IndustryGamers - Informing the Games Industry

Wii Installed Base Hits 30 Million in U.S. in Just 45 Months

Posted August 10, 2010 by James Brightman

Nintendo of America proudly announced today that its Wii console has now reached the 30 million sold mark - a milestone that it reached in a little under 4 years (45 months to be exact). That's 15 months sooner than the next best selling console, which Nintendo doesn't mention, but we're assuming is Sony's PS2 [Note: Yes, it's PS2, which took over 60 months to sell 30 million].

Since launching in 2006, the Wii has taken the industry by storm, appealing to a whole new crowd of gamers and bringing back some lapsed gamers as well. While some third parties have had trouble figuring out how to succeed on the platform, Nintendo certainly hasn't had any difficulties raking in the cash. 

“More than any other video game system in history, Wii has expanded the world of video games to new audiences,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “This milestone is another reminder that people want fun games they can play with others – all at a value-minded price.”

Nintendo added that "one of the unique features of the Wii platform is that many games follow an evergreen sales trend that keep them selling over long periods of time." Nintendo also provided top 10 lists of best-selling Wii games, for first party and third parties.

The top 10 best-selling (per NPD) Nintendo-published Wii games in the U.S. through the end of June are:

The top 10 best-selling Wii games from third-party publishers (again from NPD) in the U.S. through the end of June are:

James Brightman has been covering the games industry since 2003 and has been an avid gamer ever since the days of Atari and Intellivision. He was previously the EIC of GameDaily Biz.