Nintendo has a lot to crow about lately. Despite the world already knowing that the company has done bloody good last month, the platform holder has also issued a press release to show off a combined 1.04million sales of DSi and DS Lites units through the month of April, with the DSi outselling its predeccessor almost four systems to one.
"Nintendo sold more than 827,000 Nintendo DSi systems in April and an additional 215,000 Nintendo DS Lite systems, for a combined total of more than 1.04 million," beams Nintendo. "This brings life-to-date sales of the Nintendo DS franchise in the United States alone to more than 30 million."
The DSi has become a runaway success for Nintendo, making an almost instant replacement for the DS Lite in the hearts of many, despite its featured upgrades being of questionable value. Still, since discovering that the DSi can be used to make one sound a bit like Starscream, I'm going to have to say that Nintendo's earned its money this time around.
Starscream is just that awesome.
Nintendo DS Product Line Sells More Than 1.04 Million, Sets Industry Record for April Hardware Sales
Powered by the launch of the new Nintendo DSi™ hand-held system, the Nintendo DS franchise set a new all-time U.S. record for April hardware sales for any video game platform, according to the independent NPD Group, which tracks video game sales in the United States. Nintendo sold more than 827,000 Nintendo DSi systems in April and an additional 215,000 Nintendo DS™ Lite systems, for a combined total of more than 1.04 million. This brings life-to-date sales of the Nintendo DS franchise in the United States alone to more than 30 million.
At the same time, Nintendo’s Wii™ console remained the No. 1 home system in the United States, selling more than 340,000 in April, more than the other current-generation home console systems combined. Wii has sold through nearly 20 million in the United States since its launch in November 2006.
“Nintendo systems and software represented 56 percent of the industry total shares in April, indicating continued strong consumer preference for quality and value,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Looking ahead, we are excited to introduce active-play games like Punch-Out!! and Wii Sports Resort into the market.”
Six games published by Nintendo finished in the top 10 best-sellers of April, including the top four games of the month. These include Wii Fit™ at No. 1 with more than 470,000 sold, Pokémon™ Platinum Version at No. 2 with more than 432,000 sold, Mario Kart™ Wii at No. 3 with more than 209,000 sold, Wii Play™ at No. 4 with nearly 170,000 sold, New Super Mario Bros.™ at No. 7 with nearly 119,000 sold and Mario Kart™ DS at No. 8 with more than 112,000 sold.
Contest:
9:00 AM on 05.16.2009
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Care to explain how it is a downgrade?
To all the pirates, keep pirating the games, stick it to the man, Nintendo is really hurting from it. Its not the devs AT ALL...
That's a fucking upgrade of in itself.
Why is this better again? If anyone can tell me more features, please, be my guest, I would like to know why its better.
oh and a super bonus, it doesnt have a gba port anymore. SWEET!
Does it mean .... OW MAh AGWD!
It also has bigger screen, better speakers, better buttons and DSiWare. On paper the DSi might seem like a downgrade, but playing on it definetly feels better than the DS Lite.
@ Magesx, if that comment was aimed at me, shush your trap. If not I see.
Episode 21 of the first season O_o
Less battery?
PS: I also think that the Lite is better, but i'm probbaly only saying this because i own a Lite.
The *big* feature, dsiware shop is a joke. As long as Reggie is in charge, and as long as Nintendo pathologically hates foreign markets with it's online shops, everything nintendo does is going to be a spit in the face to gamers.
All the DS lite offered was brighter screens and a less crappy case, yet everyone flocked to it like it was made out of Jesus. The DSi offers all that and tons of other awesome, exclusive crap. For a guy like me who doesn't own a iPod and doesn't carry his digital camera around everywhere, the purchase of a DSi is a life altering experience.
My guess is that if you bought the DS, and then the DS lite, and are now faced with the fact that you should have waited for the DSi, you'd like to convince yourself that the thing isn't worth owning.
I think someone needs to explain the whole DSiware and WiiWare shit, as I can't be bothered looking it up online unlike my normal self ho Google's everything, someone can PM me or reply :P
Infact, I'm playing my DSi now. I've owned the DS Lite, and had quite a fair amount of time with the original DS and I could easily say this is the best upgrade.
DS -> DS Lite = Better Case, Slimmer, and better brightness levels.
DSL -> DSi = Even BETTER Case, Slimmer, more brightness levels, better speakers, the dpad and buttons are made out of sex (tactical feedback), quick restart, some neat features, and ability to upgrade firmwares and such. And lastly, Bigger Screens <3
Sure you may give up 1 hour of battery life but it's not like you play it for 10 hours in a row.
Don't like it? Don't buy it.
An upgrade would be better quality sound, a new video card/ram engine for better looking games, a GUI that doesn't look like someone made it in Microsoft Paint, and if anything, widescreen displays, at the least.
Instead Nintendo capitalized on sales and a pretty fucked up demographic; They fooled all the kiddies into thinking the DSi is a brand new handheld when it's not. Anyone with a DS Lite will tell you that it just isn't worth the 'upgrade". You can easily score an MP3 player for cheap, and most cell phones have cameras with Micro SD slots. The DSi shop is like the Wii shop channel when it first launched, limited, but I can see that expanding in the future.
I can be optimistic about the DSi, but if you don't have a DS and finally willing to purchase one, the DSi is without a doubt a great choice. But for us DS Lite users, the DSi is just useless in just about every way possible. Unless New Super Mario Bros 2 is a DSi exclusive, I'll stick to my Lite until Nintendo finally gives us a reason to upgrade rather than impulsively buy something because everything needs a music player, internet access and a camera apparently.