Wii Sports sells 45 million copies Comments by Robert Purchese

What a shame.

Does it really count as a game sale if it is, and always has been, bundled with the console?

What if a game has been bundled with say an OS? Surely that would make Minesweeper the biggest selling game ever?

I don't think games bundled for free with a console should be counted as the biggest sellers of all time. Fair enough for stuff like Wii Fit or Mario Kart Wii, but every hardware manufacturer could just bundle a crap free game with their consoles to get on the list of biggest selling software ever.

And yes, it was reported about two months back. Clearly Wii Play (awful, awful game) passed it ages back; five million sales ago.

Does a free demo == selling it.

I know in japan it didn't come bundled in because they wanted to recover the 5 day dev costs on it but still.

"What if a game has been bundled with say an OS? Surely that would make Minesweeper the biggest selling game ever?"

+1

or Solitaire, Snake, etc. loads of games sold more than this.

ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY NINTENDO !!!! The REAL winners of the current videogame generation

Clearly Wii Play (awful, awful game) passed it ages back; five million sales ago.

Tanks! automatically takes Wii Play well above "awful" status (Laser Hockey is a time-eater, as well). I love it, one of my most played games of last year, oddly.

Doesn't count.

A pack-in hardly counts does it?

Great little game mind.

so Link's crossbow training out sold Twilight Princes??

people loves sum plastic Nintendo crap

disgusting

At £70...Wii Fit - 18.2m

That is unreal.

by default, mario did it through user choice

.. And people said wii music was a "failure"..

Obviously some people wanted it...


>A pack-in hardly counts does it?

Well the story covers that... but remember it's for sale in japan.. and even if microsoft bundled halo 3 with the 360, it still wouldnt come close to that number..

But more so than any other bundled game ever, an awful lot of people bought a Wii for Wiisports only. I would think...

budled games don't countttttttttttttttttttttttttt

The Wii didn't sell Wii Sports, Wii Sports sold the Wii. So stick your pack-in nonsense where the sun don't shine.

".. And people said wii music was a "failure".. "

That depends. In the industry, there's no "decent performance", there are only two possible outcomes. Once you decide to start a project, you must choose your expectations: if they are met, it's a success. If they aren't, it's considered a failure, even if it made a profit, because of those so-called opportunity costs.

I don't really know what Nintendo's expectations were for Wii Music, so I can't say if it should be considered a failure or a success. But looking at other titles in the series (Wii Play? Wii Fit?), I think they expected it to sell more than this. Also, the fact they are never talking about it, probably means it didn't meet their expectations. Of course, I could be wrong.

Back to the article: wow, that's a lot of games being sold on a daily basis. They know how to reach the public, that's for sure. My bro's girlfriend, who's not keen on games, is always bugging me to buy Nintendogs (but I haven't given in yet, eheh). As someone who is studying economics, my hat's off to you, Nintendo. I'm sure their example of how a company can severely enlarge the market, will be cited in textbooks for many years to come.

Just a thought - why isnt duck hunt on that list?

I just sold my copy of Wii sports on ebay for £22... I don't know why people are buying it but there seems to be a market.

Must be
Wii = many kids
many kids = scratched to hell games
scratched to hell games = broken games
broken games = kid moaning
kid moaning = parent going on ebay and buying another for the little shit who should have looked after it in the first place.

>That depends. In the industry, there's no "decent performance",

it's the number 10 best selling wii game!

I'd say that was a success! Regardless of how little "real" (cough) gamers want it to have been.

Get ready for wii music 2!

Well done Nintendo.

I thought Wii Sports came free with the console. So how is it the biggest selling game of all time?

Every time someone buys a Wii (or Wii Play or Mario Kart) God kills a kitten.

Think on people, think on.

Wii Music was a faliure, in the sense that it was a load of fucking shit.

yeah but it counts when people BUY the console for that game (aka wii sports). I know I did buy the wii because of wii sports (and escite truck). and i know many people who did the same

sad day

These numbers are depressing, why can't people buy really good games in these quantities?

"it's the number 10 best selling wii game!

I'd say that was a success! Regardless of how little "real" (cough) gamers want it to have been."

Yeah, but like I told you, one must see if that's what they were aiming for. Is 2,5 millions what they hoped for? It was the new Miyamoto game after all. And the one before it, Wii Fit, sold 7 times as much. I'm not saying it didn't make (a lot of) money, I just wonder if it performed under expectations.

"Get ready for wii music 2! "

If they can sort out the problems of the first one, I'd be all over it. WM1 was nice in its core idea, but lacked too much in content for its price. Stages were few, customization was scarce (you couldn't even name your album, or at least I didn't find any option...), the minigames looked like an afterthought, and tracks were too aimed at a very general audience - or Nintendo fans - to make a big impact on specific tastes. It's like, everyone is satisfied, but not enough. Though maybe they made it for a matter of licensing. The drums mode was very nice, but I didn't like how they still made you press buttons in some cases... that really shouldn't have been necessary. Maybe with WMP support...

If the next game could have more interesting tracks, better customization choices, and more content in general, that would probably warrant a purchase for me. If it must be like the first but with different tracks, then I'd probably be contempt with just WM1.

For MAX AWESOME they should give you a way of creating your own tracks to follow, but I guess that would be very difficult to do.

Nintendo must love it also as its the only Wii game you can't trade in. Not a penny gone to those greedy retailers.

Bundled with console, therefore doesn't count.

Mario Kart numbers are impressive, and it deserves it, like I've said million times. I hope this year Nintendo releases something similar, fun online game I mean.

Wow, it must be a really good game to sell that many. I'm gonna stop playing Fallout 3, SF4 and Call Of Duty and devote all my spare time to this.

Like big boobs on fat birds, it doesn't count.

@The_Inquisitor
"Wow, it must be a really good game to sell that many. I'm gonna stop playing Fallout 3, SF4 and Call Of Duty and devote all my spare time to this. "

The mass market appeal of Wii sports, is for those with lives outside of video games. Not those who devote their lives to Call of Duty and other shooting/fighting games.

wii sports has its own box and instruction leaflet therefore it counts, I think :)

so thats 45million wii's sold? or are prople still forgetting that it comes FREE with the console?

>Wii Music was a faliure, in the sense that it was a load of fucking shit.

That's YOUR opinion (no doubt because it doesnt feature guns and violence). 2 million people disagree with you.

@stevetuck: As previously pointed out.. most people bought the game, and the wii came free with it.

(also to note: it's not bundled in japan)

Odd, Wikipedia says that Twilight Princess on the Wii sold 4.52 million copies...therefore it should be on the list.

Very interesting, Mr Bond...

gim80 - doesnt count - it was a cube game :-)

That's YOUR opinion (no doubt because it doesnt feature guns and violence). 2 million people disagree with you.

Why assume it's because it doesn't have guns and violence? Yes, 2 million people bought it, but then quantity doesn't equate to quality, you only have to look at the list of games up there to realise that.

Lets face it, Wii Music got a lot of poor reviews so it's not like anyone is being a dick saying its shit.

What's the attach rate of Wii Sports in Japan? Stupidly high if I remember correctly. We can probably assume that even if it wasn't bundled in almost every other territory, it would still easily be one of the highest selling games of all time.

If Wii Sports counts, then so does Hexic on the 360!!

Woodnotes: Exactly what I was thinking, which would surely make Hexic at the very least number 10 on the list?

Wow, these numbers really make me want to buy a Wii, just to be part of the stats-fest.

Even if you took bundled games off the list, the fanboys would still moan and come up with increasingly desperate methods to get every other massive-selling Nintendo game disqualified. Though I'm not sure why?

"The mass market appeal of Wii sports, is for those with lives outside of video games. Not those who devote their lives to Call of Duty and other shooting/fighting games."

Translation: There are more casual gamers than normal people. Casual gamers buy shit games and generally don't have a clue what they buy. Normal people are well informed and buy good games.

Yeah, I'm not sure it counts tbh. In a way, the game was never sold, as it was a free software bundled with the console.
The same can be said of Super Mario Bros but a lot of those sales are of the cartridge separately and its numerous appearances in other forms maybe.