Nintendo has announced that it has sold 4,00,000 units of its latest console, the Wii U in the first week of launch in the US. Many retailers in the country reported that the console was sold out in a matter of hours after going on sale on November 18.
Nintendo has sold more consoles in a week than Microsoft sold in October 2012. Microsoft sold 2,70,000 Xbox 360 units in October 2012.
But the Wii U isn’t the only piece of hardware from Nintendo that’s selling like hot cakes. Nintendo America said that in addition to selling 4,00,000 Wii U consoles, the company also sold 3,00,000 Wii consoles, 2,50,000 3DS handheld gaming consoles, 2,75,000 DS handheld consoles, bringing the total to 1.2 million devices sold.
Nintendo is selling two variants of its Wii U console to consumers priced at $300 (Rs. 16,700 approx.) and $350 (Rs. 19,500 approx.). The Basic Set that costs $300 will contain the Wii U console, one GamePad, sensor bar, 8GB built-in storage and HDMI cable.
The $350 Premium Set will contain the Wii U console, one GamePad, sensor bar, HDMI cable, charging stand, console stand, 32GB SSD and NintendoLand game disc. The Premium Set also comes with a Nintendo Network Premium Subscription, that lets gamers avail discounts on content purchased online.
Nintendo also said that in order to make a profit on the sale of the Wii U it needs to sell one Wii U game, which isn’t very much.
But all isn’t well for the Japanese gaming giant. Nintendo has confirmed that the Wii U’s software patch that is required to access its online features will take more than an hour to download.
A console is only as good as the games it offers and if you were wondering what the launch line-up for the Wii U looks like, take a look at the list of games below. These games will be launched from November 18 to March 2013. The list is as follows:
Sameer Mitha lives for gaming and technology is his muse. When he isn’t busy playing with gadgets or video games he delves into the world of fantasy novels.