Nintendo of America has announced that during the first week of the 2007 holiday shopping season it has sold more Nintendo products than at any other time in its history. In addition to millions of games and accessories, these sales figures include over 653 000 Nintendo DS units and 350 000 Wiis sold throughout North America. These figures represent sales from the 18th of November to the 24th of November.

The Nintendo DS set a new sales record for Thanksgiving week, beating the previous record of 600 000 held by the GBA for the same period in 2005 in the US. Boasting figures like this it is pretty certain that the Nintendo DS will be the top selling video game system of 2007.

The factory that Mario built also achieved great success with the Wii. The 350 000 Wii units sold is the highest one-week US sales total outside of its launch week one year ago. For many people it is clear that the Wii is a ‘must-have gift’ for this holiday season, but Nintendo are still dogged by supply constraints despite trying to meet demand by increasing its shipments and its fiscal-year sales forecast for the Wii.

Most fun and most affordable

The Wii sold 5 million units in North America after just 12 months, achieving this goal faster than any other video game system ever. Most importantly it has achieved this goal without a price drop. Nintendo has not adjusted the prices for either the Nintendo DS or the Wii, despite Microsoft and Sony lowering the prices of the Xbox 360 and PS3. The Wii is currently retailing at $249.99 while the Nintendo DS is available at $129.99.

“As shoppers look for ways to maximize their limited holiday spending money, they turn to gifts that can be used by the entire family,” says George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. “Wii and Nintendo DS offer something for every member of the family. They’re the most fun video game experiences at the most affordable price.”

Breaking records around the world

It seems that the Nintendo DS is experiencing success around the world with Nintendo recently confirming that 191 000 Nintendo DS units were sold in the UK in just seven days, the highest figure achieved by any other hardware format in a seven day period in the UK. The Nintendo DS also recently topped the 20 million mark in Japan, reaching an impressive life to date figure of 20 042 862 units.

The Nintendo DS continues to dominate the Japanese hardware charts while the Wii is also selling steadily in the land of the rising sun. Last week Nintendo confirmed that the Wii had become the fastest selling console to reach 200 000 in Australia, reaching this goal in less than one year since its launch down under.