Iwata: Wii Could Beat PS2's Sales Record
Could the Wii become the best selling video game console in history, topping the mighty PS2? Nintendo President Satoru Iwata says yes. He believes that Nintendo's approach to expand the gaming audience will enable Wii to beat PS2's record.
There's no question that Nintendo's Wii has been doing very well. Longtime gamers and new gamers have been embracing the system's motion-sensing gameplay, but can the Wii hold onto its momentum? Does it have the legs needed to dominate this industry?
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata certainly thinks so. Not only does he believe that Wii has legs, but he also thinks the console has a realistic chance of overtaking Sony's PlayStation 2 for the most console sales in the history of the video game industry. The PS2 has shipped over 120 million units since its launch over six years ago.
"Sony's PS2 sales of 100 million units is an extraordinary number that our home game console business has not achieved," Iwata told Reuters. "But if we can make our bid to expand the gaming population a continued success, we could exceed that."
Through March (Nintendo's last fiscal year), the company sold 5.8 million Wiis and Nintendo is targeting sales of another 14 million units through the end of the current business year, which ends March 2008.
Iwata also commented that he doesn't think Sony's current business plan will have much impact on Nintendo. "I wouldn't say there is no overlap between the group of customers Sony is targeting and the group of users that Nintendo is targeting. But that overlap is quite small," he said.
GameDaily.com
