Nintendo Wii, The Great Conqueror Of Gaming In March

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(Free-Press-Release.com) April 22, 2007 -- March was a month of domination for Japanese console maker Nintendo as its capable little Wii attracted the largest number of buyers of the three next generation gaming consoles.

According to NPD Group, Nintendo Wii was No. 1 once again, selling 259,000 units in March. Microsoft�s Xbox 360 came in second with sales of 199,000 units, while Sony managed to occupy third place with about half of Wii�s sales figure, 130,000 PlayStation 3 consoles sold in March.

Sony's last-generation PlayStation 2 on the other hand continued to see strong sales with consumers picking up 280,000 units.

Nintendo Wii was launched in the US in November 2006. According to NPD, Nintendo sold 476,000 units in November 2006, which was more than double compared to the number of sold PlayStation 3 units. (Sony sold only 197,000 units in November). During November 2006, Microsoft sold 511,000 units of its Xbox 360, according to NPD.

Wii�s good sales continued in 2007 as well. In February NPD Group reported Wii was the top-selling console video game system of the month, with an estimated 335,000 units sold, while Microsoft�s Xbox 360 sold 228,000 units and PS3 sold 127,000 units.

Research company IDC released a study at the beginning of March predicting that Nintendo's Wii will outship and outsell the 360 and PS3 in 2007 and 2008.

IDC said that Microsoft's Xbox 360 was the best selling current generation console for 2006 because it enjoyed a full year lead in the market. According to IDC�s study, called �Worldwide Videogame Console Hardware and Software Forecast 2006-2011: Ready for a New Game,� Nintendo is the only one of the three manufacturers working to grow its total accessible market for its hardware and software by broadening its audience beyond the traditional market.

The Japanese company has managed to surprise investors. At the beginning of April, Nintendo announced that its annual sales target for the 12 months ended Mar. 31 will now likely be $8.1 billion, rather than the previously projected $7.6 billion. The results are due to be announced Apr. 26.

In the first nine months of the fiscal year Nintendo Co., which is also the manufacturer of GameBoy Advance and Nintendo DS handheld machines, recorded group net profit of 131.9 billion yen ($1.1 billion; �850 million), a dazzling increase in revenue compared to last year�s 92.2 billion yen (from the same period).

It was also at the very beginning of this month when Bloomberg reported that Nintendo sold twice as many Wiis game consoles in Japan as Sony has sold of its PlayStation 3. Bloomberg quoted a fax statement issued by Enterbrain, according to which Nintendo had sold 1,95 million Wiis as of March 25 since it debuted on Dec. 2 last year. Sony had sold 812,000 of its latest console since November 11.

Nintendo's system has less powerful processors than its rivals but is dominating the market thanks to its innovative motion-sensing control system that allows users to play games with their body movement.

Nintendo's Wii console is still missing full DVD functionality, something that many gamers would like to see implemented before converting to Wii. Last year a Nintendo spokesperson confirmed that the company plans to release a version of Wii in Japan featuring DVD playback, but at that time there were no such plans for European or North American territories.

GameSpy, a unit of Fox Interactive Media, announced in March that it will provide multiplayer technology to game publishers developing titles for Nintendo�s Wii video game system. As part of an ongoing partnership with Nintendo, GameSpy has developed middleware technology to enable Wii titles to offer community features, such as friend rosters, advanced matchmaking capabilities and comprehensive rankings data.

Prior to this development agreement for Wii, GameSpy and Nintendo brought gamers wireless community options for Nintendo DS. The service provided an innovative network for portable video games, allowing people around the world to link easily and wirelessly to play games. The partnership represented GameSpy�s first foray into portable games.

Wii has been quite a champion so far. Unpredictable as the videogame console market may be, we can still expect Nintendo�s wonder product to make its company proud.

Author: Moni Constantinescu

Source: http://www.playfuls.com/

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