This is traditionally the slowest time of year for videogame sales, while December moves the most units. Speaking to investors in Japan today, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata explained that January sales are typically only 20 to 30 percent of what is sold in the previous month. One game didn't get the memo, however: Wii Fit. Iwata said that the fitness game sold over 300,000 units in the U.S. just last week, January 19-23. When you compare sales of Wii Fit in January 2009 to December 2008, the game is selling at about 75 percent the amount it did during the holiday shopping season last month -- much higher than games normally sell right after Christmas (and during a recession).
The Wii itself is also enjoying a strong New Year. Sales in early 2009 have so far been higher than they were in January of 2008, despite the current economic crisis. Over 250,000 units were sold the week of January 19-23.
Iwata also pointed out that the U.S. videogame industry grew 19 percent in 2008 -- but 99 percent of that growth can be attributed to Nintendo. According to NPD, 10.17 million Wii consoles and 9.95 million DS systems were sold in the U.S. last year, which both set new records for yearly system sales.
Source : http://ds.ign.com/
