The first quarter of 2008 was rough on the typically hardy gaming industry but following a 17 percent decline in overall sales, there is a bright spot for one of the big three console companies as Q2 kicks off. Obviously, that company is Nintendo. Sure the Wii is still leading the pack when it comes to stationary consoles but the big news earlier this month was the arrival of the company’s latest portable gaming console, the Nintendo DSi. A substantial update from its little cousin the DS Lite, Nintendo’s DSi has been available in Japan for quite some time and finally made it to US shores last week. In its first full week of sales, Nintendo reports the handheld sold a remarkable 435,000 units. To put that in perspective, Nintendo moved just over 226,000 DS Lites in its first week of US availability. Bigger screens, dual cameras and a handful of photo manipulation tools highlighted in Nintendo’s supporting ad run apparently add up to big success. The NPD Group reports that Nintendo accounted for nearly 59 percent of all video game hardware sold in March — thanks to the DSi, expect that number to climb in April.
Nintendo DSi makes a big splash in the US; 435,000 sold in first week
Updated Dec 19th, 2018 6:18PM EST
If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.
Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.
His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.
