Huh? There are 30 third party million-sellers. There were 12 at the end of March, and 21 at the end of September, and Iwata specifically mentioned that there are 30 as of the end of December in his investor briefings.

We know there are 18 first-party million-sellers because Nintendo reported that there were 15 at the end of September, and Wii Music, Animal Crossing and Mario Sluggers were the only new games on the latest first-party fiscal-year million-seller list. I suppose an older game could have also passed 1m without hitting 1m in a given year, but VGC numbers don't suggest this. Endless Ocean is the next closest for first party.

OK, I was basing the numbers as if the 30 3rd party titles were applicable only for the CY 2008 as the 1st party titles listed were.

Seems odd they'd list just the 11 1st party titles that sold platinum during the calendar year yet count ALL 3rd party titles since console release.

They aren't coming from the same sentence. The fiscal year first party million seller list is to show what games floated Nintendo's boat this year. Seperately, Nintendo has discussed how many third party million sellers there are life-to-date for each system to show the transition from first party to third party sales over time.