GameBoy Advance
Before the DS there was the GameBoy. This hand-held juggernaut ruled the playground and until the DS it was always backwards compatible. This feature alone insured you always had a huge library of games to pick from. So, how did the fabled GBA do over its lifetime?
- GameBoy Advance Systems Sold (including SP)
- Japan: 16,730,000
- The Americas: 41,650,000
- Other: 22,100,000
- Total: 80,480,000
- GameBoy Advance Software Sold
- Japan: 72,590,000
- The Americas: 213,440,000
- Other: 86,600,000
- Total: 372,630,000
- GameBoy Advance attachment ratio
- Japan: 4.3
- The Americas: 5.1
- Other: 3.9
- Average: 4.6
How about that, the venerable Game Boy Advance works out to an average attachment rate of 4.6 games per console.
The GameCube
The GameCube has suffered a lot of abuse from a lot of people. I own one and even though I do not play it so much anymore I never understood the hate so many people felt for it. The only problem I have with the system is the way when Nintendo packaged a special version of the console it was always a cheaper version without the option for a progressive scan output.
- GameCube Consoles sold
- Japan: 4,020,000
- The Americas: 12,880,000
- Other: 4,760,000
- Total: 21,660,000
- GameCube Software Sold
- Japan: 27,470,000
- The Americas: 137,780,000
- Other: 42,480,000
- Total: 207,740,000
- GameCube attachment ratio
- Japan: 5.5
- The Americas: 10.6
- Other: 8.9
- Average: 9.6
With the exception of Japan the GameCube had a very respectable attachment rate.
The Nintendo DS
When the Nintendo DS was first released Nintendo was telling everyone that it was not the new GameBoy. Nintendo was just beginning to turn their focus away from hard core gamers (which they were losing to the PS2 and Xbox) and to instead attempt to widen the appeal of their consoles to people who are not traditional video game players. We all know how this ended up.
- Nintendo DS Consoles sold
- Japan: 19,710,000
- The Americas: 16,060,000
- Other: 17,880,000
- Total: 53,640,000
- Nintendo DS Software Sold
- Japan: 95,130,000
- The Americas: 82,420,000
- Other: 81,930,000
- Total: 259,480,000
- Nintendo DS attachment ratio
- Japan: 4.8
- The Americas: 5.1
- Other: 4.6
- Average: 4.8
I have to say that the attachment rate for the DS is a surprise to me, or is it? Nintendo has been branching out to people who do not traditionally play video games with titles such as Nintendogs, Brain Age and others. Because these people are not traditional video game players, will they buy more games?
The Nintendo Wii
When the Nintendo Wii was released many people criticized its lack of high-def output and often referred to it as a warmed over GameCube. Game Developers ignored it (at their own peril) and the long time Nintendo fans were asking, "where are the games?" Even with all of that going against it the console sold like nothing else!
Over the first holiday season it was impossible to find one on store shelves and it has kept this pace for the past 14 months. No other console has had this "problem". Even after ramping up production demand has not been satisfied. Will the Wii continue at this pace for much longer? No one knows...
- Nintendo Wii Consoles sold
- Japan: 3,670,000
- The Americas: 5,460,000
- Other: 4,040,000
- Total: 13,170,000
- Nintendo Wii Software Sold
- Japan: 11,900,000
- The Americas: 33,490,000
- Other: 20,430,000
- Total: 65,810,000
- Nintendo Wii attachment ratio
- Japan: 3.2
- The Americas: 6.1
- Other: 5
- Average: 5
Wait a minute, I thought the Wii had a terrible attachment rate? It's not as good as the GameCube attachment rate but it is perfectly in line with the GBA and the DS. One also needs to understand that these numbers are a few months out of date but they are also straight from Nintendo's own financial report.
I know a lot of people like to trumpet NPD and VGChartz when it comes to sales data. Both of those sources have their place but they can not stand on their own. For one thing NPD ignores everything outside of North America. VGChartz covers worldwide sales but even their North American data has often been off from NPD numbers by 5% or more. VGChartz has gotten better over time while NPD continues to ignore the rest of the world. Here's a news flash for NPD: North America is not the world.
Source - Nintendo Semi Annual Report from September 2007