Wii outsells UK rivals in 2009

The Nintendo Wii has outsold all other consoles in the UK by some margin so far this year, GamesIndustry.biz can reveal, notching up almost 800,000 units shifted since the beginning of January.

Meanwhile the DSi has now sold 370,000 units, giving it a faster rate of sale in the first four months than either the DS or the DS Lite.

The numbers, released to GamesIndustry.biz following an investigation into confusion previously caused by a GAME financial statement, also show the DS Lite at over 680,000 for 2009.

The issue arose following a re-evaluation by Chart-Track of its upweight - the estimate it makes to bridge the gap between the numbers it receives from its retail panel and the rest of the UK market.

Having consulted the three platform-holders Chart-Track issued updated figures in June this year, as well as corrected historical numbers.

However, it appears that a trading update issued by the GAME Group at the end of June - which included the UK's console installed base numbers - used the new set of numbers for its June snapshot and the old set of numbers for its January snapshot, thereby distorting the rate of sales picture for the first half of the year and making it appear that sales of the Wii and DS had slowed considerably.

But the re-evaluated numbers now show clear water between the Wii and the Xbox 360 for sales throughout 2009, a reverse of the picture portrayed previously, with UK installed base as of week 31 this year standing at:

• Nintendo Wii: 5.5 million
• Nintendo DS: 1.6 million
• Nintendo DS Lite: 7.5 million
• Nintendo DSi: 370,000