Hello, I'm a first-time user of this database, and I have a couple of questions.

Is there any way to download the complete database so I can study it with Excel and econometric programs such as Eviews and SPSS? I may be looking over this option completely, but all I see is data per week/month/year and automatic charts, no comprehensive database in a downloadable format such as .csv. I copied the data manually for Wii sales, but it's a very tedious and timeconsuming process...

Secondly, I noticed Wii sales being seperated in sales in America, Japan, Europe, Australia and Other. When you add these up you get the exact same number as total sales. This leads me to believe that the Other category is just a residual category where all the unexplained sales are lumped. Am I right, or does Other actually refer to a region, such as South-East Asia? Also, does the America category entail only USA sales or does it also include sales in Canada, Mexico and South-America?

Finally, I noticed that the Wii hardware sales in America in 2008 show a very erratic pattern compared to American sales in 2007 and sales in other regions. Is there an explanation for this volatility?

ioi runs this site. He'd be the guy to ask.

Well that's what we're here for.  And most would agree that the volatility of the Wii sales is three fold: First, Nintendo prefers to make big shipments every other week, and sometimes every other three weeks.  This reduces their freight costs and makes each shipment of Wiis an event.

Secondly, it appears that Nintendo is keenly conscious of the major releases of its competitors, Sony and Microsoft.  Nintendo will often flood the channel with supply just as Microsoft or Sony are releasing their "big" games.  This allows Nintendo to claim victory even against major blockbuster titles.

Finally, this year has seen the launch of three high profile games for the Wii: Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Mario Kart, and Wii Fit.  Nintendo's strategy has been to make sure that there are enough Wiis available in the market so as to bolster the initial sales of these titles. 

So, in a nutshell, the volatility of the Wii market is a one-to-one ratio with supply (as opposed to demand).  Whatever supply is in the channel will sell...it's just a matter of when Nintendo feels it is best to fill that channel.  Don't expect this to change until after the holidays.

Thank you, that does make sense.

If this is true, there has to be an explanation why other markets do not follow the same pattern. The only reason I can think of is that European Wii's might be transported by land, which makes a continuous stream of small shipments possible.

I have no proof to back this up, though.

As for getting a complete database, you can probably forget that. You can manually copy everything, but good luck with that. Obviously ioi could decide to give it to you, but with only 2 posts and no information about you, unless you have a really really good reason why would he?

As for the regions. America is all of the Americas (both north and south). Others is all other African/Asian markets not accounted for by the other regions. I may be off, but I believe that is correct.

Also, the European sales may be more consistent because it appears that they are getting close to meeting demand across Europe. If demand is met every week, then you can expect typical sales, rather than erratic sales that depend on shipments.

There is much speculation that Nintendo favors the European market because of the stronger value of the Euro currency.

Other refers to EU australis korea eastern europe and other niche markets.
America is the Americas
Japan is only japan

Wii is erratic due to supply and etailer stockpiling for new releases and bc the demand hasnt been meet fully.

Well so I could study the data more thouroughly. The tools on this site are good for making quick comparisons, but insufficient for deeper analysis. Most databases give you the option of downloading the data (OECD database, EUROSTAT database, ECB database, World Bank database...).

Other being the African/Asian markets does make sense. I just find it odd that the sum of all regions matches up perfectly with the total sales. There's usually an unexplained difference between the two because of the complexities involved with gathering data and estimations. This leads me to believe that the Other category is indeed the rest of the world, but that sales for this are calculated as a residual, there is no actual sales data for this category.

You did a poor job of explaining what you mean.

Why shuld there b a difference between sum of all regions and total sales? Wouldnt u think that total sales is the product of adding the regional sales together?

Or do u suggest the total sales number comes from somewhrere else, and if so... where???

Anyway, you have a point about a residual category, but explain yourself first.