Wii breaks 35 million US sales with 454k in February
Nintendo thought to place second in NPDs as Sony refrain from releasing figures
Nintendo sold 454,000 Wii consoles in the USA in February, according to the latest NPD report, making it the fastest console ever to reach an install base of 35 million in the territory.
The company was full of praise for its first and third party sales catalogue, too, highlighting the sales of Just Dance 2 and a number of Nintendo published mainstays.
"February proved to be a notable month for Nintendo software as well," read a statement from the company. "Not only was Just Dance 2 from Ubisoft the No. 1 best-selling game of the month with more than 554,000 sold, but four Nintendo games reached new sales milestones.
"Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii console, which launched in November 2010, crossed the 2 million mark in February, while New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which launched in November 2009, just crossed the 8 million sales mark.
"On the portable side, the Pokémon SoulSilver Version game for the Nintendo DS family of systems launched in March 2010 and crossed the 2 million sales mark in February, while the New Super Mario Bros. game, which launched in May 2006, just passed 9 million in sales. These milestones further demonstrate the 'evergreen' nature of games that play on Nintendo systems."
Sony decided not to release its hardware figures from the report, leading analysts to assume that the platform holder placed third in the sales rankings. Nonetheless, Sony was confident that retail performance for both its hardware and software remains strong.
"NPD's February numbers illustrate continued growth of the entire PlayStation 3 ecosystem, including increases in hardware, software and peripheral sales," said Patrick Seybold, senior director of corporate communications at SCEA.
"PlayStation's exclusive titles, combined with stereoscopic 3D and precision motion controlled gaming, continue to resonate with consumers, and we look forward to furthering the momentum with MotorStorm Apocalypse and SOCOM 4 next month."
Last night, Microsoft revealed that it had sold 535,000 consoles in the month, continuing its reign as top seller in the US.