US: Thanksgiving Wii sales top 500K

US Wii sales for the crucial Thanksgiving week checked in at 550,000 units, according to Nintendo, down from 800,000 last year.

Nintendo said it was happy with the result, following 2008’s high peaks. The firm recently dropped the console’s price $50 to $199 to stimulate demand in the console, which has begun to slow at retail.

Sales and marketing VP Cammie Dunaway said, "Holiday shoppers are finding value in our products’ prices, and through a gameplay experience that is unique to Nintendo." Dunaway said that week-on-week sales of Wii have increased 85% since the price cut.

DS and DSi performed well for the week ending November 28 with sales over 1m units, which Nintendo said had outstripped its own sales record, for Gameboy Advance back in 2002. Thanksgiving week is the most important few days in the US retail cycle, including the biggest day of the year, Black Friday.