Nintendo Sold a Bunch of Hardware Last Week

Hey, a console launched last week! I know, right? A real, honest-to-god new console, something we haven't had since 2006. In console years, that was like a hundred years ago. Undoubtedly, you are all dying to know how well this new console, otherwise known as Nintendo'sWii U, did at retail its opening week. The answer is...

400,000! At least, that's the number Nintendo is touting in its hardware sales round-up for the last week. According to a statement released to CNET, that number has left the Wii U "essentially sold out of retail." That would seem to jive with personal accounts from various Internet users, who have often reported seeing one or two consoles at most available at stores.

That 400,000 number is down from the 600,000 sold by the original Wii in its launch week. As many may remember, the Wii was almost completely sold out of retail for long periods following its launch, and continued to sell out shipments for weeks afterward. Incidentally, Nintendo reports that it sold 300,000 original Wii units last week.

Between Wiis and handheld systems, Nintendo pulled out a total of 1.2 million hardware units sold last week, which is certainly a tidy number. While the Wii U's near sellout is a positive sign for the hardware maker, it'll be interesting to see how the console does as it becomes more readily available in stores. Would also be curious to see how software attach rates are sussing out.

For purely anecdotal research, a question: Did you grab a Wii U this past week? And if so, what games did you grab with it?

Dreamcast sold 374k in the first week in the US......

Also, not getting a Wii U. Have a 360 and a wii I dont use..

Nintendo reports that it sold 300,000 original Wii units last week.

That is shocking

I'm more curious about the 360, PS3, and Vita Black Friday weekend sales numbers. Also not sure I should be impressed by this considering I walked into my local Best Buy and they had a couple Basic WiiU models left.

All Hail Triforce

@GreatDane said:

Dreamcast sold 374k in the first week in the US......

And the Dreamcast died, your point is?

@blacklab said:

Nintendo reports that it sold 300,000 original Wii units last week.

That is shocking

I really want to know how many of those people were just confused and bought the wrong one.

@blacklab said:

Nintendo reports that it sold 300,000 original Wii units last week.

That is shocking

Except for the very real market confusion where people probably thought they were getting awesome black friday deals on the new Wii. I seem to remember Ryan retweeting something that one of the mods overheard about this very incident occurring

@GreatDane: I remember seeing that in magazines, and it was considered great.

I worked the retail end for the midnight launch of the WiiU. I could describe the event as "underwhelming". Granted, we're not the biggest retailer in town, but we're the only store that sells electronics in the immediate neighborhood. We had 6 people in line since 7PM. By the time we reopened to let them in, we had about 10. A few came afterwards, rounding the number to about 12.

We sold out of the Black Deluxe, as expected. But we still had a LOT of the White Standards; about 8 to 10 units. Granted, most knowledgeable people interested in the WiiU would probably go for the Black, but it still strikes me that the demand wasn't a little bit more rabid for the new hardware.

I suppose that says a lot, doesn't it?

@Colourful_Hippie said:

@GreatDane said:

Dreamcast sold 374k in the first week in the US......

And the Dreamcast died, your point is?

That the Dreamcast died, I suppose.

Sold out at retail? All the Walmarts around me still had Deluxe models in stock Friday night.

I have one, and I'm loving it so far. I also got a copy of New Super Mario Bros U at Old Navy's Black Friday deal...hellish experience, but the game was worth it.

I wonder if everyone in the GB crew bought one (except Brad)?

maybe people were looking for deluxe Wii U's but ended up just buying Black Wii Originals.... which would be funny.

Glad to see it's doing as well as it is.

No surprise it's not doing as well as the original Wii, but it would be hard-pressed to manage those kind of sales with the price it's toting.

Also:

@GreatDane said:

Dreamcast sold 374k in the first week in the US......

Also, not getting a Wii U. Have a 360 and a wii I dont use..

after some quick googling it looks like the 360 sold even less at lauch

Deluxe bundle and Mario.

I got one at target on day 1, I picked up the deluxe edition with NSMBU, and Zombi U. I'm enjoying it so far, and I like it because it feels like a different kind of experience, instead of my 360/PS3 that just feel like watered down versions of my PC with a few exclusives.

I don't want to buy a WiiU, but if an amazing Zelda game comes out for it I might not be able to stop myself.

DS outsold 3DS, a bit surprised by those numbers

But I thought Nintendo was dead you guys. In all seriousness I'm more interested in the game sales for the Wii U.

I wonder if that could have been the plan all along. To advertise the Wii U so poorly that more original Wii's get sold in addition to the U's.

But no, they probably just screwed up.

Isaiah Triforce Johnson gets his.

I got a Wii-U basic with Nintendoland and Mario U last week without pre-ordering. There were 3 others left, and they had sold out of the deluxe.

Yes. The Deluxe bundle with Nintendo Land. I also bought NSMBU, Ninja Gaiden 3, Warriors Orochi 3, Tekken Tag 2, and ZombiU.

Picked up a Deluxe Wii U with ZombiU & "New" Super Mario Bros U. I also picked up a Pro controller... which I currently have no idea what to do with it.

Yes, my parents bought one for my kids this week; it was the deluxe model, and they are also getting Scribblenauts.

I don't know about "sold out" either; my parents reported plenty at W*Mart and Toys'R'Us. I had been checking on-line earlier and found a couple Target stores that had them in-stock as well.

@Phatmac said:

But I thought Nintendo was dead you guys. In all seriousness I'm more interested in the game sales for the Wii U.

I'm only curious about the ports. I assume that the original stuff sold well simply because people buy the games will the new system. I'm curious as to who wanted a seemingly worse version of Batman:AC, or COD without an online community

@smitty86 said:

All Hail Triforce

I had the exact same thought. Nice to see the Powerglove is still getting some use.

Despite being a fan of Nintendo I didn't feel the need to pick up a Wii U. I'll probably pick one up eventually but for now there aren't any games I want for it.

@Thoseposers: But, the 360s were sold out. The Wii U is not sold out. I walked in to a store on launch day at just walked out with one. Sure, it was a basic. But, I got one.

@blacklab said:

Nintendo reports that it sold 300,000 original Wii units last week.

That is shocking

There will 300,000 disappointed children this xmas? (First world problems)

Bought an 8GB one from Target as a failsafe for a XMas gift, then managed to snag a 32GB one on Unnamed Douchebag Corporate Empire's site, so I'll probably end up returning the 8GB model at some point between ow and Xmas.

I wonder if that guy in the picture brought the power glove or if Reggie told him to put it on for the photo.

I picked up New Super Mario Bros U (Mistake), Scribblenauts Unlimited, and ZombiU.

Last I checked about 43,000 people had posted on the Miiverse for Nintendo Land, from which we can suss out that about 10% or users are using Miiverse. New Super Mario U had 41,000 people meaning its attach rate is about the same as the pack-in game for the deluxe console. And from many reports about store stock I've read over the last week it sounds like the majority of console were deluxe units.

There is a quote from Reggie last week where he said they only needed people to buy one game with their WiiU to make a profit, meaning the loss they are taking per-console must be quite small.

@Hosstile17: that just sounds like nintendo created a better supply then and still did better

I got a Wii U last week. I didn't get any games with it besides Nintendo Land since the holidays are coming up and I am sure I will be playing a lot of other games like AC 3 and Need For Speed Most Wanted and Hitman Absolution.

wow, nintendo just barely shipped over 400,000? hopefully this isn't the case with the new xbox and there's a lot more of those.

@ikabubu said:

I worked the retail end for the midnight launch of the WiiU. I could describe the event as "underwhelming". Granted, we're not the biggest retailer in town, but we're the only store that sells electronics in the immediate neighborhood. We had 6 people in line since 7PM. By the time we reopened to let them in, we had about 10. A few came afterwards, rounding the number to about 12.

We sold out of the Black Deluxe, as expected. But we still had a LOT of the White Standards; about 8 to 10 units. Granted, most knowledgeable people interested in the WiiU would probably go for the Black, but it still strikes me that the demand wasn't a little bit more rabid for the new hardware.

I suppose that says a lot, doesn't it?

It doesn't really say as much as the specific number in the article above.

These weird "feelings" people have about the Wii U actually doing poorly seem really similar to Fox News' feelings about Mitt Romney's success in spite of the poll data. "I know it seeeeeeems like Obama is a sure winner, but I see so many gosh darn patriotic Americans who want to take their country back." "ONE Wii U left at retail? Doesn't look sold out to me Nintendo!"

"Wii Us"

You just accidentally named the next Nintendo console?

Two days after launch my Target had 1 deluxe in stock so I decided to grab it. Was like 6pm on Tuesday. Bought NSMBU even though I knew I shouldn't

I got a Deluxe one at the Nintendo World yesterday. Picked up New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land (by default). Might get ZombiU, but not for a few weeks. Most excited for Rayman.

I picked up the Deluxe Wii U along with Mario & ZombiU. Really like it so far.

I haven't picked one up yet. I bet I will at some point in the future when the next Mario Galaxy type moment occurs for the Wii U.

no

I did indeed grab one, with New Super Mario Bros U.

That was unexpected, I was really curious to know some sales numbers. I'm guessing they wouldn't say any numbers if it did bad so good on them, I wish we knew specifics about what people bought the Wii U, is it mass market is it gamers, is it kids is it old people.

Personally I'm not interested in the Wii U, it doesn't have that thing that makes me say "I want to play that so badly", even the Wii made me say I would like to try that out.

@evanbower said:

@ikabubu said:

I worked the retail end for the midnight launch of the WiiU. I could describe the event as "underwhelming". Granted, we're not the biggest retailer in town, but we're the only store that sells electronics in the immediate neighborhood. We had 6 people in line since 7PM. By the time we reopened to let them in, we had about 10. A few came afterwards, rounding the number to about 12.

We sold out of the Black Deluxe, as expected. But we still had a LOT of the White Standards; about 8 to 10 units. Granted, most knowledgeable people interested in the WiiU would probably go for the Black, but it still strikes me that the demand wasn't a little bit more rabid for the new hardware.

I suppose that says a lot, doesn't it?

It doesn't really say as much as the specific number in the article above.

...which is 200,000 less than the Wii launch?