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  Wii Sports Surpasses 50M Units, New Super Mario Bros. Nears 20M
by Chris Remo [PC, Console/PC]
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October 30, 2009
 
 Wii Sports  Surpasses 50M Units,  New Super Mario Bros.  Nears 20M

Wii Sports has sold over 50 million units worldwide and New Super Mario Bros. for Nintendo DS is approaching 20 million -- 19.94 million, to be exact -- according to new software sales data released by the publisher.

Other Wii and DS titles that have sold in excess of ten million are Wii Play (24.43 million), Wii Fit (22.5 million), Mario Kart Wii (18.36 million), and Mario Kart DS (18.09 million). The figures include bundles and system pack-ins.

In many cases, those catalogue titles sold better in the fiscal half that ended September 30, 2009 than games newly released during that period, although there were several new million-plus sellers during that time frame as well.

The standout by far was Wii Sports Resort, which sold 6.97 million units, followed by Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver (2.27 million combined, only in Japan) and Wii Fit Plus (2.13 million).

Level 5's Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box also made the cut, and is notable for being an externally-developed title that Nintendo did not publish in Japan. As such, its 1.26 million reported units only reflect overseas sales.

Along with the updated sales figures, Nintendo published an upcoming first-party release schedule for Wii and Nintendo DS. Through next spring, DS will see eight games in the U.S., seven in Europe, and four in Japan.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is the only game to appear on the list in all three regions, and has a relatively tight release window spread across 16 days in December.

Wii is down for eight games in the U.S., six in Europe, and 14 in Japan, although nearly every title is marked with a "temporary" disclaimer, and there are fewer firm release dates than on the DS list. Upcoming titles that appear in all three regions include New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Sin & Punishment 2, Metroid: Other M, and Super Mario Galaxy 2.

The United States lists are as follows:

Nintendo DS
Style Savvy (Nov. 2)
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (Dec. 7)
Pokemon HeartGold Version (Spring 2010)
Pokemon SoulSilver Version (Spring 2010)
Glory of Heracles (TBA 2010)
Golden Sun DS (temp.) (TBA 2010)
WarioWare D.I.Y. (TBA)
Picross 3D (TBA)

Wii
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nov. 15)
Sin and Punishment 2 (temp.) (Q1 2010)
Endless Ocean 2 (temp.) (Q1 2010)
Metroid: Other M (TBA 2010)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (temp.) (TBA 2010)
Span Smasher (temp.) (TBA)
Line Attack Heroes (temp.) (TBA)
Monado: Beginning of The World (temp.) (TBA)
 
   
 
Comments

Gavin Goslin
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I still think that this is a misleading claim as Wii Sports comes with the console. If it were not included I'm curious to what the actual sales numbers would be. I'm sure it would be nowhere near 50 million as we all know that Wii Sports is no more than a fancy tech demo (albeit a load of fun to play.. or at least it used to be..). Also with Wii Play bundled with a controller, not sure what the numbers would be as a stand alone game.

-=gos=-

Alan Rimkeit
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I agree Gavin. Bragging about Wii Sports is akin to Nintendo bragging in the old days that they sold 50 million Mario Bros/Duck Hunt Carts. Now the new Super Mario Bros selling 20+ million is no surprise. The Wii has had a shortage of great games for a while and the new Mario Bros is just what Wii owners needed. I see it going well over 40 million with in the next 6 months.

Simon Fraser
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Wii Sports is a separate purchase in Japan. I'm not sure but I think some of these numbers come from Japan.

John Giordano
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It sold nearly 4 million in Japan unbundled. For Japan, that's really good.

Roberto Alfonso
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@Gavin, Microsoft bundled Viva Piņata with a controller. Do you think Viva Piņata sold 25 million units by now? ;-) Or do you think any game bundled with a controller would sell 25 million units? How about Wii Fit, it is just a tech demo with a bundled controller, and sold over 22 million units. The EyeToy's best selling game (as far as I know) sold only 7 million units. While we gamers dismiss Wii Sports and Wii Play, casual gamers find them enjoyable.

@Alan, it is not clear if you confused the New Super Mario Bros for DS with the new version for Wii. Are you saying the DS version will sell 40 million units, that the new unreleased (so far) game for Wii will sell 40 million, or that combined they will both sell that much?

As someone who likes gathering sales number for Wikipedia, I wish more companies would post them the way Nintendo, Ubisoft and Capcom do it regularly.

Adam Piotuch
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Look at it this way, People bought the Wii for Wii Sports. Look at it as the system came with the game, because that's what the majority of people were buying the system for. If Nintendo had 2 different skus, one with Wii sports, and one without. I'm sure the one with Wii sports would have outsold the one without it. The majority of people that I know bought Wii did it for this very reason.

Sean Parton
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@Roberto Alfonso: I call straw man. Gavin's original observation has merit; since it was not possible for non-Japanese purchasers to obtain a Wii without getting Wii Sports, it is disingenuous to claim such a high sales rate when it's not necessarily possible to be certain how many purchasers would have gotten it even if it was a free _option_. Your argument could have merit for Wii Play, but not the original Wii Sports.

@Adam Piotuch: While it's arguable that a Wii Sports-bundled Wii would have probably outsold a Wii sans game, there's absolutely no data to support that. I can easily throw in my own anecdote about most Wii owners I know not caring about Wii Sports all that much (some not even playing it). End of the day, though, it's just my local experience with it, and isn't necessarily reflective of all Wii owners.


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