Skip to main content

Wii Dominates Japanese Market

The Wii machine rolls on in Japan. According to sales figures release by game magazine Enterbrain, some 250,000 Wiis were sold there in August, compared to 80,000 Playstation 3s and a mere 11,000 Xbox 360s.   That simply mirrors the trend in other markets, where the Wii has rolled over the opposition. In the UK it became the fastest-selling console in history, with a million units going off the shelves in 38 weeks.   If you want a comparison, it took the iconic PS2 50 weeks to reach that mark. The Xbox 360 took even longer, 60 weeks.   In Japan the Wii only needed seven months to hit the three million mark. Demand has outstripped supply to the point where it will be a year before there’s no lag.   But it’s not all golden news for Nintendo. Its Japanese lead appears to be slowing. Whereas the Wii was outselling the PS3 by six to one in June, in August that moved to a mere three to one. However, Nintendo can take heart: globally the Wii is poised to overtake sales of the Xbox 360.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Digital Trends Staff
Digital Trends has a simple mission: to help readers easily understand how tech affects the way they live. We are your…
Nintendo is shutting down online services for 3DS and Wii U next April
Mega Man and Mario fight in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U,

Nintendo confirmed it will widely shut down online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U games in April 2024, which will be just over a year after it discontinued the Nintendo eShop on those systems.
This deactivation of most of the online services for those platforms was revealed on X (formerly Twitter) and Nintendo's support site early Wednesday. "In early April 2024, online play and other functionality that uses online communication will end for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software. This also includes online co-operative play, internet rankings, and data distribution," the message says. "We will announce a specific end date and time at a later date. Please note that if an event occurs that would make it difficult to continue online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software, we may have to discontinue services earlier than planned. We sincerely thank players for using the online services of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software over a long period of time and apologize for any inconvenience."
Essentially, this means that after April 2024, you won't be able to use any online features in things like 3DS Pokémon games or Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U anymore. Nintendo does say in the Q&A section of its support article that people will still be able to play games offline and redownload updates and games from the Nintendo eShop for the foreseeable future. Pokémon Bank will remain unaffected, so it'll still be possible to transfer Pokémon from Ruby and Sapphire all of the way to Pokémon Home. However, SpotPass support and other online-focused applications like Nintendo Badge Arcade will stop working entirely.

Just like the Wii U and 3DS eShop closure that caused a ruckus earlier this year, this move is a blow to game preservation and will forever harm some games not available anywhere else. While it's understandable that Nintendo might want to move on from these systems' dated online infrastructure, it's still a disappointing move for those of us who spent a lot of time playing games offline and online on these systems.

Read more
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s next booster pass brings Wii and GameCube nostalgia next week
mario kart 8 deluxe booster wave 5 tracks characters

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's next big update, Booster Course Pass: Wave 5, launches on July 12. Nintendo shared a new trailer for the DLC showing off its eight tracks, which includes a few classics from Mario Kart Wii, Double Dash, and more.

Wave 5 of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass launches July 12th!

Read more
All Dominants and Eikons in Final Fantasy 16
Final Fantasy 16 summon holding a crystal.

As with most games across the past four decades of Square-Enix's most popular role-playing franchise, Final Fantasy 16 sports plenty of gigantic summons based on various mythologies and religions. However, while these usually play a small part in the overall narrative of past Final Fantasy games, the newest game in the series brings them front and center as an integral part of its main storyline.

In the world of Final Fantasy 16, summons are known as Eikons, and each of these god-like beings possesses a host called a Dominant — a person who can summon the Eikon into the world and use their powers in battle. There are eight in total, and all of them play an important role in the intense and winding tale that Final Fantasy 16 weaves throughout its lengthy campaign.

Read more