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Nintendo Sold a Bunch of Hardware Last Week

1.2 million total pieces of gaming hardware were sold by the company over the last week, including around 400,000 Wii Us.

"Well, that's one down..."

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's Wii 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?

Alex Navarro on Google+

220 Comments

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Little_Socrates

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Edited By Little_Socrates

I was able to get one at a Best Buy for the midnight Black Friday rush. I was probably the 70th person in the store, and they had restocked late Wednesday, so they had at least three Wii Us for each model.

I picked up a black one (Nintendoland) with Mario, ZombiU, and Scribblenauts. Oh, and a pro controller.

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recroulette

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Edited By recroulette
@Pixeldemon said:

@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)

Maybe not that much, but knowing parents, I wouldn't be surprised if 5-10 percent of those are people thinking they are buying the "New Wii"
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ChrisTaran

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Edited By ChrisTaran

I picked up a Deluxe, but didn't grab any games with it. Nintendo Land will be good enough for me until I can get through some other games I have in my backlog. Then I think I'll pick up Mario and ZombiU.

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Rolyatkcinmai

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Edited By Rolyatkcinmai

Deluxe and ZombiU.

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Bane122

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Edited By Bane122

Got a deluxe with Mario and Scribblenauts. Just about done with Scribble, which I will sell and put towards Zombi U.

It's not perfect but overall I'm enjoying the system and games.

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MeatSim

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Edited By MeatSim

People are hungry for new stuff that's for sure.

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Sackmanjones

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Edited By Sackmanjones

I got one. My first Nintendo console since the NES. It's dropping with potential and the worn out factor some may have with Mario and Zelda doesn't affect me. In other words In likin it. It has more potential than its givin credit for.

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deactivated-5afdd08777389

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I didn't pick one up, but I do see Wii Us in stock at most of the Walmarts near me. I guess that's why he said "essentially" sold out and "actually" sold out. Haha.

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zigx

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Edited By zigx

I went on a small search for one last Monday after hearing that some stores still had them in stock. I didn't find one and considered going on a more full scale search later in the week, but I didn't. Glad I didn't, since the only real reason I want one is to satiate buying a new shiny thing. Well, that, and Patrick's glowing review of ZombiU. But I figure I should save the money and hold off until there are a handful of games that I want to play.

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evanbower

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Edited By evanbower

@tremors said:

@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?

Which Nintendo surely expected with the higher price point. Also the success of the Wii was an anomaly... no one really expects that success to be repeated unless they're looking for a talking point on how Nintendo is blowing it. That the Wii U sold more than the Xbox 360 and PS3 did at launch, in a much worse economic situation, is definitely good news for/ probably a relief to Nintendo.

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deactivated-61f341f558336

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I ended up just grabbing the white 8GB model with Nintendoland. 32GB models are impossible to find in my city.

ZombiU is next on the list of course.

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fidgetwidget

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Edited By fidgetwidget

Grabbed the Delux and ZombiU, and am waiting for Lego City Stories next. I'll get Mario when there is a drought of games to play, because its a Mario game, and while not always fantastic, they are always fun to play casually.

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Pop

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Edited By Pop

300,000 wii's sold? how many of those thought they were getting a Wii U?

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George_Hukas

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Edited By George_Hukas

I regret it already, its at my girlfriend's where it will stay.

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deactivated-61f341f558336

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@msavo The Vita numbers are what I'm interested in. Unfortunately, P4: The Golden is the only game I've bought so far that impressed me to the point where I think the handheld might still have a future.
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Winternet

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Edited By Winternet

How the flying fuck 300,000 people bought a Wii last week?

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Spiritof

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Edited By Spiritof
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Dude, go home.

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sonicrift

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Edited By sonicrift

I got the deluxe with Nintendo Land, New Super Mario Bros, Scribblenauts, and COD BLOPS 2.

My girlfriend held the "Spent most time with Wii U" title in Scribblenauts till I had to take a sick day Thursday. She hates watching me play stuff like Smash Bros and COD, so the Wii U is perfect for us to sit next to each other, talk, and do our separate things. I love it for that. This is the perfect system for us. I've got a lot to play right now, but I just hope Nintendo keeps the hits coming. I hope I don't have to wait till March for my next game, but I'm sure to play a lot of COD as long as there are players to play with.

We've had some friends over briefly for some 4 player Nintendo Land, and we've all had a lot of fun in Luigi's Haunted Mansion. It's the strongest game of what we've tried so far.

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chrollo

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Edited By chrollo

bought a wii u :D and black ops since it gave me free shipping

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Robinson

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Edited By Robinson

@Winternet: parents who now see the thing their kids have been clamoring for for years is way cheap, so they buy that. Not realizing/ or maybe even caring, that it is old technology and almost completely on it's way out. Which is exactly what the retailers are hoping would happen.

Ignorant people are Ignorant

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Zaxex

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Edited By Zaxex

I really feel like it's not worth getting a Wii U right now, for me at least. Nintendo are just now, releasing comparable games to the Xbox 360 and PS3; 6-7 year old machines that are aging quickly versus their PC ports. The games really don't seem particularly great at launch either.

I bought a 3DS pretty late, and it would have been a waste of money if I wasn't playing original DS games and Virtual Console games. It's unfortunate that they're just now on equal footing, which will surely change in the coming year or two.

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musclerider

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Edited By musclerider

@evanbower said:

@tremors said:

@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?

Which Nintendo surely expected with the higher price point. Also the success of the Wii was an anomaly... no one really expects that success to be repeated unless they're looking for a talking point on how Nintendo is blowing it. That the Wii U sold more than the Xbox 360 and PS3 did at launch, in a much worse economic situation, is definitely good news for/ probably a relief to Nintendo.

I very much remember the PS3 launch being completely bananas because of how few there were out there.

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mackdaddicus

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Edited By mackdaddicus

grabbed a deluxe one on friday at a Wal-Mart that received a shipment of them in right before I arrived - only game I have thus far is ZombiU

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RE_Player1

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Edited By RE_Player1

@xombi242: The Vita is weird because even though I have probably put more time into that device than anything else this year I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. You need to have very specific needs and the Vita fills those needs quite well. I have a huge PS1 classic collection and the ability throw all my old games on that thing is great, currently going through Final Fantasy 7 and Resident Evil in chunks. I'm moving around a lot so the ability to play full console like quality games, currently playing Persona 4 Golden, Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale and Ninja Gaiden, is incredible to me. The integration between my PS3 is great with having the same friends, trophies and wallet between both consoles, something Nintendo is not doing with the WiiU and 3DS. But even with all those great things for the average consumer the Vita probably isn't worth it.

Going forward if they continue to do a great job with Playstation Plus on the Vita than it will be easily recommendable.

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iamjohn

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Edited By iamjohn

@GreatDane said:

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

Sega also pumped the last of their money into trying to make the Dreamcast a success to the point where it had to essentially be what the PS2 was to save them, so that's a really stupid point you're trying to make there.

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veektarius

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Edited By veektarius

@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.

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!"

There's a big difference between almost sold out and actually sold out, because it reflects the remaining demand in the marketplace. If all retailers or a majority of retailers in highly populated areas are sold out, remaining demand is unquantifiable, and could be quite large. The moment that there's ready availability of the system to any who desire it, that means that demand (at least among first-day adopters) was filled.

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Blastroid

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Lokno

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Edited By Lokno

I picked up the Wii U at a Walmart on Saturday. I tried two places other places first, but still came home with one all the same. If they sold 1/3 less than they did during the Wii launch, than they've at least got 1/3 of the launch units on shelves, right? Why would they ship less than they did in 2006? 33.34% doesn't sound like "essentially sold out of retail." I guess its possible they had lower low expectations for demand, or that the stores did.

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Shaanyboi

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Edited By Shaanyboi

400k WiiU's - Not bad

300k Wii's - ...the fuck?

250k 3DS' - gahhh....

275k DS' - GAHHHH?!?!?!

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xMEGADETHxSLY

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Edited By xMEGADETHxSLY

I buy a full fledged PC before i buy a Wii U

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vasta_narada

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Edited By vasta_narada

Picked up a Deluxe and New Super Mario Bros U. I've cooled on the "New" games significantly over the years, but this one seems solid. Not as good as, say, something inventive, but good.

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nintenjoe

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Edited By nintenjoe

I got a deluxe edition with New Super Mario Bros U. I'm looking for a discounted ZombiU which Black Friday and Cyber Monday have yet to yield...

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RudeCubes

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Edited By RudeCubes

I got a Deluxe Wii U with Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed. I'm pretty pleased with it!

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tourgen

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Edited By tourgen

Hey that's good news. I'm waiting for Bayonetta 2 and a Metroid game before I pick one up.

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flufflogic

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Edited By flufflogic

Is it definitely sold, not shipped? Because we've had that before...

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Catarrhal

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Edited By Catarrhal

@Zaapp1 said:

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

That's TriForce Johnson; he's never been seen without the Power Glove, and "TriForce" is his legal name.

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Shaanyboi

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Edited By Shaanyboi

@flufflogic said:

Is it definitely sold, not shipped? Because we've had that before...

I'm hearing they shipped like 500k?

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chaser324

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Edited By chaser324  Moderator

I waited in line for about 14 hours to buy a Wii at launch, almost solely because there was a Zelda game to play on release day. In contrast, there's nothing in the launch lineup (or in the "launch window") for Wii U that gives me any desire to pick one up.

400k is actually much higher than I expected based on my anecdotal evidence of seeing Wii U hardware on shelves and most of my friends and family not being at all aware of Wii U. It'll be interesting to see where those sales numbers go from here.

Also, I really do wonder how many of those Wii and DS purchases are by confused parents that thought they were purchasing a Wii U or 3DS? I suspect it could be quite a few.

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edgeCrusher

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Edited By edgeCrusher

Nope. Not getting one until Baynoetta 2 drops.

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iamjohn

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Edited By iamjohn

I grabbed a deluxe Wii U last Wednesday with Mario, ZombiU and a Pro Controller last week. I'm thoroughly enjoying it, especially Mario. Maybe it's because I barely played the Wii one and skipped the 3DS one entirely, but I'm having a blast with it, especially in multiplayer. Nintendo Land's a lot of fun, too. I do not regret the purchase.

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MarioBoza

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Edited By MarioBoza

@edgeCrusher said:

Nope. Not getting one until Baynoetta 2 drops.

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deactivated-5d9e9473c7960

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I got the white Wii U with New SMB U, Darksiders 2, Scribblenauts Unlimited, and ZombiU. The guy in front of me got the last black one then the next day I found out everywhere else sttill had them in stock:(

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nicktorious_big

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Edited By nicktorious_big

I didn't get a Wii U, and now I am a little disappointed. It seems that it is going to be a long while before I can get one due to Nintendo being the master at supply and demand...

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deactivated-61f341f558336

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@msavo I couldn't agree with you more. That being said, I hope we see more of Dragon's Crown for the Vita/PS3 soonish. I'm so glad Atlus picked it up!
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Edited By FinalBoss

I got the Deluxe bundle with New Super Mario Bros. U and ZombiU. I also want to get Scribblenauts Unlimited and mabey Tank! Tank! Tank! but at a later date.

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Icecreamjones

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Edited By Icecreamjones

Not really interested in WiiU at all, still. Did pick up a 3DS on black friday though since I already had a best buy gift card around (which they ended up giving right back to me as the purchase included one of the same value).

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Evercaptor

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Edited By Evercaptor

I only buy more hardware if it's better than my current preferred platform and there's stuff I want to play on it. I'm saving my money for a Durango because I want to play "current generation" games.

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circle_of_iron

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Edited By circle_of_iron

I got a Deluxe Wii U on launch morning at a Target. I purchased Mario, ZombiU, and Black Ops 2. I have seen plenty of white Wii U bundles around.

The white bundle is such a rip off it's not hard to see why, although I would prefer to own white hardware.

As for the high sales of the original Wii and DS - I'm going to chalk that up to the economy. Both are dirt cheap for video game systems (costing under $130 each and both coming with games I think). I am curious to see how the Xbox and PS3 did as well though, and morbidly curious to see how the Vita did.

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deactivated-64b8656eaf424

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Nope, didn't grab one.
For one, it's not out in EU yet, and two, nothing in the launch lineup interest me.

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TorMasturba

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Edited By TorMasturba

I've only just got a Wii, 2nd hand, and probably will get a Wii U towards the end of that console's life too, also 2nd hand.

Until they prove themselves this time around.