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Worldwide Wii Sales Pass Gamecube Sales on 2/10/08

vgchartz.com — Wii sell through (consoles in homes) has passed Gamecube sell through on February 10, 2008 reversing a trend of declining Nintendo console sales since the NES.

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NJGuy2 292 days ago, made popular 291 days ago

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MattEaston, on 02/15/2008, -5/+19Amazing sales for Nintendo, imagine if they can pass Gamecube, N64, PSP, Genesis and SNES LTD sales all in 2008!
- KingGoonie, on 02/15/2008, -4/+12Almost definite will pass the N64 and Genesis, both of which I believe sold about 29 million overall... PSP definitely as well as it sold no more then 25 million so far I think...
  
  But SNES? 2008? I doubt it. SNES sold rougly 49 million units... so for it to beat SNES LTD by the end of this year it has to sell like 28 more million systems in 10 and a half months. I don't know if even the most successful console can do that.
  - felman87, on 02/15/2008, -5/+2PSP at 31 mil, could pass depending on how many wiis and PSPs are sold this year.
- harryhill, on 02/15/2008, -0/+7N64 did 33 million, says in that article.
  - KingGoonie, on 02/15/2008, -2/+2Does it? I was at work and couldn't read the article so had to use wikipedia numbers since most gaming sites are banned at work. I figured the numbers would be off, but not by more then a million or at most two.
- dinostabOMG, on 02/15/2008, -0/+6Fine, but when will I be able to walk into a gamestop and just pick one up?
  - Xenufield, on 02/16/2008, -0/+12011.
    
    You have to wonder if Nintendo has decided to not try to expand production. In keeping it slow, the demand for Wii console is going to be around for years. People who would just go pick one up will start waiting, and pouncing as they come out.
SDavees, on 02/15/2008, -8/+26Xbox is next!
inspiredbyu, on 02/15/2008, -11/+20Of course Wii passes the GC so quickly. Duct tape increased its air velocity /sarcasm
HarryEast, on 02/15/2008, -4/+29Amazing, Wii sales just continue to impress. Well done Nintendo...
- paradigm1220, on 02/15/2008, -2/+10You ain't seen nothin' yet! Wait til Brawl hits the shelves.
  - BlueSkyfish, on 02/15/2008, -0/+2Sales will stay the same. It's already sold out, it's kind of impossible to sell at a faster rate.
    - Mrstupid7, on 02/16/2008, -0/+1Touche.
BenjaminWill, on 02/15/2008, -6/+10Go Wii! Well done Nintendo!
KnockoutNerd, on 02/15/2008, -3/+55I played my gamecube a hell of a lot more then I play my wii. The gamecube was a great system with great games and should have sold more then 21 million.
- iofthestorm, on 02/15/2008, -2/+4Yeah, even right now I play mostly Gamecube games on my Wii, but that's mainly because I have a bunch I need to finish and I'm not buying any wii games until Brawl comes out. Melee still rocks three weeks and three days before Brawl releases.
- dbsmoker, on 02/15/2008, -7/+2Name some games. I mean, I loved Zelda Windwaker, and Metroid Prime was cool, but what else? If you were used to Xbox graphics, and had the luxury of owning both systems, the GameCube was just weak. Why do you think Nintendo scrapped the idea of having the Wii remote as an accessory for the GameCube? Because nobody really liked the GameCube. It was nowhere near the quality of the Nintendo64 relatively speaking.
  - fognozzle, on 02/15/2008, -1/+9What are you talking about? Maybe the XBox had a slight edge on the GC, but it wasn't by much. Rogue Squadron was a launch game that looked better than most XBox games. Resident Evil 4 and Metroid Prime looked fantastic on the console as well.
  - BlueSkyfish, on 02/15/2008, -1/+4Graphically, there wasn't much difference between Xbox and Gamecube. Xbox had more texture memory, Gamecube has more processing power. They were both miles ahead of the PS2 anyway. If you look at sales, Xbox only beat Gamecube by about 2 million.
    
    And in case you're thinking about picking up some games, my all time favorites are:
    Super Smash Bros Melee
    Resident Evil 4
    Tales of Symphonia
    Baten Kaitos
    F-Zero GX
    Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
    Battalion Wars
    Ikaruga
    Soul Calibur 2
    Pikmin (one and two)
    Animal Crossing
    Viewtiful Joe
    Eternal Darkness
    Beyond Good and Evil
    
    Some of these are cross platform, but I included them because they're best on the Gamecube.
    - BabyWookie, on 02/15/2008, -2/+2The XBox had one big advantage that you failed to mention: a GPU with easily programmable shaders. Show me one GameCube game with decent shader effects, please. Show me how games such as Doom 3, Chronicles of Riddick or HL2 could have been pulled off on the GameCube?
    - Xenufield, on 02/16/2008, -0/+1Sorry but Baten Kaitos Origins is horrible. I bought it and the battle system is so inexcusably bad and random.
      
      Double Dash was also good, as are the megaman and zelda collections. they aren't really new games but it's damn nice to have over a dozen classic games in those 2 cases.
    - ufee, on 02/17/2008, -0/+1Dugg for Ikaruga, one of my favorite shmups.
    - dbsmoker, on 04/30/2008, -0/+1Beyond Good and Evil is the only one on that list besides RE 4 which looked interesting, and it was available for the Xbox. RE 4 had REALLY AWKWARD CONTROLS. I hated try to play that game on GameCube. On the Wii it was much more enjoyable although the graphics weren't any better which sucked since it was on their 'next-gen' system. I have very little forgiveness for Nintendo right now.
- zeebo, on 02/15/2008, -0/+3One reason the Wii is selling so well is that gamers who didn't have a Gamecube are picking it up in part because of the backwards compatibility. The Wii is selling more systems though because of one thing that the Wii has that the Gamecube didn't, mainstream appeal.
  - grumbel, on 02/15/2008, -1/+1I doubt it, if those people would have wanted a Gamecube they would have bought it when it was $99.
    - zeebo, on 02/15/2008, -0/+2Its not so much that they want a gamecube, but more as 'oh hey, if I buy a Wii I can play this new game, and a couple of these older games that I never played!'. It helps justify the purchase.
    - Xenufield, on 02/16/2008, -0/+1You'd think Sony would've kept it in the PS3 so that they'd actually be selling and not collecting dust.
requiem3, on 02/15/2008, -5/+24Imagine how much higher the sales would be if normal people could actually find a Wii in stock...
- harryhill, on 02/15/2008, -0/+230 million?
- mywhitenoise, on 02/15/2008, -11/+2If there were plenty in stock, that would kill the impulse buy. My girlfriend works (well more like used to) at a Gamestop. Tons of people go in asking for it, and when they do have it they don't purchase it because they either don't have the money on them, or they'll come back for it.
  - bigdsinferno, on 02/15/2008, -1/+10Obviously, someone ends up buying them, as they are still scarce.
  - skywake, on 02/15/2008, -1/+18Having items in stock constantly would kill the impulse buy.... yeah, that clearly makes sense because obviously few people have time to think about their purchase because thinking about buying an item like the Wii only occurs when the thing is in stock. If people walked in saying "hmm, what's this Wii thing?" and walked out with a Wii THEN it would be an impulse buy. If people are waiting and asking store staff if they have any in stock it is not an impulse buy.
- ttait, on 02/15/2008, -4/+1really weird hearing about wiis running out of stock eh. here in NZ there are heaps of them in the shops
  - Cwo655321, on 02/15/2008, -1/+5every country is guaranteed 4 consoles.
Nidis, on 02/15/2008, -8/+1Haha oh wow, it already hadn't...?
Lutremi, on 02/15/2008, -13/+39Yeah, well the PS3 is on pace to shatter the 3DO's sales.
- Topher06, on 02/15/2008, -9/+13Actually, for all you PS3 naysers:
  http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/02/14/npd-ps3-nearly ...
  PS3 sold just 5000 less then Wii and outsold Xbox360 last month. Don't count PS3 out of the race just yet. And they sold 10 milion units already which is on par with Xbox360 sales in its first year.
  - felman87, on 02/15/2008, -1/+10they sold 10 mil faster than the 360.
  - schoate09, on 02/15/2008, -3/+6And that's just in America, where it does the poorest. It's outpacing the 360 by a substantial margin worldwide.
  - paradigm1220, on 02/15/2008, -0/+4It was also January.
  - mike17032, on 02/15/2008, -4/+5Console sales are less important for the PS3 than game sales. People buying it as a cheap BR player and never putting a game in it does not help Sony win the gaming industry.
    
    The Wii has a similar issue in that a lot of the people buying them never take Wii Sports out, so they are buying fewer games too.
    
    The 360 is dominating in game sales, and thats what developers look at and use to decide where their money is going to be spent.
    - BabyWookie, on 02/15/2008, -0/+2True. Even though the PS3 managed to slightly outsell the 360 in hardware units, there was only one PS3 game on the top 10 sales charts last month.
    - Xenufield, on 02/16/2008, -0/+1Wii's issue is a lack of solid games. There's only about a dozen games worth getting, and most american gamers are not going to play a game like Fire Emblem. It's a damn good series, but having fights of 70+ units takes forever, and with perm death, you can ***** and lose several hours of work. Not fun.
      
      However the Best Buy near my house has a decent bit of space in th Wii games section, but there are dozens of generic, stupid titles made by people just trying to have novelty games. Stuff like Metroid Prime 3 are the standard for how awesome a Wii game can be without being a gimmick.
  - theblackgecko, on 02/16/2008, -0/+2The PS2 version of Guitar Hero III has been outselling the 360 version.
- felman87, on 02/15/2008, -2/+4already has
- trdrstv, on 02/15/2008, -2/+2And if the PS3 outsells the 360 by 200,000 units every month, they will catch up with the 360 install base by 2012.
  
  This will get dugg down to hell, but the numbers are correct.
  - Xenufield, on 02/16/2008, -3/+2And by 2017 the PS3 gamer base will catch up.
    
    Hell my Dad's looking at buying a PS3 because it's an extremely good blu-ray player. It's about $100 more than a stand alone player, and it comes with the benefit of being able to decide 'hey that looks neat' and buying a game. I knew alot of people who bought PS2s for DVD players as well.
Topher06, on 02/15/2008, -27/+7When it comes to Wii sales, I just don't get it. I was duped into buying a Wii, and that is how Nintendo is winning this console war, duping people into thinking the Wii is more then what it is, which is just a gimmick. Bundling Wii Sports with the Wii was a best thing Nintendo did for the console and for the most part people just bought a $289 tennis and bowling simulator. For all the other games that have been released on the Wii, Wii Sports is the only one that can claim it was made for people of all ages while most other games released on the Wii are still quite juvenille and uninspired. There is very little innovation on the Wii platform in spite of its "revolutionary" montion control. Even Nintendo's own games kind of just slap motion control on top of conventional gameplay. The Wiimote is basically a mouse pointer simulating what's been going on in PC gaming for a long while (i.e. point and click gameplay ).
The thing is, asside from the motion control gimmick, Nintendo is basically repeating the failure of the Gamecube, just on an epic scale. The Gamecube suffered from a lack of good quality titles, the only titles being good are those from Nintendo. 3rd party developers abandoned doing any real innovative design on the Gamecube because they couldn't generate any sales on the platform because people were playing PS2 and Xbox games (where the real innovation was). The same thing is happening on the Wii. Good Nintendo titles, bad 3rd party developer titles, people playing their PS3 or Xbox360 more then the Wii. I think Nintendo is setting themselves up for an epic fail!
- doshindude, on 02/15/2008, -3/+16Your rant is an epic fail.
  buy Brawl. buy Zelda. buy Elebits. buy GH3. buy Zack&Wiki, buy SPM, buy MP3, buy Galaxy.
  You obviously have no games for your Wil. Sure, anyone can criticize it if you're just staying on the home screen all the time.
  - Cwo655321, on 02/15/2008, -9/+4sorry, Zelda really sucked. I think the intended audience is children, I gave it to my nephew (8yo) and he loves it.
    - Sutarion, on 02/15/2008, -2/+8Sounds as though your nephew just has taste. I don't think his age is relevant in that regard.
      - Cwo655321, on 02/25/2008, -0/+1apparently the kids are awake.
        
        You know you have to be 13 to use digg right?
    - smackafiyah, on 02/15/2008, -0/+5It's actually rated T, hardly a childrens game
      - Cwo655321, on 02/25/2008, -0/+1i guess if you are an evangelical then its hardly a children's game. Otherwise, ge real there is nothing in that game to warrant a Teen rating.
- thebellmaster1x, on 02/15/2008, -2/+15Protip: BUY SOME GAMES FOR IT.
- mike17032, on 02/15/2008, -3/+2I dont agree with his rant style, but I do sorta feel the same way.
  
  I own Zelda and Metriod and Galaxy, and while they are kinda fun to play I find myself longing for a controller. It just feels a lot more accurate to me. For the most part my Wii is sitting there collecting dust.
AsSubtleAsABrik, on 02/15/2008, -1/+2I think the author figured out every way possible to say what was simply written in the summary.
Adam420, on 02/15/2008, -1/+25cant wait till mario kart wii comes out...
- MikeWanDo, on 02/15/2008, -1/+11Can't wait till brawl comes out in the states.
benitojuarez, on 02/15/2008, -1/+3please someone tell me how i can get a wii without paying out the ass prices on ebay or buying a goddamn bundle with 8 games i wont play.
- salinemist, on 02/15/2008, -2/+12Uh, get off your ass?
  - benitojuarez, on 02/15/2008, -4/+1I work full time *****
    - iofthestorm, on 02/15/2008, -0/+2Just call your local stores to find out when they get them, and eventually someone will cave and tell you and then it's just a matter of going there in the morning when they open or something like that. That's how I got one last May.
      - benitojuarez, on 02/15/2008, -1/+1Thats exactly what ive been doing for the last 3 weeks, it hasnt worked out so far.
    - salinemist, on 02/16/2008, -0/+1http://wiialerts.com
      
      See how nice I am? You even called me an *****, karma +1 bitch!
- braineater2448, on 02/15/2008, -0/+7Most every sunday, the stores get shipments. Call around. They will tell you. Arrive early and Bam. Got yourself a Wii.
  - Mrstupid7, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1The K-Mart up here in Boone, NC got their shipments on Wednesday, so Sunday isn't necessarily true.
- wcstryfe10, on 02/15/2008, -1/+3wiitracker.com
  - benitojuarez, on 02/15/2008, -2/+1Thank you.
- 1807, on 02/15/2008, -0/+3I got mine off of a desperate Craigslister for $190 who needed money fast and sold me a wii, 3 nunchucks, 2 wiimotes and one copy of Wii Sports. I wasn't even really interested in getting a Wiii, but I saw the pirce and decided I'd be a dumbass to pass it up. I called him 45 min after he put up the ad, but he said he got like 4 calls within the first night. I would suggest Craigslist. by the way, who KNOWS how many Wii's have been sold if you factor in secondary sales. I'd bet it's a lot more than they've calculated so far.
  - iofthestorm, on 02/15/2008, -0/+4Well, if you factor in secondary sales that would be counting Wiis multiple times, so that doesn't make any sense.
- mRIpX, on 02/15/2008, -1/+2don't buy it off of ebay like a moron
- smackafiyah, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1With wiialert through my phone, I got mine from Amazon, paid 249.99 for it, no tax and no shipping. They usually have them a stock every couple of weeks, but when it goes off be sure to get one quick, they usually sell out about 5-10 minutes after being in stock
- grumbel, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1Move to germany, go to amazon.de and just order one, arrives on the next day.
MasterPlayer, on 02/15/2008, -1/+4We all know the Wii is selling well, I just wonder if this will last and beat the PS1 and PS2. The Wii probably has the best first party titles out of all of the consoles, but their 3rd party support is the worst, and the only way it will be truly successful is if it has quality 3rd party games to back it up.
- theragu40, on 02/15/2008, -0/+6I agree to an extent...but at least as far as third party exclusives go, they seem to be kind of a dying breed. When most huge third party blockbusters are cross-platform anyway, the quality of first party (and thus exclusive) titles could get more and more important.
- Xenufield, on 02/16/2008, -0/+1It's hard to say if it'll beat the PS2, that system was out for an extremely long time, and without real competition for awhile. Dreamcast, N64 and Gamecube weren't the same style of system, and the xbox took time to sink into the market. The PS2 is still selling at solid rate ad people are making games for it still. Until they stop, which is going to be a long time due to the amount of PS2s out there, it'll be nearly impossible for other systems to catch it.
AmazingAndrex, on 02/15/2008, -1/+10Animal Crossing, please come out this year.
fyreboltx, on 02/15/2008, -3/+8I wish Wiis would stop selling so damn much... come on people, buy the 360 and PS3!

Maybe then, I'll actually be able to see a Wii in a store for once.
braineater2448, on 02/15/2008, -4/+3The Wii will beat Xbox, NES, SNES and N64 all this year.
- iofthestorm, on 02/15/2008, -1/+5XBox and N64 probably, NES maybe, but SNES? Do you realize that SNES is like THE greatest system of all time? Unless Nintendo can double its manufacturing capacity it's not going to get within throwing distance of the SNES.
  
  Edit: The article says NES had more sales than SNES, but I find that hard to believe. Even so, I don't think Wii will catch up to SNES.
  - zeebo, on 02/15/2008, -0/+2It would be a long way to go. I expect Nintendo to increase production for the brawl release, or at least in april when the new fiscal year starts. But I don't think they'll top 2.5 million a month, and that would still leave them just short of the SNES by the end of the year.
  - ufee, on 02/17/2008, -0/+1"Even so, I don't think Wii will catch up to SNES."
    
    DS already has. Also, just because it's the best system ever doesn't mean it has the most sales. The PS2 sold triple what the SNES did.
- trdrstv, on 02/15/2008, -0/+0"The Wii will beat Xbox, NES, SNES and N64 all this year."
  
  Um... no. In a specific region (Like Australia) maybe, but worldwide? X-box (25 million)? Definately. N64 (32 Million) Probably before Q4, SNES (49 million) Not this year, and NES (more than 60 million units) maybe in 2010.
  
  The only consoles to outsell the original NES were the PS1 & PS2.
- BlueSkyfish, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1No it didn't. Unless you're counting 2007 only sales, but that's just retarded.
Trindle, on 02/15/2008, -1/+18I really enjoyed my cube. It definitely had its time and place. In terms of quality games I think that it had more than the xbox. It's kinda sad that it never got the support it deserved. I'm glad Nintendo is cleaning up this round, they are one of the few companies left that actually seems consumer oriented.
TehProphet, on 02/15/2008, -0/+12I remember iwata mentioning if the wii can't sell more than the gamecube then it is a failure. Guess that's not going to happen :) great to see Nintendo so strong again, and brawl is less than a month away :D
XBSHX, on 02/15/2008, -2/+9Did the SNES really sell less than the NES?
- iofthestorm, on 02/15/2008, -3/+1Yeah, I find that extremely hard to believe but I don't think those numbers are as iffy as the numbers for current consoles.
- zeebo, on 02/15/2008, -0/+9The NES had no serious competition, it basically was the console industry in the 80s. The SNES faced strong competition from the genesis, from Nintendo's own Gameboy and the top-loader NES (which it was still in production), and later from the early CD based systems and high-end systemd like the NEO GEO.
  - smergs, on 02/15/2008, -0/+4"The NES had no serious competition, it basically was the console industry in the 80s."
    I remember the days when playing video games was "Playing Nintendo." Even if you were going to play a game on a sega genesis a lot of people would call that Nintendo. I'm sure it had something to do with people not knowing anything about the young video game business at the time, but it did stick around for a while. I loved my older brothers NES and my SNES. I wish I had never sold my SNES. I still have the NES though.
- fognozzle, on 02/15/2008, -0/+2+! to what Zeebo said. The NES went largely uncontested, while the SNES was neck and neck with the Genesis. I don't think it had larger market share than Genesis until almost the end of the generation.
  - BabyWookie, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1In Japan, it also had fairly decent competition from the PC-Engine.
- trdrstv, on 02/15/2008, -0/+0Yes, Actually every Nintendo console sold fewer systems with every successive generation until the Wii.
  
  Sales = NES > SNES > N64 > Gamecube < Wii
stealthcow, on 02/15/2008, -4/+1I'd buy a Wii but everywhere I look they're out of stock.... Sort it out Nintendo
- calibration, on 02/15/2008, -0/+2You have to go to the store when they get shipments.
  - BlueSkyfish, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1Stop telling everyone my super-secret strategy!
bthug7, on 02/15/2008, -1/+5I've had an 360 from launch and love it. But... I just got a Wii and can understand why the sales numbers are so high. There is just something about it that is almost nostalgic, I never did gamecube but had an NES, SNES, and N64. Those were the good old days and Wii brought me back. The system just spreads happiness that is unlike anything I can receive from my Xbox360.
I wonder how big of a factor nintendo's underproduction is on the sales? It seems they're scheme is working.
- opnickc, on 02/16/2008, -0/+1Since you never had a gamecube I'd recommend picking up a GCN controller and memory card for your wii. Lots of really quality games out there for cheap.
macdaddydwj, on 02/15/2008, -2/+5If they just put GoldenEye on the the VC, I'd be happy.
- mike17032, on 02/15/2008, -0/+2Wont happen, as Rare is owned by MS now.
  
  Much bigger chance of seeing it on the XBL Arcade, but that deal fell through it seems. I would rather see it on XBL anyway, since I want online multiplayer.
  - zeebo, on 02/16/2008, -0/+1And that is the reason that it won't show up on XBL Arcade. Microsoft wants an enhanced version of the game for their service, but they were only willing to give Nintendo the original version of the game for the Wii. It sucks, but its understandable why Nintendo won't let that happen.
hiro, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1It's gonna take 'til October?
NonLeftistDiggr, on 02/15/2008, -9/+6In 5 to 10 years when a majority of the world is used to HD and millions more have 50"+ TV's, Nintendo is going to have some massive catching up to do. Graphics don't matter to a point. I just don't get it. The best games on 360 and PS3 are absolutely phenomenaly epic and there's at least a dozen titles of top echelon quality so far. I guess I've started to fall more in the hardcore gamer crowd, because I wouldn't plug a wii into my TV if someone gave me a wii.... I would sell it on craigslist.
- ButchersBoy, on 02/15/2008, -1/+10The grapgics on SMG are awesome. Now I have a 360, and HDTV, so I am in position to make the comparison. Admittedly most Wii games look a but ropey, but with a bit of artistic effort it can produce some nice goods. Save CoD4 for my 360, and lets get the original artistic styles flowing on the Wii.
- zeebo, on 02/15/2008, -0/+8In five years Nintendo's next console will be out. In ten years they'll have had yet another generation of systems on the market. The Wii's hardware isn't so weak that it couldn't push high-definition resolutions, but they made a design decision that they'd rather have 850x480@60, than 1280x720@30.
- fognozzle, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1Once again, I agree with Zeebo. In 5-10 years, we'll be 1-2 generations away from where we are now. WiiHD? Wii2? Dunno...
- NonLeftistDiggr, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1yeah, in 5-10 years, Nintendo will be 1 to 2 Nintendo generations removed from now, matching a 360 or PS3
- Xenufield, on 02/16/2008, -1/+1Graphics don't matter to a point?
  
  Graphics don't matter period. If someone produced a CT/FF6-grade game for the PS3 with 100+ hours of gameplay it would be a godsend, despite the 1/10 graphics ratings it would get from lots of pin-headed gamers who *need* graphics to make the game for them.
ButchersBoy, on 02/15/2008, -1/+2I have a Wii, I have a 360, my life is good. Now I must confess the PS3 is slowly becoming more appealing...
- calibration, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1Same, that blu-ray is mighty appealing.
- KingGorilla, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1I want it allll!!!
MrsButtersworth, on 02/15/2008, -2/+3Is this suggesting that people didnt buy as many Super Nintendo's or N64's as the original 8-bit? If so, thats their own ***** problem, and I feel no pity for them. Flat out, Nintendo is King.
hatchetbearer, on 02/15/2008, -0/+2wii would have hit this mark last year if supply kept up with demand, i worked at a walmart at wii's launch, and we go orders just for associates(managers loved us) and i still couldnt get one 60 year old grandma's wanted them....
dbsmoker, on 02/15/2008, -6/+2I can't believe the GameCube sold over 21 million units! That right there is amazing. I personally felt that the GameCube was a horrible console. Sure, I enjoyed Metroid Prime and Zelda Windwaker, but that was it. The Wii is different to me. I mean, I'm glad I have one, but I don't even think of it as a video game system. I usually only bust it out when friends are over, and that's only to play Wii Sports. I sure would like to play a Mario or Zelda game with Xbox 360 graphics and sound.
jakenofake, on 02/15/2008, -9/+3gamecube sux ass, thats why
dbsmoker, on 02/15/2008, -8/+4Nintendo had the best hardware back in the day, what happened? Don't tell me they don't make enough as a company to be able to manufacture systems with hardware at least comparable to their competitors. Money shouldn't be an issue I mean, c'mon! Pokémon, they must've been swimming in the cash from that franchise alone. I love Nintendo, but being a hardcore gamer, I want next gen HARDWARE. Not just gimmicky controls. I didn't think they were gimmicky until I played Zelda and Metroid for Wii. I stopped playing both games because the control schemes frustrate me and the graphics can't compete with games like Bioshock on the 360. Here's looking forward to next generation (oh, and Nintendo says that the Wii will be the main stay for the next 5 years).
- zeebo, on 02/15/2008, -1/+10Nintendo had the money to produce a more powerful console. They made a business decision not to. Had they gone with 'next-gen' hardware they would have been releasing a $450 system with little to differentiate itself from the competition except power, and since the 360 and PS3 were both loss leaders at launch, beating them in hardware specs would have been impossible for a competitively priced system. There was a faction inside Nintendo who were opposed to releasing a new console at all faced with that situation. So they reached a compromise, the Wii's small form factor, and continued use of the gamecube platform were intended to lower r&d costs to make the console as inexpensive for the company as possible, while simultaneously continuing to develop what they intend to be their next-generation handheld platform. If the Wii succeeded good, if it failed they wouldn't have bet the company on it the way Sega did with the Dreamcast.
  - grumbel, on 02/15/2008, -1/+2They could have easily released a next-gen system for $250 or $300, the only problem is that their profits would have been much smaller that way. $250 for Wii hardware is simply to much considering that the Gamecube was only $200 back in 2001.
    - zeebo, on 02/16/2008, -0/+2The Wii was a bit more expensive to produce at launch. Certainly they could do what you say now, but not a year ago. The Wii's hardware being totally custom, and not (as some assert) simply a die shrink of the Gamecubes hardware, was fairly expensive to begin production, and since Nintendo haven't shrunk the die further since launch like Sony and Microsoft have done, the price has remained fairly static. With the rumors that Sony is moving to a 45nm cell, its likely that Nintendo will switch the Wii to 65nm sometime soon, and that would be the first substantial drop in the cost of production to Nintendo.
      
      Nintendo are making a profit on the Wii, at launch that profit wasn't nearly as large as you seem to think, the Wii does have some fairly costly parts in it. It probably still isn't as large as you think. They could probably afford to drop the price to $199 now, but there is no market pressure for them to do so.
- beepsy, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1Ok I might be able to understand when you said zelda's controls were a bit gimmicky, as by all means they weren't great but this was basically a port of a gamecube game after all. However saying that metroids controls were gimmicky shows a level of bias in your post bordering on fanboyism.
  - grumbel, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1Depends, the aiming in Metroid Prime 3 was ok, the whole lever pushing however was horrid, I like what they where trying to do, but it just didn't work.
BaconXBits, on 02/15/2008, -1/+6If Nintendo could meet production demand, Wii sales would skyrocket.

...More so.
- AzraelKans, on 02/15/2008, -3/+1Or.. people would realize is actually over priced and would stop buying it. You can get a PS2 for $100 and it has literally hundreds of games with equal or better quality. Or a gamecube for $50 and it has the same games we are playing now (except mario galaxy)
  - Xenufield, on 02/16/2008, -0/+3The Wii has more graphic capabilities than the PS2, and not everyone is an idiot that needs shiny graphics to enjoy games.
    
    And I say this, having just finished playing Xenogears.
solid12345, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1I think this sends a good message to companies who do not think long-term. Nintendo doesn't just look at tomorrow's sales, they look 5-10 years from now.

However I can say personally that while the Wii is cool, I just can't get the hang of it. I try to play my friend's racing game at his house and I can't get the hang of keeping my car in a straight line with the damn remote.
AzraelKans, on 02/15/2008, -3/+3Er.. is this news to anyone? yeah most people already have the wii, there's only 2 games for it (3 next month) and the large majority only buy it for 1 anyway. Is it a surprise it outsold the gamecube? so what? it also outsold the saturn, the dreamcast, the atari, the ps3, the xbox 360, and mother Teresa home made chocolate brownies, who cares? is still sitting there collecting dust every time I get tired of the game of the semester.

Wake me up when it surpasses the DS. (oh yeah, right, that's not going to happen) or better yet when someone other than Nintendo releases a good game. (BTW does no more heroes just SUCK? or is just not good enough as ... pretty much any action game in the PS2? after seeing that I got back to finishing god of war 2 and devil may cry 3 instead)

p.s. Itagaki Drop whatever you are doing (an intern probably) and make Ninja Gaiden Dragon Swords for Wii.. now.
- Xenufield, on 02/16/2008, -0/+1IT's nearly impossible to surpass nintendo handheld sales. Until the PSP came out, nintendo held a monopoly on that market. The Lynx was a failure, the gamegear had flaws, and even now, the PSP really isn't qwuite the same as the DS.
BabyWookie, on 02/15/2008, -2/+2I still don't get why this thing continues to sell so much. I have owned one almost since launch and haven't touched it in almost half a year now. The novelty wore off rather quick and I proceeded to put my time into true next-gen games on my 360 and later the PS3. Then again, I never got what the big hype was about 1st party Nintendo games. I kept trying to get into Zelda, but got bored after about 10 hours into it each time. Never could finish Metroid Prime either. I couldn't be less excited for a fighting game with Nintendo characters. Bleh.
- Xenufield, on 02/16/2008, -0/+1Get the Tales of Symphonia sequel when it comes out. There would have to be alot of effort exerted to not have that game kick huge amounts of ass. Symphonia and Abyss were both incredible RPGs.
  
  Legendia sucked balls, but I think that might be the first Tales game I ever played that I didn't like.
- opnickc, on 02/16/2008, -0/+1" I kept trying to get into Zelda, but got bored after about 10 hours into it each time. "
  You stopped at 10 hours? You realize that's where it actually got good, right?
  The first 6-8 hours of that game sucked. At about 10 the game was good and at about 20 the game was fantastic. You should seriously pick it up and try it again.
Owwmykneecap, on 02/16/2008, -1/+0So basically Nintendo sold 44 million gamecubes and 20-30 million motion sensing controllers
13tongimp, on 02/16/2008, -1/+1Enjoy your PS2 ports and mini-game collections!
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Worldwide Wii Sales Pass Gamecube Sales on 2/10/08

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