PSP World

Nintendo Momentum Pays No Heed to Industry Pricing Shifts

Wii™ emerged as August's best-selling video game system of any type in the United States and achieved its highest weekly sales rates since December, despite pricing shifts in the industry, according to the independent NPD Group and internal Nintendo figures. Wii and Nintendo DS™ remained the two best-selling video game systems in the United States, with Nintendo hardware outselling all other systems – combined.

But behind every great game platform are a lot of great games—and that’s certainly evident from Nintendo’s momentum:

* Nintendo remained the top U.S. game publisher for the sixth consecutive month.

* So far this year, Nintendo titles claim six of the industry’s top 10 best sellers, including the top three: Pokemon Diamond (overall No. 1) and Pokemon Pearl (No. 3) for Nintendo DS, and Wii Play™ (No. 2) for Wii.

* Nintendo DS, with more than 300 titles available, has the largest game library for any current generation system.

* Wii has added new titles (averaging nine per month since launch) at a faster rate than any other new home system.

* Including an ever-increasing library of classic titles available for download on the Wii Shop Channel, American owners of Nintendo DS and Wii will have a combined selection of nearly 800 games to choose from by year end.

* Nintendo expects momentum for both systems to continue, given the Aug. 20 launch of Brain Age™ 2: More Training in Minutes a Day for Nintendo DS and the upcoming Aug. 27 launch of the hugely anticipated Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for Wii.