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Nintendo sells 1.5M systems over Thanksgiving

Gaming giant moves 900,000 DS units, 600,000 Wii consoles in seven days in the US thanks to limited-edition Mario Anniversary system bundles and new DSi colors.

213 Comments

The House of Mario has 1.5 million more reasons to give thanks, as Nintendo today announced that it enjoyed a bountiful Thanksgiving week of hardware sales at US retailers.

During the week of Nov. 21 through Nov. 27, shoppers in the United States picked up 900,000 DS units (spanning the entire DS family) and 600,000 Wii consoles, according to internal Nintendo sales estimates.

The Mario Anniversary bundle helped move Wiis off shelves.
The Mario Anniversary bundle helped move Wiis off shelves.

Nintendo said the sales surge during the last week was a product of the limited-edition Mario Anniversary bundles that went on sale on November 7, as well as the new $150 orange and green DSi bundles that debuted on Black Friday. The day-after-Thanksgiving shopping phenomenon marks the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season.

Earlier this month Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, speaking at a presentation in New York, touted Nintendo's hardware sales performance. Citing NPD data, Fils-Aime had the DS and Wii in first and second place as far as the US installed base goes, with 43.1 million and 30.4 million systems sold, respectively. The next-best-selling hardware was the Xbox 360 (21.9 million), followed by the PSP (17.7 million) and PlayStation 3 (13.5 million).

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Wormkid_64

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Another thing,all those games span many many genres,and do not all rely on "gimmiky" motion controls that some under budgeted games throw in.

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Wormkid_64

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Amen fon1988. I've been reading the comments,and every couple of them are whiners saying there are no good games for the Wii. Mario Galaxy 1. Mario Galaxy 2. Super Smash Bros Brawl. New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Super Paper Mario. Metroid Prime Trilogy. Metroid Other M. Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess. Kirby's Epic Yarn. 007. Donkey Kong Country Returns. Wii Sports Resort. Conduit. Sin and Punishment. Fluidity. And Yet It Moves. I'll even throw in Force Unleashed 2 here based on Gamespot's comment that the Wii version is actually the best way to enjoy the game,though I'm not here to debate opinions on that. These are just the games I could come up with in a few minutes time.(BTW I also have a 360 which i do have several non bloody or FPS games for and which I do play thank you very much.Just to prove you can do both 360 and Wii.)Ask some other Wii owners to list games that they believe are good,from experience,reviews,or watching others play. You'll find that after digging through the plethora of rubbish bargain bin trash half hearted 3rd party developers have made,that the Wii has an excellent library of 1st and 3rd party games,both downloadable,and on discs. It's high time for people who whine about no good games on the Wii to shut up,and go back to stuffing their minds with HD blood and gore,which appear to be the primary definition of a "good" game these days.

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Wormkid_64

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ARG! I saw the green DSi at a retailer!It's so beautiful! Green is my favorite color! Should have waited!I got the white one a year ago,and i enjoy it but.....the green.*Metaphorically stabs self up through lower jaw into brain and twists* The only thing keeping me from doing that in real life is the 3DS.*repeats.repeats.repeats.....*

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theJBlounge

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Makes sense. There were Wal-Mart/Best Buy deals for Wii's about $160. It's definitely at a Black Friday impulse price and you get 2 free games. And it will only encourage MS and Sony to take some dollars off their systems in the future.

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Detroit222

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It's all good dawnofhero, but my dear old dad used to say 'never buy it the first year it comes out - they need a year just to work the bugs out!' He was talking about cars but I find it true of new technology too. The XLs been around long enough for them to work the bugs out. ;) But enjoy the 3D!

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dawnofhero

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@Detroit222 Well, I'm just sayin'. The 3DS isn't just a DS with the option, (option) for a 3D effect, though. There's a lot more to it than that. (It's a new system, not just another model redesign) But, glad you like your iXL. We've got another three months until launch of the 3DS anyway...

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Detroit222

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dawnof - why not? I was looking for a good deal on an XL. My old Phat was slowly dying (had to plug it in every 2 hours). Time for something new and I wanted something that was NOTTOONEW but was reliable. By the way, I'm loving the big screens of the XL. (Besides, I loathe 3D - always gives these old eyes a headache.)

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DanielL5583

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@DrKill Are you implying Okami is one of the only decent games on the Wii?

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SufferLikeGdid

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I've noticed in Best Buy's and Walmart's that they've really pushing their new red Wiis. If I remember correctly, it comes pre installed with 4.3 firmware, the update that does nothing they say it does, but was designed to do only one thing... I wonder if Nintendo is trying to tell us something... Hmmm.. Anyway Big N, congrats on your conquest of the seventh generation.

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thomasward00

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Go big N, the Wii has won this generation.

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Blink3r

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nintendo... you... rooooock! i'm expecting great things from the 3ds as well...

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dawnofhero

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@Detroit222 Why did you buy a DSiXL? You could have saved it for the 3DS, man! The XL is just a large DS with a few design modifications. The 3DS is an entirely new system with new features that are far superior than the previous DS systems.

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coylenintendo

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honestly that's a really good deal. I like the Wii, even though I don't have one anymore, but anyone that bought that Wii will be kind of disappointed when no good games come out for it soon.

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BloodMist

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Damn I wish I had that red Wii, oh well. *goes back to playing DKC Returns*

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fetusfart18

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I bought the SMB 25th Anniversary DSi XL. Now I really want the anniversary Wii.

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Sendmn23

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after all this time I finally figured I'd pick up a wii too...

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Wolflink001

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@Mr_BillGates 30.4 million sells? OMG! YES!

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Mr_BillGates

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That's because many parents do not know any better. They probably thought the Wii is the same as PS3 and 360, and its lower price must have suggested the system is a better deal than other consoles. Just wait until their children open up their packages on X-MAS day. "OMG, NO!"

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MERGATROYDER

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Nintendo may be selling units, but they sure don't sell many game titles. Oh, and selling fifty million Mario's over 25 years isn't a game title and neither is Wii Sports or Sports Plus. GameCube 2.0 FTW!

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Flint247

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Luigi: "Go weegee!"

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hannify

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In the words of Mario - "Me, number one. Wohoo!"

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Crumblet

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Nice to see plenty of people are still buying consoles this holiday, with the recession and all.

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MJR006

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i just bought that black wii and its awsome....who needs kinect and move

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Kid2812

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Dynamo11

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More dissapointed children on Christmas Day. "Psst Dad, I asked for a Xbox 360" "I know but your Mother said you'd like this more"

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RitterXplode

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I hope all those people enjoy their new consoles. =)

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DrKill09

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I have absolutely no idea as to how the Wii still sells. There are 20 good games on the Wii at the most, most of them being PS2 ports. I'm probably gonna sell my Wii now that I got the Move.

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penpusher

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@soulreaper-4 thats purely point of view, speaking as someone who was lucky enough to run into enough money to get all the systems currently out they are all worth the money you pay for them

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penpusher

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spooky102

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Good old Nintendo still dominating this generation.

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Detroit222

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But monson2 I DID know that the 3DS was coming out. And guess what? I just bought the DSXL. It was a good deal. Have no desire to get the 3DS. Could not care LESS about 3D.

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fon1988

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Nintendo deserves all it's success. People complained that they didn't have enough "hardcore" titles on the market, and boom! We get Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid Other M, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Goldeneye 007 and Donkey Kong Country Returns, all within just about 6 months. Wii is the king of gaming this time around and everyone else is just jealous. Gameplay > Graphics any day.

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ManOfHorrer

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man stop with selling already we get it your the best

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ascoteton77

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Excellent numbers from Nintendo. I'm sure more will sell as Christmas gets closer!

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Nuk1euz

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@soulreaper-4 You forget that we are in a bad economy, YOU sound like a spoiled kid whose parents buy you games. I work for my money. I bought the PS3 in launch, for 500 bucks. THAT was worth it, and its still worth it today at 300 dollars. 360 and Wii arent worth their value. Wii doesnt even have a DVD rom drive and that is 1990s technology. You can find consumer DVD-rom drives for 10 dollars for gods sake! It doesnt have HD, or even user friendly online experience. Should cost 100 dollars. 360 should cost 200 dollars, if it had a bluray drive it can get away with 300 dollars because stand-alone bluray players are roughly 100 dollars. People might disagree with me, but i dont look at brand names i look at the technology and what its worth. If the 360 had the same specs as the PS3 i'd appreciate it equally as much as the PS3. The only reason i dont have all 3 consoles is because i dont have the money plain and simple. There are millions of people like me.

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monson21502

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@Kill_Master_321, i told everyone nintendo`s secret but got reported for trolling and the message was deleted:?: i dont understand what trolling is? maybe thats because im so retared??? all i said is parents bought these dses not knowing there was a new nintendo handheld coming out very soon. and thats why nintendo targets kids first. because they know they can get great sales from kids even with release of only 2-3 good games a year. this is all imo of course. but i`ll bet its true:P

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dawnofhero

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lilflex1

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nintendos one of the oldest game manufacturers and so is mario and still selling. good old yoshi and mario power ups

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monson21502

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Jhedan

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Hurray for shovelware console...

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64-bit

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i got lost in time watching the 25 anniversary, Mario 4 ever.

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Kill_Master_321

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ah Nintendo whats your secret no seriously WTF .

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64-bit

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go big N.

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warhawk-geeby

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I thought the whole world already had a Wii? Maybe too many folks are getting carried away with their blendtec's on thanksgiving..

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riou7

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riou7  Moderator

Wii just wont die :P

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Toysoldier34

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Too bad the game sales don't match the system sales. Good games on Wii never get purchased by the casual crowd. Sad time in the industry when Super Fun Backyard Game Party 6 sells better than great games like No More Heroes.

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Pzypro

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During the GCN era I was convinced that my little box was held back by its 3rd place poor sales. Now, I have come to the realization that the Wii's gigantic sales are absolutely irrelevant to my enjoyment of the console. I honestly think that the GCN has had a better and a more diverse lineup of games than what the Wii has despite almost 4x the sales. That's pretty dang lame. Or maybe 5 years ago I was just younger and less picky.

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SoohooSan

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Great news for Nintendo. They really needed this, especially if all their 3rd party games not selling.

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CTR360

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good sales for wii

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