When are people going to frikkin realize that HD gaming is still gaming. It's the damn games that make a system good, not the resolution it's played in.

Claiming that gamers that enjoy Wii gaming now will suddenly abandon ship for HD harbors just based on screen resolution is admittance to a lack of understanding the industry of video games and its audience.

Thanks TheSource. Great numbers as always.

Any chance that you have numbers for DS, PSP and/or PS2 as well?

I definately see your point but I really don't think Nintendo is going to release their next console until the Wii sales are down to "normal" levels. And I think there is a chance the Wii could still be selling very strongly in 5 years. Not as strong as it is now obviously, but stronger than most consoles sell in year 5. As long as they are making huge piles of money on the Wii they can give themselves a bit of time to ensure the next console is perfect and also ensure that it has a good launch lineup before they launch, or they could just stockpile. Whatever they do I don't think Nintendo will feel any pressure to launch early like MS, since MS was trying to capture market share by doing it and it clearly has worked against them as a bit of extra R&D time might have saved them from their RRoD issues.

But more than that, once the Wii2 or whatever it is called comes out it doesn't mean the Wii will stop selling altogether. The PS2 is proof of that. In fact if you think about it, as its price drops in its old age the console and games become better and better values for the people who aren't really into the gaming scene but maybe want to try that thing they have heard so much about for the last 5 years.

I would completely agree its far to early to tell with any accuracy what the numbers will be, but I would say there is a strong possibility that Wii sales could carry on long after the next Nintendo console release. This is due to the proven tendancies of the demographic they are targeting right now, which is to be "late" to "very late" adopters. I won't assert that its a certainty but I do think its worth consideration.

Anyways, it will be interesting watch how close these numbers are over time.

Sqrl, what was the last console that Nintendo continued to sell for more then a year after the newest console was released? From my knowledge Nintendo pretty much drops the old console completely and moves on and focuses on the new system.

Sony has done that with both the ps1 and the ps2, mostly due to great sales, but before Sony was in the console business Nintendo really didn't do that even though they had a nice advantage on Sega.

JJ you bring up an interesting point - but here is the answer:

The NES.  I've never seen reliable online figures for the NES, but Steven Kent's book - The Ultimate History of Videogames holds that the NES - sold well enough over 10 years at USA retail - 85',86',87',88',89',90',91',92',93',94', to remain on store shelves as long as PS1 did (95'-04').  From 86'-89' NES sold 5 million+ units per year in the USA according to figures in Kent's book before slowing down a bit as Genesis released.  It continued to decline - but very, very slowly - even after the release of the SNES in 1991 and 1992.  Put it this way: in 1994, in it's 10th year, and with well over 30 million units sold (not shipped) in the USA, the NES sold more than Dreamcast did in year 4 (2002, when the market was bigger and Dreamcast was cheaper than NES - adjusted for inflation - in it's year four), and more than the Sega Saturn did in it's launch year.  Again, I've never seen complete NES figures worldwide, but it sure as hell didn't decline after year one.  In the USA, to reach that 30 million level, I imagine it went like:

85' ~ <1 million (it wasn't launched nationally at once)

86'/87/88'/89' - 5 million-6 million

90' - 3-4 million

91'-92' - 2-3 million

93' - 1-2 million

94' - 300k-1.3 million

95' - 100k-400k

96' - 0-100k

97' - <50k  

My theory is NES outsold the SNES worldwide in 1991 when SNES was available worldwide (remember - Genesis didn't do too well in Japan - and back then Japan was still a bigger market than Europe.  NES continued to see decent games released as late as 1994, and was still sold in the 2000s in Japan) and was probably neck and neck in 1992 with the NES.  The SNES didn't really take off until 1993 when it was a) cheaper, b) Genesis became old/dated in the West, and c) software studios in Japan needed a new, big base to support (Genesis sold less in Japan than a typical Final Fantasy game sells).  At the same time, PS2 immediately (2001) began outselling it's predecessor.

Basically, the NES was the best selling console in Japan for a 6-10 years (83'-88' at least, and outsold next gen consoles in the west until the SNES finally got people to stop buying NES games in 1993) - against Sega, NEC, and others, the best selling console in the west - even against the Genesis (initiailly), and SNES (initially).  When a console company gets 70% of the market, it takes a fundamental industry shift - in at least 2/3 of the three markets - to lose momentum completely.  

JJ, they did support the NES and SNES for a year at least after the release of the succeeding console. Granted more so in Japan than America.

The PS and PS2 sold over 100 million units and a company would be an absolute fool to not continue to support such a huge revenue stream. In fact if you didn't, your stock holders would force you out.

It's a business move, JJ. It has nothing to do with some personification of one company liking their old user base more than another company so they continue support.

Nintendo makes money on hardware. Sony doesn't for the first year or two after release. Sony has no choice but to continue to pull from that legacy revenue stream or they'd lose 2 to 3 times as much money during the initial launch period of a new console.

I don't know how old you are or if you've had any business experience or courses but it's all economics. 95% of the moves you see from any company in the video game industry is economically based. You cannot look at these comapnies, or any big company for that matter really, in a humanistic perspective.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_console

Scroll to the bottom and look at the 3 tables presented. They show in visual terms how long each console was supported in each of the 3 main territories.

NES in Japan was supported for 20 years. Let's see Sony do that.

 Should i be freaked if my lifetime sold numbers are very close to his, or just proud? 8)