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Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land Call of Duty: World at War couldn’t win the battle against the Wii in December, selling 150,000 units shy of Wii Play‘s staggering 1.46 million copies. Yes, that’s a lot of Wii Remotes.
Nintendo’s seemingly insurmountable lead in the U.S. became less “seemingly” in December, if EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich’s figure of 3.2 million Wiis sold last month is spot-on. “Simply put, Nintendo saved Christmas,” Divnich said.
Today’s NPD sales numbers reveal that Bungie’s Halo 3 was the best selling game in the United States in 2007, with a whopping 4.82 million copies sold. Nipping at Master Chief’s heels was Nintendo’s own Wii Play. It sold through a staggering 4.12 million units to the masses.
Despite generally negative review scores, it would seem that Wii owners were consumed by the prospect of more mini-games (and a second Wii remote) nearly on par with the thirst that Xbox 360 owners had for more Halo. An impressive feat for Nintendo, but more impressive for Microsoft, considering Wii Play had a seven month head start on the first-person shooter.
The top ten best selling games in the USA for last year are after the jump.
Wii Play is just some $10 game you pick up because, what the hell, we’re all paying too much for Wiimotes and nunchucks anyway. As Opposable Thumbs points out, it’s a strategy that’s paid off well for Nintendo. Because while not many people talk about group sessions of Wii Play at senior centers, it’s been in the top five selling games for the last eight months straight.
In a way, Nintendo has succeeded off a form of supersizing. Don’t sell the consumer two Wiimotes, just sell them more with one Wiimote. It’s a small upsell that can clearly translate to big dollars.
Nintendo’s secret best-seller: Wii Play [opposable thumbs]
