Nintendo's Fils-Aime: 'Wii Continues To Extend Its Advantage'

Countering some claims that the Wii's sales momentum may be slowing, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime claims that the system "continues to extend its advantage," presenting supporting evidence during a recent Nintendo analyst presentation. Citing data from United States-specific tracking firm NPD, Fils-Aime pointed out that the system sold slightly more units in the U.S. during the six month period from November 2009 to April 2010 than Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 did in a year. "We're very happy with both our market momentum and our product lineup moving forward," Fils-Aime said in comments released on Nintendo's official site. The executive also compared Wii's lifetime performance to that of Sony's PlayStation 2 at this point in that console's own life cycle. While the PlayStation 2 remains the highest-selling console to date, Fils-Aime cited NPD data showing that, over the course of the past year, the Wii has noticeably exceeded the PlayStation 2's overall rate of sales for its comparable performance period. Wii has now sold 27.2 million units in the United States, 5 million units ahead of PlayStation 2's 22.3 million units at the equivalent point. "And of course, the other current home platforms are losing ground even more quickly," Fils-Amie added, noting that Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3's rates of sale have not increased in proportion to the Wii's over the last year.