Wii to penetrate 30% of US homes by 2011

Thirty per cent of all homes in the US will have a Nintendo Wii by 2011, according to analysts at Merril Lynch.

The prediction comes as NPD data revealed the Wii to be North America's top-selling console in January, selling 436,000 units.

The analyst also believes a third of all all Japanese homes with have the Nintendo system, according to The Financial Times.

While some critics have suggested the motion sensing capabilites of the Wii controller are a gimmick, Credit Suisse analyst Jay Defibaugh suggest that sales indicate this is not the case.

"There has always been a strong concern that the Wii was gimmicky, but each passing month assuages that," he said.