In the first week of the 2007 holiday shopping season, Nintendo of America has sold more Nintendo products than at any other time in its history. This includes more than 653,000 Nintendo DS Lite portable systems, 350,000 Wii home systems and millions of games and accessories throughout the United States and the season is just getting started. Nintendo DS set a new all-time sales record for Thanksgiving week, eclipsing the previous mark of 600,000 Game Boy Advance systems sold during the same period in the United States in 2005. Nintendo DS remains on track to be the top-selling video game system of 2007. This is just crazy, they are going to sell millions worldwide this holiday season.
Nintendo’s 350,000 Wii systems represent the highest one-week U.S. sales total outside of its launch week one year ago. Wii has been dubbed the must-have gift of the 2007 holiday season and has been placed at the top of numerous gift lists. Nintendo has repeatedly increased its shipments and its fiscal-year sales forecast for Wii in an attempt to meet soaring demand. Wii reached 5 million sold in the United States faster than any video game system in history, after only 12 months of availability there. Both Wii and Nintendo DS have continued their yearlong momentum into the holidays without altering their prices. And both remain attractive values for shoppers: Wii has an MSRP of $249.99, while Nintendo DS has an MSRP of $129.99.
“As shoppers look for ways to maximize their limited holiday spending money, they turn to gifts that can be used by the entire family,” says George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. “Wii and Nintendo DS offer something for every member of the family. They’re the most fun video game experiences at the most affordable price.”
With higher gas prices and fuel costs, and the lukewarm expectations for the 2007 holiday shopping season, Wii and Nintendo DS might be just what Santa ordered: Thirty-five percent of consumers said they plan to spend less than they did last year, according to a survey conducted by Opinion Research Corp. for the Consumer Federation of America and the Credit Union National Association. Similarly, a USA Today/Gallup Poll showed that 25 percent of Americans expect to spend less on gifts this year than they did in 2006.
Analyst Evan Wilson claimed he knew the new DS upgrade is already finished. While that’s doubtful, the specifications make sense. To quote: “It is thinner (it has no GBA port), has on-board storage and larger screens. However, we do not expect a revamped Wii or DS until sales begin to tail off in all three major geographies.”
George Harrison, Nintendo’s marketing Vice President was asked about this rumour and surprisingly didn’t give a “no comment” to the question, saying: “We don’t have any imminent plans for an upgrade for the Nintendo DS. The product is still selling extremely well around the world. I’m not sure what his source was for it, but it’s not something you’re going to hear about anytime soon.” Not soon, but it’s coming. — Quotes from Kotaku
It’s like going from GBA to GBA SP to GBA Micro. But instead from DS to DS Lite to… DS Tiny?
Alexis Glick interviews Consumerist editor Carey Greenberg-Berger and dusty-and-broken PS3 owner Reid Godshaw about the warranty-voiding debacle on the Fox Business News show Money for Breakfast.
Alexis talks about this being all the rage on the blogosphere and how much people are outraged. Quite the PR nightmare for Sony right before the holiday shopping season. While Sony should replace his PS3 because of all the games and movies the guy bought for it, I still have to admit that when I first saw the dusty PS3 pictures a while back, I thought it was a joke! The owner must have never dusted or cleaned it in any way at all for it to get THAT dusty, seriously, cleaning your house once or twice a week isn’t that hard. But the real issue here is Sony’s lackluster customer support, while this may be negligence on the owner’s behalf, there’s no denying how far friendly support goes. Watch the report for more details.
On the other side of the coin are Nintendo who go out of their way to be good to their customers. A recent story tells of a DS Lite owner’s friend spilling beer on his DS Lite by accident (officially called neglect/abuse). He called Nintendo saying it didn’t work anymore with the result being Nintendo sending him a brand new DS Lite within 2 days without asking questions and only wanting him to send the damaged DS Lite back to them. By just being friendly they earned a good reputation. Which is how it should be done anyway, since both Sony and Nintendo earn most of their money from software sales, so working hardware is kind of required.
PS: classic NES reference from Carey in the interview.
American retailer Sears is prepared for the “Black Friday” shopping craze that happens every year before Thanksgiving. Part of it is Nintendo’s new bundles for new colored DS Lites. These are the options for sale, presumably limited editions, meant for the holiday season.
1. DS Lite Gold Phantom Hourglass bundle for $149.99.
2. DS Lite Metallic Pink Nintendogs: Best Friends Edition bundle for $149.99. — Via DSfanboy
In the first week of the 2007 holiday shopping season, Nintendo of America has sold more Nintendo products than at any other time in its history. This includes more than 653,000 Nintendo DS Lite portable systems, 350,000 Wii home systems and millions of games and accessories throughout the United States and the season is just getting started. Nintendo DS set a new all-time sales record for Thanksgiving week, eclipsing the previous mark of 600,000 Game Boy Advance systems sold during the same period in the United States in 2005. Nintendo DS remains on track to be the top-selling video game system of 2007. This is just crazy, they are going to sell millions worldwide this holiday season.
Nintendo’s 350,000 Wii systems represent the highest one-week U.S. sales total outside of its launch week one year ago. Wii has been dubbed the must-have gift of the 2007 holiday season and has been placed at the top of numerous gift lists. Nintendo has repeatedly increased its shipments and its fiscal-year sales forecast for Wii in an attempt to meet soaring demand. Wii reached 5 million sold in the United States faster than any video game system in history, after only 12 months of availability there. Both Wii and Nintendo DS have continued their yearlong momentum into the holidays without altering their prices. And both remain attractive values for shoppers: Wii has an MSRP of $249.99, while Nintendo DS has an MSRP of $129.99.
