Nintendo sells 350,000 Wii consoles

Redmond (WA) – Nintendo today said that it has sold more products in the first week of the 2007 Christmas season than at any other time in its history.

According to the company, U.S. consumers purchased more than 653,000 Nintendo DS portable video game systems, more than 350,000 Wii consoles and “millions of games and accessories” between November 18 and 24.

While the DS set a new all-time sales record for Nintendo for a Thanksgiving week, eclipsing the previous mark of 600,000 Game Boy Advance systems sold during the same period in the United States in 2005, the Wii has sold more than five million times in the U.S. - within 12 months after launch.

Nintendo believes that a trend towards smaller budgets among U.S. shoppers for the 2007 season will drive more buyers to the Wii and DS systems – and away from more expensive competing products. The Wii sells for $250, the DS carries a suggested retail price of $130.