Nintendo Wii still tops the gaming charts

THE NINTENDO WII has not yet lost its unprecedented popularity as it is yet again set to top the charts for most popular gaming console at Christmas time for the third year in a row.

Despite claims that the gaming sector - although usually doing alright in poor economic times - is crashing, Nintendo Wii sales seem to be actually improving.

The apparent reasons for the immense popularity of this console are not only its unique motion detecting technology and innovative game playing experience, but also its welcome from non-gamers.

Whilst in previous years the Wii has been hard to find during the festive season as it has flown off the shelves from the month of November onwards, this year Nintendo has announced that it has increased production of the Wii by 50 percent over last year.

The NPD Group reported yesterday that Nintendo sold 2 million Wiis last month, which is shocking since not only is this a non-December sales figure but also because the Wii was released way back in November 2006.

Cammie Dunaway of Nintendo said, "The strategy of making [the Wii] fun for anyone to play video games, the innovation with the Wii remote and the broad category of titles and the sales levels, is all unprecedented."

Even though people have little money this year due to the recession, the Wii remains popular as families look for an entertaining and not too expensive activity for the whole family.

What's found to be unique about the Nintendo Wii is that not only are non-gamers enjoying the gaming experience the Wii offers, but also more girls, women and older players are getting into the Wii gaming spirit.

Marc Owens, a customer experience manager at Best Buy stores said, "Demand for the Wii system is actually the same or higher than at the same time last year. Positive word of mouth about the benefits of the system has continued to drive demand at sell-out levels for the console." µ

L'Inq
SFGate