DSi Sales Pace Trumps Originals, Wii

Since its U.S. launch in April, the Nintendo DSi is selling more briskly than did the original DS, the DS Lite and even the Wii in each platform's respective debut months. Speaking to consumer website IGN, Nintendo of America VP of corporate affairs Denise Kaigler challenged the assertion that sales of the new handheld have been "slow" -- "Sorry, but I'm going to have to strongly disagree with your premise," she said. According to Kaigler, citing NPD data, in its first three months DSi has sold over 1.7 million units to date just in the U.S. That's compared to 1.38 million for the original-model DS and 1.07 million for the DS Lite. In its first three months on the market, the Wii had sold 1.52 million units in the U.S. "So Nintendo DSi is beating them all," Kaigler told IGN. Nintendo said in its latest earnings report for the June quarter that the DSi has sold 6.68 million units total worldwide to date. A recent Gamasutra analysis of June's NPD numbers found the DSi has had the most successful launch in recent history, including consoles -- even the DS Lite didn't exceed 1.8 million units until its fourth month on the market. Looking at the year to date, even at a $40 premium over the older model, the DSi could be considered the third best-selling system for the year so far after the Wii and DS. The handheld, which added new features like two cameras lenses, larger screens and a slimmer profile, launched in Japan on November 1, and the rest of the world in April 2009. Nintendo projects it will sell 30 million DS units, including all models, worldwide during the fiscal year from April 2009 to March 2010. As of the end of June, the entire DS line has sold 107.75 million units globally.