sorry but those sales are very good for Korea. There has been plenty of marketing here but it has almost already outsold PS3 already. Only very hardcore gamers that don't mind playing games in languages they most likely don't understand would be willing to get the japanese system. Pirating is really popular in korea, but most of the people pirating are getting korean games, much of the reason is because they want to play it in their language.

Nintendo might be sacrificing some software sales for hardware sales here, but they are taking a stand against piracy. Basically people want to illegally play games from Japan and America, very very few of those people actually plan on buying those games. If people are whining because they can't pirate, then don't expect Nintendo to do something about it.

Once the Koreans get off their ass and actually put up the money for their games companies will release most of the games in Korea. Until they do that I have no sympathy for all the pirates in Korea.

lol, so true - ^

Worrying thing is that the sales for the PS3 and 360 there are dubbed to be after this page much higher.The PS3 would be overtracked some 100K units ,but the 360 would be overtracked a massive 700-800K units.

Not really, we've been getting some info lately that markets in Eastern Europe and mainland Asia are much larger than they were last gen in terms of install bases.

I don't think 35k in Korea is 'bad' by any means. It's a good start. I could be wrong but I don't think the DS exactly roared out the door either in Korea.

I think this market will continue to see growth over the next few months as more and more people try a Wii out at a friend's house and then want one of their own.

It sounds like the one of biggest problem is they haven't released enough titles yet. Is there a release schedule anywhere for Korea?

@Diomedes, stop wishing 360 to get it's numbers lowered, its getting old.

I wonder if the Wii can make china speak 1 language... XD

All the people who have enough money to buy a Wii can speak Mandarin, I can practically guarantee that ;)

Besides, the written language is almost equal no matter the dialect, so it wouldn't be a problem in terms of text.

Wii sales start slow in Korea

43 Comments by Alexander Sliwinski Jun 2nd 2008 10:25AM
Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Business

A report from the Korean Times states that the Wii has sold a lackluster 35,000 - 40,000 units in its first month on sale, falling below the Big N's expectations. The problem apparently lies in Nintendo's strict regional coding, which doesn't allow gamers to play the much larger non-localized game offerings from outside Korea without ... um, modifications (which Nintendo frowns upon).

Don't feel too bad for the Wii. According to Korean game magazines, the Xbox 360 only sold 150,000 units during its first year, while the PS3 sold around 50,000. Meaning, despite not being the blockbuster it is in other regions, the Wii is still on the path of becoming the top selling (now-gen) console in the country.

My two words?  "Bolded part."