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Record-Breaking UK Launch For Nintendo's Wii Fit
by David Jenkins
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April 29, 2008
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Nintendo has enjoyed its second record-breaking launch in as many weeks, with fitness title Wii Fit becoming the sixth fastest selling title of all time in the UK.
After Mario Kart Wii became the eighth fastest selling earlier in the month, the Wii Fit hardware bundle performed even more strongly - beaten only by iterations in the Grand Theft Auto, Halo and Gran Turismo franchises.
Despite a higher than normal retail price, due to the inclusion of the “Balance Board” controller, Wii Fit was bought by around 1 in 10 Wii console owners over its first two days on sale.
The title recorded an estimated £16.3 million ($32.4m) in revenues, making it the third biggest launch ever in the UK, behind only Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (£24.2 million/$48.2m) and Halo 3 (£16.9 million/$33.6m).
Despite fourteen titles in the top forty, Wii Fit accounted for half of all Wii software sold this week, with 79 percent published by either Nintendo or Sega. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue is the only title not for either the Nintendo DS or Wii in the top ten.
There were no other new releases in the top ten, with sales of Mario Kart Wii at number two down by 62 percent. A number of Nintendo DS and Wii titles did enter into the bottom position of the chart though, with Sight Training (aka Flash Focus) returning at number thirty-one, Big Brain Academy for Wii at thirty-three, Super Mario Galaxy at thirty-six and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 on Wii at thirty-seven.
The only genuine new entry of the week was the latest UK edition of the long-running karaoke series, SingStar: Summer Party for the PlayStation 2, at number twenty-four. Sony Europe recently announced that the SingStar franchise had sold over 12 million units in PAL territories.
Overall this week, there are fourteen Wii titles in the top forty, twelve for the Nintendo DS, six for the Xbox 360 (the highest being Call of Duty 4 at number thirteen), five for the PlayStation 3, two for the PC, one for the PlayStation 2 and zero for the PSP.
| TW | LW | Title | Publisher | Format | | 1 | NE | Wii Fit | Nintendo | Wii | | 2 | 1 | Mario Kart Wii | Nintendo | Wii | | 3 | 3 | Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games | Sega | Wii | | 4 | 2 | Gran Turismo 5: Prologue | Sony | PS3 | | 5 | 5 | Dr Kawashima's Brain Training | Nintendo | DS | | 6 | 4 | Sega Superstars Tennis | Sega | Wii | | 7 | 10 | Game Party | Midway | Wii | | 8 | 7 | PES 2008: Pro Evolution Soccer | Konami | Wii | | 9 | 8 | Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games | Sega | DS | | 10 | 6 | Wii Play | Nintendo | Wii |
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2008. ELSPA Ltd
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