Wii Fit Selling at 90 Copies Per Minute
Woolworths says Wii Fit launch bigger than Wii hardware
Woolworths claims that Wii Fit was selling at a rate of 90 copies per minute on Friday when it launched.
“Wii Fit has been flying off the shelves at a rate of over 90 a minute this morning”, says Woolworths games trading manager, Gerry Berkley. “This is a revolution in computer gaming. For a game not targeted at gamers to sell in numbers like this is unheard of and is genuinely changing the market.
Berkley went on to state that the game - which comes with the Balance Board peripheral - was selling... well, we'll let him tell you. “Wii Fit will definitely smash its targets and in terms of volume and speed of sale it is even bigger than the launch of the Wii itself."
That's right... bigger than the console's launch. If retailers across Europe have had the same experience, that will add up to sales exceeding 325,000 over the weekend - a feat SPOnG would not be surprised to see. The Wii is now a tried and tested piece of hardware with a large installed base ready to buy its software rather than the un-tested (albeit massively-hyped) console it was at launch.
Wii Fit is also unlikely to have been subject to quite the same kind of shortages as the Wii itself -
which isn't to say Wii Fit has been easy to get hold of. A quick look on Woolworth's website for Wii Fit now reveals the legend, "Sorry, out of stock". A cursory glance over the websites for GAME and GameStation shows similar messages.
Check in with SPOnG for the Charts tomorrow for more on how Wii Fit has fared at retail. For more on Wii Fit right now, check out SPOnG's review.
“Wii Fit has been flying off the shelves at a rate of over 90 a minute this morning”, says Woolworths games trading manager, Gerry Berkley. “This is a revolution in computer gaming. For a game not targeted at gamers to sell in numbers like this is unheard of and is genuinely changing the market.
Berkley went on to state that the game - which comes with the Balance Board peripheral - was selling... well, we'll let him tell you. “Wii Fit will definitely smash its targets and in terms of volume and speed of sale it is even bigger than the launch of the Wii itself."
That's right... bigger than the console's launch. If retailers across Europe have had the same experience, that will add up to sales exceeding 325,000 over the weekend - a feat SPOnG would not be surprised to see. The Wii is now a tried and tested piece of hardware with a large installed base ready to buy its software rather than the un-tested (albeit massively-hyped) console it was at launch.
Wii Fit is also unlikely to have been subject to quite the same kind of shortages as the Wii itself -
which isn't to say Wii Fit has been easy to get hold of. A quick look on Woolworth's website for Wii Fit now reveals the legend, "Sorry, out of stock". A cursory glance over the websites for GAME and GameStation shows similar messages.
Check in with SPOnG for the Charts tomorrow for more on how Wii Fit has fared at retail. For more on Wii Fit right now, check out SPOnG's review.
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Comments
YenRug 28 Apr 2008 12:33
1/4
I was in a GAME store on Saturday and overheard them telling people that Nintendo had screwed up the distribution of WiiFit "as usual" and that it would be 3 weeks before they had any more stock in on a regular basis. I wonder if that's really the case, or did GAME just fail to appreciate how much interest there might be?
Joji 28 Apr 2008 13:19
2/4
Wii combined with Wii fit are the reason PS3 is always going to be second/third fiddle for this generation. DVD/Blu Ray pursuits are one thing, but if females want a Wii, they'll ensure I can't get one.
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deleted 28 Apr 2008 19:56
3/4
YenRug wrote:
I was in a GAME store on Saturday and overheard them telling people that Nintendo had screwed up the distribution of WiiFit "as usual" and that it would be 3 weeks before they had any more stock in on a regular basis. I wonder if that's really the case, or did GAME just fail to appreciate how much interest there might be?
I wouldnt rely on comments of instore GAME staff as im pretty sure they would have any information on the distribution of WiiFit in fact the only thing they would know is there own stores allocation, i expect there were just telling customers that to take the heat off them at that moment.
Horatio 29 Apr 2008 12:19
4/4
Joji wrote:
Wii combined with Wii fit are the reason PS3 is always going to be second/third fiddle for this generation. DVD/Blu Ray pursuits are one thing, but if females want a Wii, they'll ensure I can't get one.
I'm not sure what this comment is really intended to say? I think the "fight" this time around will be very close when we look back at the numbers in 10 years time and I think the market isn't the same as it was 2 years ago.
It's staggering to see how well this "game" has sold though, I wasn't certain that the japanese launch figures would cross to the UK and Europe but it looks like Nintendo have started another craze!