Nintendo hardware shipments, calendar 2009 Q1 or fiscal 2009 Q4: Things of Note

This quarter Wii surpassed SNES and became the second Nintendo home console to pass 50 million units shipped. About 11.5 million remain until it passes NES.

Very little movement in Japan this quarter.


At the end of 2008, Wii shipments were just below N64's final total in North America. With a quarter of over 3 million shipped, it's surpassed not only N64, but also SNES.


Wii long ago become the most successful Nintendo home console ever in Europe. This quarter still marks an interesting milestone, though, in that Wii has shipped more than NES and SNES combined. The previous four systems combined only come to 28.66 million. Wii has less than 10 million to go to pass that.


Though we are increasingly not near launch, there are still more Wiis available than any near-launch home console ever.


DS becomes the fourth gaming device to pass 100 million units shipped, if you count Game Boy and Game Boy Color together as does Nintendo. Current DS shipment numbers place it just below PS1.


Though neither DS nor Wii set an absolute worldwide shipping record for a January-February-March quarter this year, they were both among the best. Looking at the history of the top game machines around, here are the times when the first quarter of a calendar year went over 4 million. If GB/GBC or GBA ever had such a quarter we can't tell due to lack of quarterly shipment reports at their peaks, but making guesstimates based on their yearly or half-yearly numbers I doubt either would make this list.

PS2 2005: 6.08 M
DS  2008: 5.81 M
DS  2009: 5.56 M
Wii 2009: 5.43 M
DS  2007: 4.68 M
PS1 1998: 4.62 M
Wii 2008: 4.32 M
PS2 2001: 4.21 M

How about over the full fiscal year, though? In that case, DS and Wii did set records. As far as I can see, DS just had the best year for a portable system and Wii had the best year for a home console. Here are all years I know of over 20 million. Note that here 2009 indicates the year of April 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009.

DS  2009: 31.18 M
DS  2008: 30.31 M
Wii 2009: 25.94 M
DS  2007: 23.56 M
PS2 2003: 22.52 M
PS2 2004: 20.10 M
PS1 1999: 21.60 M

If you want to check out old shipment information for yourself, I recommend trying out the Garaph shipment line graph and shipment bar graph tools.

End 2008 hardware shipments: Things of Note

DS passed GBA last quarter. Its shoot up continues. It's certainly passed Game Boy and Game Boy Color individually, but as Nintendo prefers to report them as a whole, that's still the one barrier DS has to becoming Nintendo's most-sold system ever.

Here's the console equivalent. Don't take the early NES/SNES line segments seriously; since our first solid shipment data for them comes from the late 90s when they were almost finished, those looooong straight line segments representing 1983-1996 are simply the best we have. Wii has already passed GameCube and N64. SNES will probably be passed with another quarter. NES will take a little longer, but short a disaster Wii will be the most successful Nintendo home console ever by the end of 2009.


The line comparison is nice, but I also really like how this bar version looks, comparing Wii's growth with previous consoles' totals.


Europe continues to pull away as DS's biggest market, while Japan has had a slow year relative to DS's previous boom.


North America remains the stronghold for Wii, though. Japan is far in third here, accounting for less than half as many systems as second-place Europe.


It was already true that Wii was the most successful Nintendo console ever in Europe, but the amount by which that is true continues to grow. It's now nearly sold twice as much as second-place NES. I continue to think it's only a matter of time until it has outsold all previous four consoles combined, which would take about 28.7 million units.



For PS3 and X360 only worldwide numbers are available, so I can't go into as much detail.

In worldwide shipments at this age, PS3 is between where PS1 and PS2 were at this time. Keep in mind that both of those systems had a much more protracted worldwide launch, and that PS1 didn't have the advantage of coming in as the successor to the previous generation's champion. A sudden upturn to 100 million for PS3 still remains quite unlikely.


X360 beat the last-generation Xbox in the previous quarter; the rest of the growth here is gravy.


So how do they compare to the secondary and tertiary consoles of the last few generations? Pretty decently, really. Both are keeping their heads above the N64 mark, which was the previous best-selling secondary console at ~33 million. It's feasible that both X360 and PS3 will pass that by the end of 2009, though it's less of a certainty for PS3.


Though Wii has long since passed up X360 and PS3 individually, it's still a hard slog against the combined userbase of the HD consoles. At the end of 2007 the gap was about 8 million. By the end of September 2008 the PS360's lead had shrunk to 5.2 million. As of the end of 2008... it's 5.2 million. The holidays exacerbate Wii shortages, and it doesn't get quite the percentage boost of the others. It did better this holiday than last, however; in the final quarter of 2007, PS360 increased its lead over Wii by more than 2 million.


Thanks to Sony's change of shipment reporting methods a couple years ago and lack of giving decent LTD numbers since, I don't have anything fancy to show for PS2 or PSP.


To cap things off, the one phrase I may have used the most in discussions such as these:

There are more Wiis available than any near-launch home console ever.


At the same age, Wii shipments are about 50% ahead of #2 PS2, and more than double #3 PS3.

MC 2008-12-01 and Famitsu 2008-11-24: Things of Note

Based on the latest Famitsu hardware numbers...
PSP comparisons: After 208 weeks, PSP is where PS2 was at 155.6 weeks (February 20, 2003), where DS was at 92.4 weeks (September 6, 2006), and where GBA was at 141.3 weeks (December 2, 2003).

X360 comparisons: After 156 weeks, X360 is where GCN was at 15.2 weeks (December 24, 2001), where PS3 was at 20.4 weeks (March 28, 2007), and where Wii was at 4.2 weeks (December 25, 2006).

PS3 comparisons: After 108 weeks, PS3 is where PS2 was at 24.5 weeks (August 16, 2000), where PSP was at 54.8 weeks (December 24, 2005), where GCN was at 111.7 weeks (October 31, 2003), and where Wii was at 26.4 weeks (May 30, 2007).

Wii comparisons: After 105 weeks, Wii is where GBA was at 91.2 weeks (December 16, 2002), where DS was at 71.6 weeks (April 13, 2006), where PS2 was at 101.7 weeks (February 8, 2002), and where PSP was at 157.1 weeks (December 9, 2007).

DSi comparisons: After 5 weeks, DSi is where GBASP was at 6.5 weeks (March 27, 2003), where GBM was at 57.2 weeks (October 16, 2006), and where DSL was at 5.0 weeks (April 2, 2006).

Based on the latest Media Create hardware numbers...
DS vs PSP: Weekly shares of 71.7 / 28.3 bring total shares to 69.0 / 31.0. If DS stopped selling and PSP continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 245.6 weeks (August 23, 2013).

X360 vs PS3: Weekly shares of 24.8 / 75.2 bring total shares to 24.0 / 76.0. If PS3 stopped selling and X360 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 171.4 weeks (March 21, 2012).

PSP vs Wii: At this week's rates, Wii catches PSP in 1,998.5 weeks (March 28, 2047). If PSP stopped selling and Wii continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 67.7 weeks (March 26, 2010).

PS3 vs Wii: Weekly shares of 34.8 / 65.2 bring total shares to 26.0 / 74.0. If Wii stopped selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 152.4 weeks (November 9, 2011).


Week over week it's good to be Nintendo and bad to be HD, but really DS is the only thing with a significant change.



Famitsu Software Stuff
Kirby Super Star Ultra Deluxe (3265) stops its week-doubling streak, but it's still more than 100K above other Kirbys at the same age. This week it has passed up Kirby Air Ride's (1209) LTD.


Animal Crossing City Folk (3281) falls behind Wild World in its second week, but not by much. This week it passes up GCN's Animal Crossing e+'s (1192) LTD.


New software groups:
Professor Layton
The third in the series, "and the Last Time Travel" (3293) has the best opening yet. This one released almost exactly a year since the previous game (2673), so any seasonal bumps or dips might be expected to behave similarly.


Rune Factory
Wii's Rune Factory Frontier (3302) is the series's weakest opening yet by far.


Now that Chrono Trigger is in its second week, let's take a look at how it's performing relative to other major ports/remakes from Square Enix on GBA and DS. In short it's doing far better than any of the Final Fantasy Advance ports, but not as well as any of the DS remakes.

November 2008 NPD Results - Wii Sells 2 Million!

Sorry for the delay on this post. Family in town and various other distractions. I wish I had been here earlier to post this amazing story, but this will have to be it for now. I'll post the totals and one small chart and the rest of the charts should be up throughout the weekend. Also, HOLY SHIT at Wii sales!

Hardware
Playstation 2 206k
Playstation 3 378k
PSP 421k
Xbox 360 836k
Wii 2.04M
DS 1.57M



GEARS OF WAR 2* (360) 1.56 million
CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR* (360) 1.41 million
WII PLAY W/ REMOTE (WII) 796K
WII FIT (WII) 697K
MARIO KART (WII) 637K
CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR (PS3) 597K
GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR* (WII) 475K
LEFT 4 DEAD (360) 410K
RESISTANCE 2* (PS3) 385K
WII MUSIC (WII) 297K

Stay right here for all the latest charts. Coming Soon: Full NPD charts and breakdown, Media Create Hardware, Consoles and Handheld charts. All will be out before the weekend is up. Enjoy!

MC 2008-11-24 and Famitsu 2008-11-17: Things of Note

Based on the latest Famitsu hardware numbers...
PSP comparisons: After 207 weeks, PSP is where PS2 was at 154.6 weeks (February 13, 2003), where DS was at 92.0 weeks (September 3, 2006), and where GBA was at 140.2 weeks (November 24, 2003).

X360 comparisons: After 155 weeks, X360 is where GCN was at 15.1 weeks (December 24, 2001), where PS3 was at 19.7 weeks (March 23, 2007), and where Wii was at 4.1 weeks (December 25, 2006).

PS3 comparisons: After 107 weeks, PS3 is where PS2 was at 23.9 weeks (August 12, 2000), where PSP was at 54.6 weeks (December 22, 2005), where GCN was at 109.3 weeks (October 14, 2003), and where Wii was at 25.9 weeks (May 26, 2007).

Wii comparisons: After 104 weeks, Wii is where GBA was at 91.0 weeks (December 15, 2002), where DS was at 71.4 weeks (April 12, 2006), where PS2 was at 101.0 weeks (February 3, 2002), and where PSP was at 156.6 weeks (December 6, 2007).

DSi comparisons: After 4 weeks, DSi is where GBASP was at 5.8 weeks (March 22, 2003), where GBM was at 23.6 weeks (February 23, 2006), and where DSL was at 4.4 weeks (March 29, 2006).

Based on the latest Media Create hardware numbers...
DS vs PSP: Weekly shares of 67.4 / 32.6 bring total shares to 69.0 / 31.0. If DS stopped selling and PSP continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 242.7 weeks (July 27, 2013).

X360 vs PS3: Weekly shares of 24.6 / 75.4 bring total shares to 24.0 / 76.0. If PS3 stopped selling and X360 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 148.1 weeks (October 3, 2011).

PS3 vs Wii: Weekly shares of 41.2 / 58.8 bring total shares to 25.9 / 74.1. If Wii stopped selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 131.3 weeks (June 7, 2011).

Week over week, there's really no constant pattern to the changes. PS3 doubling is the biggest obvious difference this week.

Famitsu Software Stuff
Kirby Super Star Ultra Deluxe (3265) continues its double-weeking streak. Its first week was bigger than any other modern Kirby's two week total. Its two week total was bigger than any other modern Kirby's four week total. Its third week total is now bigger than any other modern Kirby's six week total. It's doubtful this can be maintained; it would need to sell 290K copies next week to match Squeak Squad's weeks 7 & 8.


Animal Crossing City Folk (3281) doesn't have quite the first week number of Wild World (95), but since it had fewer days on the market in its first week it may have been more successful for that smaller time period. In the case of this image it gives its line segment a slightly steeper appearance. Also worth noting that this is the third biggest first week for a Wii game, behind Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii.

MC 2008-11-17 and Famitsu 2008-11-10: Things of Note

Based on the latest Famitsu hardware numbers...
PSP comparisons: After 206 weeks, PSP is where PS2 was at 153.3 weeks (February 4, 2003), where DS was at 91.7 weeks (September 1, 2006), and where GBA was at 137.9 weeks (November 8, 2003).

X360 comparisons: After 154 weeks, X360 is where GCN was at 15.0 weeks (December 23, 2001), where PS3 was at 19.0 weeks (March 18, 2007), and where Wii was at 4.0 weeks (December 24, 2006).

PS3 comparisons: After 106 weeks, PS3 is where PS2 was at 23.6 weeks (August 10, 2000), where PSP was at 54.4 weeks (December 21, 2005), where GCN was at 107.7 weeks (October 3, 2003), and where Wii was at 25.6 weeks (May 24, 2007).

Wii comparisons: After 103 weeks, Wii is where GBA was at 90.9 weeks (December 14, 2002), where DS was at 71.2 weeks (April 10, 2006), where PS2 was at 100.5 weeks (January 31, 2002), and where PSP was at 156.2 weeks (December 3, 2007).

DSi comparisons: After 3 weeks, DSi is where GBASP was at 4.7 weeks (March 14, 2003), where GBM was at 11.8 weeks (December 2, 2005), and where DSL was at 3.7 weeks (March 24, 2006).

Based on the latest Media Create hardware numbers...
DS vs PSP: Weekly shares of 63.7 / 36.3 bring total shares to 69.0 / 31.0. If DS stopped selling and PSP continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 217.4 weeks (January 24, 2013).

X360 vs PS3: Weekly shares of 47.0 / 53.0 bring total shares to 24.0 / 76.0. If PS3 stopped selling and X360 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 107.8 weeks (December 18, 2010).

PS3 vs Wii: Weekly shares of 33.1 / 66.9 bring total shares to 25.8 / 74.2. If Wii stopped selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 262.5 weeks (December 5, 2013).

Week over week, PS2 and PS3 are pretty flat, but everything else is ramping (or bumping) up.

Wii passes 7 million.



Famitsu Software Stuff
Last week the new Kirby (3265) did better than any other modern Kirby through two weeks. Now after two weeks it's doing better than any other modern Kirby through four weeks, and just barely misses making it five. It also passes up Canvas Curse altogether.


Through its first few weeks, Wii Music was holding on to a greater percent of its opening sales on a weekly basis than last year's Super Mario Galaxy, but that changes with week five. Though SMG launching slightly later in the year, its week five is further into the normal holiday bump.


Some new software groups:
Way of the Samurai
Way of the Samurai 3 (3272) opens with a first week just slightly below the original (1434), and well above Way of the Samurai PSP (3189) and Samurai Western (2070).


Shiren
Shiren DS 2 (3274) opens nearly 40% lower than its predecessor from last year (155), though last year's game has an advantage being a late December release. Also a slightly weaker opening than this June's new Wii Shiren (2984).


Resistance
Resistance 2 opens up with a much stronger first week than the original. I'm sure having a userbase of more than 90K this time around helps.


Mega Man Star Force
Mega Man Star Force 3 (3273) starts out just below the original (218) and the second (2665). The second ended up doing far less than the original, though, so it's hard to say where 3 will go from here.

MC 2008-11-10 and Famitsu 2008-11-03: Things of Note

Based on the latest Famitsu hardware numbers...
PSP comparisons: After 205 weeks, PSP is where PS2 was at 152.5 weeks (January 29, 2003), where DS was at 91.5 weeks (August 30, 2006), and where GBA was at 136.3 weeks (October 28, 2003).

X360 comparisons: After 153 weeks, X360 is where GCN was at 14.9 weeks (December 23, 2001), where PS3 was at 18.5 weeks (March 15, 2007), and where Wii was at 4.0 weeks (December 24, 2006).

PS3 comparisons: After 105 weeks, PS3 is where PS2 was at 23.2 weeks (August 7, 2000), where PSP was at 54.2 weeks (December 20, 2005), where GCN was at 106.0 weeks (September 21, 2003), and where Wii was at 25.2 weeks (May 22, 2007).

Wii comparisons: After 102 weeks, Wii is where GBA was at 90.7 weeks (December 13, 2002), where DS was at 71.0 weeks (April 9, 2006), where PS2 was at 100.2 weeks (January 28, 2002), and where PSP was at 155.8 weeks (December 1, 2007).

DSi comparisons: After 2 weeks, DSi is where GBASP was at 3.0 weeks (March 2, 2003), where GBM was at 4.5 weeks (October 13, 2005), and where DSL was at 3.1 weeks (March 19, 2006).

Based on the latest Media Create hardware numbers...
DS vs PSP: Weekly shares of 70.0 / 30.0 bring total shares to 69.0 / 31.0. If DS stopped selling and PSP continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 347.7 weeks (July 18, 2015).

X360 vs PS3: Weekly shares of 31.4 / 68.6 bring total shares to 23.8 / 76.2. If PS3 stopped selling and X360 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 208.7 weeks (November 16, 2012).

PS3 vs Wii: Weekly shares of 39.4 / 60.6 bring total shares to 25.8 / 74.2. If Wii stopped selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 261.3 weeks (November 19, 2013).

Week over week, there's again no overall trend. DS coming down from the DSi bump is again the most noticeable thing.

DS passes 24 million.


Should've noticed this two weeks ago, but PSP has already topped its previous best yearly total.


This is also true for X360 as of this week.


Famitsu Software Stuff
New software group: Kirby
The new Kirby has started off stronger than any within the scope of my database. Actually, its first week is bigger than any other game's two-week total. It's also worth noting the two top Kirby games here were also late October or early November releases.


Chocobo's Dungeon + (3255) on DS is doing worse than both the Wii original it's based on (2695), and DS's Chocobo Tales (148). Those two were both mid-December releases, though.

MC 2008-10-27 and Famitsu 2008-10-20: Things of Note

Based on the latest Famitsu hardware numbers...

PSP comparisons: After 203 weeks, PSP is where PS2 was at 150.9 weeks (January 18, 2003), where DS was at 91.1 weeks (August 28, 2006), and where GBA was at 132.9 weeks (October 5, 2003).

X360 comparisons: After 151 weeks, X360 is where GCN was at 14.8 weeks (December 22, 2001), where PS3 was at 17.8 weeks (March 10, 2007), and where Wii was at 3.9 weeks (December 23, 2006).

PS3 comparisons: After 103 weeks, PS3 is where PS2 was at 22.1 weeks (July 31, 2000), where PSP was at 53.7 weeks (December 16, 2005), where GCN was at 102.8 weeks (August 29, 2003), and where Wii was at 24.2 weeks (May 14, 2007).

Wii comparisons: After 100 weeks, Wii is where GBA was at 90.4 weeks (December 11, 2002), where DS was at 70.8 weeks (April 7, 2006), where PS2 was at 99.4 weeks (January 23, 2002), and where PSP was at 155.1 weeks (November 26, 2007).


So both the PS3/GCN and Wii/PS2 lines crossed again.

Based on the latest Media Create hardware numbers...

DS vs PSP: Weekly shares of 78.9 / 21.1, DS's strongest since the week before Crisis Core. This brings total shares to 69.0 / 31.0. If DS stopped selling and PSP continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 261.1 weeks (November 4, 2013).

PS3 vs Wii: Weekly shares of 63.1 / 36.9, slightly better than the share PS3 had the week of MGS4. This brings the total shares to 25.6 / 74.4. At this week's rates, PS3 catches up to Wii in 275.9 weeks (February 16, 2014). If Wii stopped selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 114.8 weeks (January 15, 2011).

X360 vs PS3: Weekly shares of 13.4 / 86.6, PS3's best share since the week of the X360 shortage. This brings total shares to 23.5 / 76.5. If PS3 stopped selling and X360 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 269.8 weeks (January 4, 2014).

Week over week, DS is way up due to DSi's arrival, PS3 is relatively way up thanks to new bundles, and everything else is a bit down.

MC 2008-10-20 and Famitsu 2008-10-13: Things of Note

Based on the most recent Famitsu hardware numbers...
PSP comparisons: After 202 weeks, PSP is where PS2 was at 149.9 weeks (January 11, 2003), where DS was at 90.7 weeks (August 25, 2006), and where GBA was at 131.1 weeks (September 21, 2003).

X360 comparisons: After 150 weeks, X360 is where GCN was at 14.8 weeks (December 21, 2001), where PS3 was at 17.5 weeks (March 7, 2007), and where Wii was at 3.9 weeks (December 23, 2006).

PS3 comparisons: After 102 weeks, PS3 is where PS2 was at 22.1 weeks (July 30, 2000), where PSP was at 53.6 weeks (December 15, 2005), where GCN was at 102.6 weeks (August 28, 2003), and where Wii was at 24.1 weeks (May 13, 2007).

Wii comparisons: After 99 weeks, Wii is where GBA was at 90.3 weeks (December 10, 2002), where DS was at 70.7 weeks (April 6, 2006), where PS2 was at 99.1 weeks (January 20, 2002), and where PSP was at 154.8 weeks (November 23, 2007).

Both the PS3-GCN and Wii-PS2 crossovers were barely avoided this week, but should definitely happen the next.

Based on the latest Media Create hardware numbers...
DS vs PSP: Weekly shares of 27.5 / 72.5 bring total shares to 69.0 / 31.0. At this week's rates PSP catches up to DS in 346.9 weeks (June 21, 2015). If DS stopped selling and PSP continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 215.1 weeks (December 11, 2012).

X360 vs PS3: Weekly shares of 66.6 / 33.4 bring total shares to 23.7 / 76.3. At this week's rates X360 catches up to PS3 in 413.4 weeks (September 28, 2016). If PS3 stopped selling and X360 continued at this week's rate it would catch up in 206.2 weeks (October 9, 2012).

PS3 vs Wii: Weekly shares of 13.9 / 86.1 bring total shares to 25.4 / 74.6. If Wii stopped selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 1,159.8 weeks (January 18, 2031).

Week over week, everything is down. DSL down in anticipation of DSi. PSP down from its PSP-3000 launch high. The others just a little down.

Famitsu Software Stuff
Two Kanji blasts from the past have reappeared on the Top 30, and their new LTDs show that they continue to have legs.

Kanji Brain 2 + Dictionary last appeared on a Top 30 in April, and last had an LTD update at the middle of this year.

Zaidan Houjin Nippon Kanji Nouryoku Kentei Kyoukai Kounin: Kanken DS2 + Jouyou Kanji Jiten last appeared on a Top 30 in December, but also had an update in the mid-2008 lists.

Pokémon Platinum continues outpacing Emerald, and is now about at the point where Emerald was after nearly two years.

Currently Platinum is the #3 release of 2008. It will soon best Mario Kart Wii and become #2, but it's then a pretty big jump to Monster Hunter Portable 2G at #1.

Note that this includes only 2008 releases. Wii Fit is in MK Wii / Platinum sales territory for 2008.