Nintendo plays numbers game, wins!
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Jul 25th 2006 at 11:25AM }
Nintendo certainly struck the jackpot with their little dual-screened device, didn't they? With 21 million DS units having been sold worldwide, you can bet that the Japanese giant is enjoying every last penny spilling forth from the one-armed consumer. In the celebratory press release, Nintendo points out that what they've accomplished in under two years easily trumps the 1 million iPods Apple shifted in 19 months. Apparently, that equates to 23 DS systems sold per minute ever since the November 2004 launch.As you may vengefully recall, we accused Nintendo of having suspiciously puffy sleeves in our last game of marketing poker. You'll be happy to learn then that there are no such shenanigans here and that the numbers check out based on a 24-hour business day. We suspect that if the day were any longer, Nintendo would make such a huge amount of money that they'd be taken into a back room, sternly questioned by Joe Pesci and ... this casino allegory is going nowhere.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DJ @ Jul 25th 2006 11:34AM
Thats ALOT of DSes!
Jared Bagley @ Jul 25th 2006 11:37AM
And watch that stock soar. It's up 50% over the past year($18 to $24/share) I'm buying Nintendo stock just as fast as I can make the money to buy it with. I'm confident the Wii will have the same effect on their stock, if not moreso from Wii-DS interconnectivity that will cause users of one to buy the other.
Stoof @ Jul 25th 2006 11:37AM
I'm faithful to Nintendo and I can say that I contributed $150 for the DS and ($222 from Lik-Sang) for the imported Navy DS Lite.
I hope the Wii is this successful.
MetaHuman @ Jul 25th 2006 11:40AM
:(
I wanted so much to buy NTDOY shares when it was $5-6... now it's around $24. They be winning.
Ditto on hoping for Wii's success.
iceatcs @ Jul 25th 2006 11:46AM
Well done Nintendo.
Funny that I haven't had a chance to see anyone standing on the DS shelf in any UK stores or people playing it in the public.
David @ Jul 25th 2006 11:48AM
Urgh - the 'dodgy numbers' of the Mario US sales was based on shops being open for 12 hours a day, which is already generous.
This one is 24 hours because it's international, and a shop is always open somewhere.
Pretty Dumb Joystiq.
leojsoap @ Jul 25th 2006 11:49AM
Eh, that's kinda an unfair comparison, that's the first generation iPod to nintendo's 4th gen handheld… not to say I'm complaining, but it seems like a pointless boast.
crono141 @ Jul 25th 2006 11:54AM
I've seen several people playing DS in public, many of them girls.
DJ @ Jul 25th 2006 11:55AM
I think I'm going to buy some nintendo stock as Jared said, the Wii should make it go up alot.
Ludwig Kietzmann @ Jul 25th 2006 11:56AM
Come now David, we've had this dance before. A 12-hour business day is an assumption you're making in order to justify that press release. The exact wording of the document does not back it up. It's just as fair to suggest a 24-hour day. Do not mistake disagreement for inaccuracy.
Back on topic -- I would be very interested to learn how many out of the 21 million are the elusive "casual gamers" Nintendo's been chasing after.
Clint @ Jul 25th 2006 11:59AM
If they sell about 80 million more they can come close to the Playstation 2's sales.
pandlcg @ Jul 25th 2006 12:04PM
Metahuman,
unless you were planning on buying Nintendo stock in the mid 90s i dont think you could have grabbed it for $5-6
David @ Jul 25th 2006 12:08PM
Hey clint - it took the PS2 much longer to reach 20 million then the DS. Hard to find the exact figures, but it seems it was about 23 months before the PS2 passed 20 Mil.
Jody Anthony @ Jul 25th 2006 12:10PM
clint,
when the ds has been out for 6+ years, maybe it will
MetaHuman @ Jul 25th 2006 12:13PM
@ pandlcg
Actually it was for a few weeks/months a few years ago probably around 2003, one of their mediocre years, including a bad E3. That's why I wanted to jump on it so badly.
Nel @ Jul 25th 2006 12:38PM
im still amazed at that number, 21 mils. That's incredible, nintendo earned it im happy for them.
Lucas @ Jul 25th 2006 12:50PM
Re: "7. Eh, that's kinda an unfair comparison, that's the first generation iPod to nintendo's 4th gen handheld… not to say I'm complaining, but it seems like a pointless boast."
Yeah, the 4th Gen iPod sold 32 million in ONE year. the Fifth Gen sold 14 million (that's 2/3 of what DS has sold over all) in THREE MONTHS. So no, that's not really a fair comparison. But, I guess it sounds good in a press release to the unknowing general public. Personally I'm happy with my DS AND my iPod!
darryl @ Jul 25th 2006 12:50PM
Wii! Another Nintendo circle-jerk... Touching is good, sticky.
Pii3 @ Jul 25th 2006 1:07PM
Now, now Ludwig. Why this article? To point back to Nintendo's early gaffe (which, while dodgy, can be explained by SOME form of logic)? I think, as you said, we already did that dance. Was it to make fun of the questionable iPod mention? The comments section of Blake Snow's post already took care of that? Was it just to showcase your casino allegory? Since when does "Hey guys, everything's OK!" qualify as a worthy post?
Ludwig Kietzmann @ Jul 25th 2006 1:39PM
Actually, it was meant to inform readers of the milestone Nintendo reached, similar to the previous Mario post. I hope you don't expect us to post press releases without providing commentary.
Scott @ Jul 25th 2006 1:54PM
---------------------------------------------------
Eh, that's kinda an unfair comparison, that's the first generation iPod to nintendo's 4th gen handheld…
----------------------------------------------------
Umm...Didn't Apple sell 1 Million "5G" iPods and iPod Nanos? Think before you speak.
shivr @ Jul 25th 2006 1:54PM
for the casual gamers thing... my mom bought a DS lite for brain age and tetris, and my non-gaming friend is thinking of doing the same... but so she can play tetris and animal crossing.
I think at least the non-gaming friends and relatives of DS owners purchase/know about the casual gaming front of the DS
Pii3 @ Jul 25th 2006 1:55PM
Readers were already informed. Yesterday.
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/24/nintendo-sells-21-million-ds-systems-worldwide/
Complete with commentary. Which, I have to say, I enjoy (always, and that includes your $0.02). I don't expect you to post press releases without it. But Mr. Snow already commented on this press release. Hence my question.
Pii3 @ Jul 25th 2006 2:09PM
Also:
Charlie M?! You make me pop your f**king eye out of your head to protect that piece of s**t! Charlie M, you dumb motherf**ker!!
Alex K. @ Jul 25th 2006 2:12PM
The iPod analogy is irrelevant.
In its first year, the iPod was ONLY FOR MACS. The PC version didn't come out until later. Back then, only about 15 million people had macs modern enough to work with the ipod, so it couldn't have possibly beat the DS's numbers.
billychaos @ Jul 25th 2006 2:15PM
Can someone please tell me how I can buy stock in NTDOY (Nintendo)?. I have been trying to figure it out since I first saw the revolution at E3 2005. It seems hard cause it's foriegn stock, no?
I initially wanted to do it before this E3, but now i'm too late. I want to do it quick before the Wii comes out.
Ludwig Kietzmann @ Jul 25th 2006 2:22PM
Pii3 -- sorry, I should have clarified. I wanted to make my own thoughts visible as well and provide some closure on the previous "numbers" issue. After all, they got it right this time! ;) I should probably look into this rampant paranoia of mine when it comes to numbers I see in press releases...
Lucas @ Jul 25th 2006 2:48PM
RE: Scott "21. ---------------------------------------------------
Eh, that's kinda an unfair comparison, that's the first generation iPod to nintendo's 4th gen handheld…
----------------------------------------------------
Umm...Didn't Apple sell 1 Million "5G" iPods and iPod Nanos? Think before you speak."
Wrong. YOU think before you speak. As I said in my previous post, the 5th Gen iPod and iPod nano sold 14, that's FOURTEEN MILLION units in the first three months they were out. See:
"• Total iPods sold all-time: 42 million.
• 14 million iPods sold in quarter. 32 million in 2005.
That was from their 1st quarter FY2006 earnings report. You can read the whole report at the following link:
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/8114/
So. Thank before you Speak. :P
Lionel @ Jul 25th 2006 3:44PM
The original 1989 gameboy sold 70 million units, so comparing first generation ipod to first generation nintendo handheld would be even more slanted.
leojsoap @ Jul 25th 2006 6:45PM
Heh, thanks Scott, too bad that wasn't my point, Nintendo's saying "Dude we crushed their nine month record" is pointless, since it's Apples to oranges in comparison, that's all.
Thanks for the reminder on thinking, I did, although, I'm gonna have to ask you to read before you reply…
x23 @ Jul 26th 2006 8:24AM
"10. Come now David, we've had this dance before. A 12-hour business day is an assumption you're making in order to justify that press release."
"6. Urgh - the 'dodgy numbers' of the Mario US sales was based on shops being open for 12 hours a day, which is already generous."
a "12-hour" business day makes perfect sense and isn't "generous" if you are say talking about North America only. which has a 4 hour spread end to end. so with normal 9-5 businesses... from end to end of the continent you'll have *something* open from 5am to 9pm.
that said... maybe i don't know what you are even talking about with the 12 hour days... but most gaming shops here are open from 10a-10p. and i'm hardly in a metropolis or anything.