Fueled by new hardware colors and special holiday bundles, Nintendo had a very happy Black Friday week indeed, with 1.5 million video game systems finding their way into the hands of gaming-hungry shoppers. What systems sold the most?
Nintendo's handheld gaming systems won the week of Black Friday, according to the company's own internal sales estimates, with 900,000 Nintendo DS, DSi, and DSi XL systems purchased during the period between Sunday, November 21 and Saturday, November 27. The Wii didn't fare quite as well but still managed to hit the 600,000 mark, bringing the grand total to 1.5 million.
"U.S. shoppers bought about 9,000 Nintendo hardware systems nonstop for every hour of every day during the week of Black Friday," said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "For the past several years, consumers have decided that Nintendo defined both top value and all-inclusive entertainment, and that sentiment continues again at the start of this shopping season."
Nintendo attributes the estimated success in part to the red Wii and DSi XL systems released to commemorate Mario's 25th anniversary, as well as the orange and green Nintendo DSi holiday bundles that were part of many retailers' Black Friday sales.
Did anyone pick one of the colored consoles up?