Shocker: DSi sells big, sells out in Japan

by Randy Nelson { Nov 5th 2008 at 7:30PM }

Seriously, who's really going to buy another Nintendo DS? Everyone who could get their hands on the Nintendo DSi during its first four days on sale in Japan, it turns out.

According to JCN, Nintendo shipped 200,000 of the revised handheld for launch, 170,779 of which were sold within two days. That's nearly as many units as the "old" DS was selling in the country per week up to that point. Within four days of launch all 200k were sold through, with Nintendo promising a shipment of 100k additional units by Friday, Nov. 7.

[Via GameDaily]

Tags: dsi, japan, nintendo-dsi, sales

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Moptimus Slime @ Nov 5th 2008 7:35PM

ZOMGWTFBBQ?!?!?! A Nintendo item selling out IN JAPAN?!?! I never thought I'd see the day

LaughingTarget @ Nov 5th 2008 9:36PM

Tis a shame your self-awareness didn't kick in back in 2002 when the GameCube was having a hard time.

Martin Bormann @ Nov 5th 2008 7:40PM

*BREAKING NEWS*

SUN TO RISE IN THE EAST, SET IN THE WEST.

Questworld @ Nov 6th 2008 11:29PM

*IN OTHER NEWS*

Gamers once again act like they knew it all along, distancing from their previous assumptions that so and so device was going to be the next Virtual Boy/Game Boy Micro...

Also, "analysts don't know what they're talking about" - Gamers.

Might not apply to you, but you know what I'm talking about.

WiiFTW @ Nov 5th 2008 7:49PM

Wikipedia says that Nintendo has sold 23.71 million DS and DS Lite units as of September 30 in Japan alone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS

It'd be safe to say it's sold about 24 million units in Japan.

According to the CIA World Factbook there are approximately 127 million people living in Japan.

24/127=18% population possibly owning DSes WTF

Of course, this excludes a single person with multiple DSes.

Ignatius @ Nov 5th 2008 7:58PM

It's probably less than 5%, considering how many colors, styles and special editions come out in Japan, the people that buy them must have like 5 by now.

Titanium_Orchid @ Nov 5th 2008 7:58PM

well, like you said, you can definitely chalk up a lot of that percentage to people buying multiple models.

The thing is, portable gaming is a lot more socially acceptable in Japan and Hong Kong (I mention those two because those are the only two countries I'm confident in mentioning). A lot of people but portable gaming devices for the explicit reason of playing on the train.

Portable electronics are also seen as fashion devices, and the DS is at a price point that makes the idea of switching up models somewhat easy to justify.

Titanium_Orchid @ Nov 5th 2008 8:00PM

*buy portable gaming devices

WilhelmThe1st @ Nov 5th 2008 9:00PM

Hong Kong isn't a country.

JRM @ Nov 5th 2008 11:25PM

It's true. Here in Japan, most commuters do two things while on the train:
1) watch TV on their cellphones
2) use their DS

also #3) get squished around by the mass of people trying to get on the train, but that's beside the point.

Titanium_Orchid @ Nov 6th 2008 1:38AM

It will always be a country in my heart!

yea, thats me getting out of being wrong

Pedobear @ Nov 5th 2008 7:56PM

So when the DSi comes out in NA, would I be able to put my R4 in it and expect it to work or no?

Ayrkain @ Nov 5th 2008 8:13PM

Nope. None of the Slot 1's do so far. There is a TIFF exploit on the DSi though.

Martin Bormann @ Nov 5th 2008 9:01PM

Nope - check it: http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=112857

Mabui @ Nov 5th 2008 9:15PM

I wonder what percent of the continued sales will relate to importing.

Mr Khan @ Nov 5th 2008 9:59PM

Considering its sell-through, combined with the strong yen, i could imagine it would be tough for aspiring importer

But i haven't waded into PlayAsia in a while

Luke @ Nov 6th 2008 12:35AM

I looked on Play-Asia, they have the DSi listed for $299.00

MojoTeq @ Nov 5th 2008 9:42PM

Is the title a Tom Waits reference?

Chase @ Nov 6th 2008 4:50PM

*waits*

Saria the Cat @ Nov 6th 2008 2:59AM

I don't see as many people playing DS during train commutes as I expected. Probably 1 out of every 15-20 people. And I have definitely not seen anyone playing a DSi. I do however see DSi commercials all the time on the TV in the main train line in Tokyo, Rapid Chuo Sen.