Wii’s life as a king begins in June
It was bound to happen. We all knew it was meant to be. No more denial, folks: Wii will overtake the 360’s U.S. installed base this month. The Xbox is destined for third place.
It damn near happened in May. Here’s last month’s NPD numbers:
Wii – 675,100
Nintendo DS – 452,600
PlayStation 3 – 208,700
Xbox 360 – 186,600
PSP – 182,300
Wii’s base now stands at 10.2 million strong, while the Xbox 360 is snailing it after two years at 10.27 million. Wii’s been on sale for just over a year and a half, while the Xbox has been on the market a year longer than that. The megaton release of GTA IV provided no significant sales surges for either console it was released on, kicking the Xbox on its way down. Presumably, the release of Wii Fit in May made some fitness instructors and assorted fatties pony up for a Wii, keeping it way atop the list above.
This is bittersweet for me, since i dislike the 360, but also dislike Wii, to an extent. Once the U.S., the last stronghold for the 360, gives way, Wii will officially be the leading console globally. As if there was any wonder.
Now if they re-release the Wii this X-mas with a 16gb hard drive they could re-sell them to the nerds who care.