Nintendo Wii Sales Slump Sharply
While December was a less than stellar month in general for the video game industry, the slowdown affected Nintendo's Wii console particularly hard, with hardware sales for the system down a staggering 55 percent year-to-year. Other major consoles also experienced a dip in sales compared to 2010, though not nearly as steep as the Wii's slump. Microsoft's Xbox 360, for example, saw a sales decline of 8 percent, while the PlayStation 3's sales dipped 22 percent.
Unfortunately for Nintendo, the sales drought didn't stop with the Wii console, as sales of Wii Software titles fell 42 percent year-to-year in December. And that's with Ubisoft's "Just Dance 3" game being the second-biggest game of the year, in terms of units sold. With sluggish sales permeating the Wii catalog, "Just Dance" notwithstanding, investors are worried about the near-term fate of the company, as its consoles are such a major part of the company's reputation. Causing further alarm is the relative lack of media attention the Wii U has gotten. Nintendo is expected to release the next generation console later this year, and there has been very little buzz about it so far.
While holiday sales were sluggish for Nintendo, the company does have its new 3DS to keep its spirits up. After getting off to a rocky start, the handheld console was the lone bright spot for Nintendo's results in December, as sales increased more than 100 percent from November. In addition, now that the company has compiled an extensive lineup of games for the portable gaming device, 3DS software sales spiked 240 percent last month.
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