Nintendo's Share Of Retail Game Markets Fell In 2010

As overall console and handheld software sales fell in 2010, so too did the share of those software markets represented by Nintendo systems, according to data compiled by the company and presented as part of a recent investor briefing. In Japan, Nintendo DS and Wii software represented 54.7 percent of all software sales in 2010, down 11 percent from 2009. Other regions saw similar dips, with Nintendo systems taking up 49.1 percent of 2010 software sales in the Americas (down 4.5 percent from 2009) and 44.6 percent in Europe (down 6.6 percent from 2009). In prepared remarks, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata attributed this proportional decline partly to a few mega-sellers on other systems, including the PSP's Monster Hunter Portable 3rd in Japan and the Xbox 360 and PS3's Call of Duty: Black Ops in the Americas. "Before the launch of [Call of Duty: Black Ops], many in the industry anticipated that this software would not outsell the previous version, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," Iwata said. "However, in the end, the software yielded an even better result than the previous version and contributed to the entire software market." Nintendo's data also shows sales results for many top-sellers on Nintendo systems varying widely by region. Donkey Kong Country Returns, for instance, has sold much faster in the U.S. than other regions, while Wii Party and Art Academy have seen their strongest sales in Europe. Iwata again stressed the success of third-party software on Nintendo systems, pointing out that 154 of the million-selling games across the Wii and DS come from third party publishers, compared to 80 million-sellers published by Nintendo.