Wii sales see Xmas surge

Despite competition from Kinect and Move, Nintendo hardware sales have increased as spending ramps up for Christmas.

MCV understands that sales of Wii consoles and games have rebounded over recent weeks, thanks to aggressive price activity.

Sainsbury’s has slashed 25 per cent off Wii and DS consoles, with Wii hardware down to 119.99. And the supermarket has been advertising the deal on TV.

Meanwhile, the limited edition red Wii bundle – which includes a copy of New Super Mario Bros Wii, a digital version of Donkey Kong and a Wii Remote Plus – has helped sales climb following its UK launch on Friday, October 29th. It already helped lift week-on-week Nintendo Wii sales in Japan from 11,521 to 39,308 – a rise of 300 per cent.

Wii games also bounced back into the Gfk Chart-Track Top Ten last week, with exclusives Just Dance 2 (No.5), Wii Party (No.6), Wii Sports Resort (No.7) and New Super Mario Bros. Wii (No.10).

The increase in popularity of Wii this year is similar to the same period in 2009, when the platform holder saw incredible sales spikes during late November and early December.

The company’s massive marketing campaign, featuring real people as well as celebs JLS, Helen Mirren and Ant and Dec, is currently running on TV.