Core Gaming Group, Nintendo’s representative company in South Africa, held a media briefing in Johannesburg this past Friday. At the event they launched two popular Wii titles, Super Mario Galaxy and Mario Party 8, and detailed the upcoming release schedule for the Wii. This schedule includes stellar titles such as Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Resident Evil 4, Mario Strikers Charged Football, Big Brain Academy Wii Degree, Endless Ocean, Mario Kart and Super Paper Mario.

The media was also introduced to the Nintendo DS Lite, as Core Group relaunched Nintendo’s best-selling handheld console in South Africa. Four great titles will be launched with the Nintendo DS Lite: New Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart DS, Nintendogs and Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain? To read more about the launch head over to Core Group relaunches Nintendo DS Lite in South Africa along with new Wii titles.

Selling out across the world

For many gamers and interested parties the real reveal came when Executive Director of Core Group, RJ Van Spaandonk, discussed how well the Nintendo Wii has been received in South Africa since it was launched here last year October. Since the Wii was launched in Japan, North America, Australia and Europe, Nintendo has been struggling to keep up with the demand, with most units selling out the same day they arrive at retail outlets.

It has experienced phenomenal success across the world, claiming the title of second best-selling game system for 2007 in the US, beaten only by its handheld sibling the Nintendo DS Lite which claimed the top spot. To give you a taste of just how well the Wii has done, let me take the time to point out that according to NPD data the Wii sold 6.3 million units in North America in 2007, recording sales of 2.3 million for the months of November and December alone.

Across the pond Nintendo recently confirmed that over 6 million Wiis have been snatched up by European gamers since its launch there in December 2006. The story is much the same in Australia where the Wii sold 73 318 units in December alone and over 300 000 units have found their way into Australian homes since the console was launched down under in December 2006. Nintendo of Japan has chalked up similar success with recent Media Create figures reporting that 5 million Wiis have been sold in Japan to date.

Most popular next-gen console in SA

As you can see the Wii had a lot resting on its shoulders, and we have been wondering if it has lived up to the high expectations set for it by the rest of the world. According to Van Spaandonk, it has done just that and more. He confirmed that the Wii was the most popular next-generation home console in South Africa for the fourth quarter of 2007. Not only was it the most popular but it outsold Sony’s PS3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 combined over the critical December festive season.

In terms of the latest figures from Core Group, the Wii dominated 46% of the next-generation home console market while the Xbox 360 finished in second place with 29% and the PS3 a close third with 25%. Total console sales tallied over 100 000 in Quarter 4 of 2007 in South Africa. This showed a 40% year-on-year increase with the home consoles showing a 35% increase and the handheld consoles a 70% increase. Essentially the sales figures show that one in every five consoles sold was a Wii.

Interesting to note that the next-generation consoles accounted for 52% of the console market with the previous generation consoles like the PS2 accounting for 48%. Home consoles accounted for 87% of the total console sales.

Looks like things are heating up in the South African gaming scene but one thing is for sure, the Wii has proved that it has what it takes to deliver what it promises – great fun, innovative gaming and popular titles for both casual and veteran gamers.