Nintendo Wii: Sales Falter, But Still Outpace PS3, Xbox

Nintendo's Wii gaming console did not sell as well as expected this Thanksgiving weekend, a time when most retailers hope to ring up large numbers of holiday sales. But it's a classic case of whether the glass is half-full -- monthly sales for the system in 2009 have consistently outpaced competitors' -- or half-empty -- the Wii figures are below last year's.

First, the good news. Nintendo reported that consumers bought more than 1 million Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi portable systems. That figure surpasses the all-time handheld hardware sales record set by Game Boy Advance during Thanksgiving Week 2002, according to Nintendo. The Wii outsold Sony's PS3 550,00 to 440,000; Microsoft has not yet published its figures, but said they were "double" the previous November week's, according to vgchartz.com.

Now, the bad news. Although Nintendo sold 550,000 Wii consoles between Nov. 22 and 28, that's roughly 30 percent fewer than the nearly 800,000 units sold during the same period in 2008. And that is also despite a $50 price cut on the Wii this fall. Some observers blame mediocre software on the decline. Others have noted Nintendo has been slow to offer new gaming titles for the Wii; the company's only recent major releases have been Wii Sports Resort in July and Wii Fit Plus in early September. According to reports, Wii Sports Resort is selling well.

In October, the game maker reported lower profit of 69.5 billion yen ($767.8 million) for the six-month period ended Sept. 30, compared with 144.83 billion yen for the same period in 2008. The company expects lower total earnings in 2009 than in 2008 -- the first annual earning decline for Nintendo in six years.

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