Nintendo drops 37% still has strong 2010

Mike Bantick
Friday, 18 February 2011 11:09

Your IT - Entertainment

Nintendo has released its sales figures for the 2010 Australian market, despite dropping in sales by 37 per cent; both the DS and Wii claimed the top selling console in their respective markets.

Well that explains that.  Whilst both Microsoft with the Xbox 360 and Sony with the PlayStation 3 touted strong growth during 2010, the video-game market itself fell by 16 per cent in Australia.  This left only Nintendo to release how 2010 went for them.

As expected, both the hand-held DS console, and its bigger cousin the Wii home console had years that, compared to previous ones, were not so hot.  Having said that, the sales achieved by Nintendo still put them at the top of the pile as far as sheer numbers shifted in Australia are concerned.

The details are:  GfK Retail and Technology Australia confirm that Nintendo DS® (inclusive of Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS® Lite, Nintendo DSiâ„¢ and Nintendo DSiâ„¢ XL) claimed the title of highest selling console in 2010, selling through more than 520,000 units. This marks the fifth year running that Nintendo DS has achieved this title, doing so from 2006 - 2010. In December 2010, Nintendo DS also achieved the title of the biggest selling video game console of all time in Australia, having sold through more than three million units.  

520,000 also represents a 30 per cent drop from 2009, but with anecdotal indications that folks are hanging out for the release of the 3DS next month, expect this figure to rise during 2011.

According to Nintendo Australia:   Wiiâ„¢ also achieved some major milestones in 2010. In November, Wii surpassed life to date sell through of two million units in Australia. This milestone was achieved in 47 months and establishes Wii as the fastest selling home console in Australia. Previously Nintendo DS® held this record, selling through two million units in 52 months. Wii was also the highest selling home console for 2010, selling through more than 420,000 units.

For the Wii, the 420K is a 42 per cent drop from 2009, but no news on whether it is time for the big 'N' to roll out a high-definition version of the console.  It would be nice if, in this country, a version that played DVD's was given the nod.

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