSP sold 185,000.
Hugh Mann @ Dec 12th 2006 11:52AM
@ Spence
Yeah but PSP sucks donkey balls
SSUK @ Dec 12th 2006 12:53PM
1. Yeah, like PAPER MARIO 2! Where the hell is it? I want this game.
There's already been a Paper Mario 2. =P
7. PSP sold 185,000.
Yeah, but look where it is now. Failing to grasp a decent sales figure every week and is failing to captivate people enough to buy one, the DS is still going strong. So... You were saying?
skyrous @ Dec 12th 2006 11:58AM
PSP sold 185,000? when? during all of 2006?
SuperStupid @ Dec 12th 2006 12:03PM
Hugh Mann
It's true. I actually brought a PSP for my Donkey, Mr. Ed, because I was tired of sucking his balls myself.
logikil @ Dec 12th 2006 12:21PM
I'm still concerned that people are wrapped up in the hype of the Wii, and that ultimately it will not prove to be the success that the DS is. If third parties are truly unable to utilize the wiimote effectively, then what you have left are first party games, and third party games with shoddy controls and substandard graphics.
To date, the DS stylus is still best utilized by nintendo. It remains to be seen what will ultimately come of this. Beyond that all i have to say is.....Bring On Metroid!
BIGGEN @ Dec 12th 2006 12:26PM
"So, production capabilities and timing both play a role in a successful launch?"
actually, yes. that quote is the exact reasons for a good or shitty launch. the ps3, had a shitty launch because of production capabilities and shitty games. i should know, i own one. the only good game is resistance. the ps3's launch was the worst ever. as far as long term success, who knows. but with about 8.5 million consoles sold in just over a year, the 360 is already a success. the wii, with about 1.5 million in just about a month is on its way to success. the ps3 with not even 500,000 in just about a month, not so much. this doesn't mean that one is better than the other, it just means sony fucked up the launch. they should've waited.
umrain @ Dec 12th 2006 12:28PM
#1, Paper Mario 2 has been out on the Gamecube for about two years now. it is called "The Thousand Year Door"
maximus @ Dec 12th 2006 12:34PM
The Wii desperately needs some good games, aside from Zelda the other games available now are average at best. If they don't start churning out more top quality games the Wii is gonna end up being confined to cupboards once the novelty has worn thin.
Miniboss @ Dec 12th 2006 12:41PM
I like how every time someone brings up how well the Wii is doing, everyone feels the need to say, "Oh, well, we'll see how it's doing next year... in five years... in ten years, and THEN we'll know how well they're really doing."
No way! It's like you guys are just figuring this out or something. Isn't it enough to just say that, hey, the Wii is doing really well, a lot better than anyone had thought it could do, especially a year ago. It's the little console that could for the time being.
Jeff T.L. @ Dec 12th 2006 12:52PM
"actually, yes. that quote is the exact reasons for a good or shitty launch."
Yes, I get that. That's why I was saying I don't need a professional videogame "journalist" to tell me that.
The post was so obvious and added so little value to the Wii's UK launch numbers that, in my opinion, the author should have shut up and let the numbers speak for themselves, unless he had something interesting or useful to add. In this case, he did not.
Osiris @ Dec 12th 2006 1:08PM
Nintendo don't NEED to do anything new right now to keep the sales going, they need to ship more bloody consoles out here!
I'm supervising the Wii units in a GAME store and the amount of people wanting to buy Wii's right there and then is phenomenal.
All I can tell them is, "Sorry, out of stock".
Foolish Nintendo.
P.S. Can anyone tell me the quantity of Wii's that Nintendo shipped to the UK?
Spence @ Dec 12th 2006 1:36PM
@ Nintendo fanboys.
I have a DS not a PSP, irrespective of that- it sold 185,000 in the same 4 day period. Wii did not break a record as a result of that.
Not that 4 day figures are indicative of anything when you consider how much Nintendo just spent marketing this fucking console.
I got one without a pre-order by the way (boasts) booyeah! Bennets for the win.
Slaziman @ Dec 12th 2006 2:13PM
you mean 185000 in the uk or worldwide? o0
Baolo @ Dec 12th 2006 2:39PM
Cool news, but I wonder if by "UK" they mean "The Whole European Area".
I live in Italy and have been waiting for my (preordered) wii to come since the 8th, I acknowledge nintnedo's success but too many times regions like Italy, Spain, France and Germany have been put aside in favor of che english market: is it really so bigger?
Spartan 1308 @ Dec 12th 2006 6:54PM
maximus said: "The Wii desperately needs some good games, aside from Zelda the other games available now are average at best."
I personally prefer Wii Sports and Trauma Center: Second Opinion to Zelda: TP. Zelda is good too, but I'm saying there are already some good games out there. If you haven't tried Trauma Center, you need to do so immediately. The pointer works 10x better than it does on Zelda and it is produced by a 3rd party. I don't think we really have to worry about other devs getting the most out of the controls.
oddjob2233 @ Dec 12th 2006 10:48PM
I think it goes without saying that the word-of-mouth sales for 400,000 systems will trump 180,000. Especially with the Wii's ingenuity.
me @ Dec 13th 2006 6:21AM
Why are people so convinced that the wii will fail without "strong 3rd party games?" As mentioned previously by logikil, the games which utilise the DS touch screen best are nintendo games, wheras with third party games the touch screen controls can often feel "tacked on". And yet the DS is selling by the bucketload, why will things be so different for the Wii?
MercWorks @ Dec 13th 2006 5:37PM
Jeff T.L.: Something I thought obvious that you clearly do not: if you think something is obvious, that doesn't mean EVERYONE EVERYWHERE does. How about taking a break from cockmongering for a while?