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Wii rules console race for March, but sees dip in sales |
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Written by Simon Jones
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Saturday, 21 April 2007 |
Nintendo's Wii continued to top charts for the month of March in spite of major movements from the other two companies in the next-gen console war.
Nintendo Wii sold over 259,000 consoles for the month of March, over 50,000 more than Microsoft Xbox 360's 199,000 units and Sony PS3's 130,000 consoles. The latest figures take the total number of Wii units sold to 1.03 million in the first quarter, taking it further ahead of Xbox 360 and PS3 in the console race.
Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime was delighted with the results and said that innovation has triumphed over the muscle power of hardware. "The message delivered by both Wii and Nintendo DS is the same one; Innovation is compelling both current gamers and new gamers to experience a new way to play. Nintendo is bringing gaming back to the masses", Fils-Aime added.
However analysts believe that Nintendo Wii cannot sustain its early spoils in the long run. This was evident by the figures released by NPD which reveals that the number of sales for Wii was down by 22 percent. Even Xbox 360 registered a dip in the sales by 12 percent.
Sony's PS3 was the only console to have registered a rise in its sales with a 2 percent month-by-month increase. PSP also saw a likewise increase in its sales, but it was Sony's last-generation console PS2 that took the top spot in the console race.
PS2 sold a whooping 280,000 units in March. Analysts believe that the high number of PS2 sales could be attributed to the release of the much-awaited God of War II game, which coincidently has raced to become the top selling game of the month.
The list released by NPD along with figures is as follows:
1. Nintendo DS - 508,000
2. PS2 - 280,000
3. Wii - 259,000
4. Xbox 360 - 199,000
5. PSP - 180,000
6. Game Boy Advance - 148,000
7. PS3 - 130,000
8. GameCube - 22,000
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