Nintendo Sales Figures For 2009 – Nintendo DS claims highest selling console in Australia –

Australia, 27 January, 2010 – Nintendo announces strong sales figures for 2009. GfK Retail and Technology Australia confirm that, as of Week 1 2010, Nintendo DS® – inclusive of all Nintendo DS models – is the highest selling console in Australia since the independent market research company started tracking sales in 2000. Nintendo DS can also claim the title of highest selling console for four years running, 2006 – 2009, and has sold through more than 2.5 million units in Australia. In 2009, Nintendo DS sold through more than 760,000 units.

Wii™ also continued to perform well throughout 2009, currently the home console has sold more than 1.7 million units in Australia. In 2009, Wii sold through more than 730,000 units- this is a record for a home video game console.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii™, which only launched in November 2009, sold through more than 200,000 units in only seven weeks, making it the only game to sell through 200,000 units, on any one format, this quickly.
Other Wii games that have performed well include Mario Kart™ and Wii Fit™. Mario Kart Wii has sold through more than 500,000 units in just 87 weeks, and Wii Fit has sold through more than 740,000 units and has been the highest selling game in both 2008 and 2009! The upgrade to Wii Fit, Wii Fit™ Plus (with Wii Balance Board) has sold through more than 152,000 units, bringing the total number of Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus users to more than 896,000. This shows that more and more people are getting into at home fitness with Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus. More than 134,000 owners of the original Wii Fit also upgraded their product by purchasing Wii Fit Plus standalone (without Wii Balance Board), bringing the total number of Wii Fit Plus sales (including both the standalone and bundle) to more than 286,000 units.

Furthermore the top six selling games in Australia for 2009 were Wii games: Wii Fit, Wii Sports Resort™, Wii Play™, Mario Kart Wii, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Wii Fit™ Plus (bundle – includes Wii Balance Board).

For calendar year 2009, Nintendo recorded hardware unit sales share of 67 per cent for both Wii and Nintendo DS – 35 per cent for Nintendo DS and 32 per cent for Wii. The total gaming market was up 4 per cent in value and 7 per cent in units in 2009, compared to 2008.

“2009 was an exciting year for Nintendo”, says Nintendo Australia Managing Director Rose Lappin. “We released a new console with Nintendo DSi and some great games, as well as Wii MotionPlus™. 2010 looks to be a big year for Nintendo again, we have Nintendo DSi® XL coming, as well as some big titles across both consoles.”