Nintendo: Wii Gunning for PS2 Record
Forget about PS3 and Xbox 360 - Nintendo is setting its sights higher with the Wii.
The clamour for Wiis means that Nintendo's console has been hard to find for most of the first seven months of its life. According to the company's president, Satoru Iwata, if the console endears itself to ordinary people as well as it hopes it will, the Wii might just be headed into the record territory current lorded over by Sony's previous console.
Iwata at Nintendo's E3 press event"Sony's PS2 sales of 100 million units is an extraordinary number that our home game console business has not achieved. But if we can make our bid to expand the gaming population a continued success, we could exceed that," Iwata told Reuters last week.
Until now, the Wii has surprised everyone - including Nintendo, which has been caught flat-footed trying to make enough to keep up with demand.
If the trend continues, the Wii will mark a major turnaround for Nintendo. From Super NES to Nintendo 64 to GameCube, with each successive generation the firm has sold fewer consoles worldwide over the past decade.
Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo
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