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Nintendo has a good holiday...big surprise, right?

by: Sean Colleli -
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With the DS still going strong and the Wii a runaway hit, it's no secret that Nintendo has had a bountiful Q4.  Hit the jump to see just how well they did, in their official press release.  Nearly all of their consoles sold out, and I have friends who are still searching for the elusive Wii.  Controllers are just as scarce, with only some random nunchuk sightings here in Columbus.  I was just a little surprised to see the Wii succeed so well, but I'm still a smidge skeptical.  When we get some more high quality first-party content, then maybe my worries will subside, but I'm getting increasingly impatient for Metroid Prime 3.
Nintendo Records Best Holiday Selling Season in U.S. Video Game History

    Virtually Every New Wii and Nintendo DS System Sold Out Across America

    REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- There has never been anything like
it.  Independent U.S. sales figures released by the NPD Group today confirmed
a red-hot launch for the new Wii(TM) system by Nintendo, and the crowning of
the portable Nintendo DS(TM) as the best-selling video game device of any type
for both the holidays and all of 2006.
    (Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050516/NINTENDOLOGO )
    Along with stunning success for The Legend of Zelda(R): Twilight Princess

and historic sales of accessories, including more than 1.5 million extra
controllers for Wii alone, Nintendo recorded the most successful
across-the-board holiday performance in U.S. video game history.


    Among key results:

    *  Consumers purchased every Wii console available at retail -- more than
       a million in just the 44 days between U.S. launch and year end.
    *  With sales of another 1.6 million systems in December alone, Nintendo

       DS achieved full year sell-through of 5.3 million.
    *  The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was purchased by an
       extraordinary 86 percent of Wii buyers, or more than 900,000 games for
       that system alone.  Coupled with the companion version released in

       December for Nintendo GameCube(TM), the two versions of the newest
       Zelda title totaled approximately 1.5 million unit sales in less than
       seven weeks, which would represent one of the five best-selling games

       for the entire year.
    *  Wii owners also purchased an average of three additional games from a
       wide library of choices, in addition to the Wii Sports title packed in
       with every hardware system.

    *  Two Nintendo DS titles, New Super Mario Bros.(R) and Brain Age(TM):
       Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day, also were top-10 sellers for the
       year.
    *  Throughout the November/December holiday shopping period, Nintendo

       accounted for more than half of all video game hardware systems sold in
       America.

    Earlier this week, Nintendo increased its projected worldwide financial
performance for the year ending on March 31 to be the best in company history.

    "Millions of players, both hard-core and brand-new, are already enjoying
the unique entertainment provided by Wii, but demand for the system remains
incredibly high," says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime.  "So

our work is just beginning.  We're dedicating ourselves to maximizing both
manufacturing and distribution full bore throughout 2007, to make sure
everyone who wants to experience the future of video gaming can do so just as

soon as possible."
    The momentum behind Wii will continue unabated through the early weeks of
2007, with retail debuts of WarioWare(TM): Smooth Moves, Wii Play(TM) and
Mario Party(R) 8 from Nintendo; a host of third-party releases; and a steady

stream of classic games made available via download with the Wii Shop Channel.

    The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment,
Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and

software for its Wii(TM), Nintendo DS(TM), Game Boy(R) Advance and Nintendo
GameCube(TM) systems.  Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.2 billion video
games and more than 387 million hardware units globally, and has created

industry icons like Mario(TM), Donkey Kong(R), Metroid(R), Zelda(TM) and
Pokemon(R).  A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in
Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the

Western Hemisphere.  For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's
Web site at www.nintendo.com