Nintendo DS: 500,000 sold in first week
By Susan Mernit 
posted December 2nd 2004 2:42AM
posted December 2nd 2004 2:42AM
If you're thinking about buying a
Nintendo DS, move fast—the company says they sold 500,000
units of the new double-screen game console during the first
week and the supply could be "depleted within days." Given that Nintendo really did tell analysts they
expected to sell 1 million units before 2004 ended that leaves just another week or so to grab one. Game Boy Advance
SP, anyone?
Ha, I got mine on Black Friday. I called Best Buy and they said they had 14 of them an hour before I went there. When I got there they only had 2 left, I was real lucky to get one of the last ones.
Ah...now all I need is NFS Underground 2 to come out.
They are sold out on my entire island (hawaii, big island)
and have been sold out for some time.
They expect a new shipment in a week or two...
heh. sucks.
That Yahoo news story said the Gameboy Advance sold 800,000 in the same week. Is that really true, or is it a typo? Nintendo sold 1.5 times as many of the older console? Was that because these people couldn't get their hands on a DS?
"That Yahoo news story said the Gameboy Advance sold 800,000 in the same week. Is that really true, or is it a typo? Nintendo sold 1.5 times as many of the older console? Was that because these people couldn't get their hands on a DS?"
It is really true, it's not a typo, and it's probably not only because people couldn't get their hands on a DS. The DS is $150, the SP is $80, for one thing. In a lot of peoples' minds, there's a $100 threshold where something (especially a Christmas gift) becomes a major purchase. The SP falls below that, the DS above. I doubt too many of those people would have bought a DS instead of an SP even if they had been available.
Nintendo's said they'll sell the SP and DS together for as long as there's demand; they believe they appeal to different markets. Lots of people didn't believe them when they said this but the numbers so far do bear it out.
I would also like everyone to consider the fact that Nintendo sold 1.3 million handhelds in one territory in one week. That's pretty unbelievable. They also apparently sold 250,000 GameCubes that same week, which would put them on pace for global domination if they could do it week in, week out (obviously they can't). It was a pretty amazing week for them all-around - 1.55 million total hardware units. In one territory. In seven days. I really can't get my head around that.
And remember everyone, the DS is incompatible with old GameBoy and GameBoyColor games, so the SP might still appeal to those who have a bunch of old games lying about...
Plus the DS actually fits in your pocket. :-)
I'm going to try to buy one today. I gotta get that Mario game.
I'll keep my SP. It still has that old-school feel, while being rechargable at the same time. I'll get a DS when the price drops by $50.
"Plus the DS actually fits in your pocket"
Really??? The DS looks big and bulky.
I won't get a DS until I can see some real world applications with the built in Wi-Fi or a game that makes full use of the 2 screens. As for now, it's just a gimic.
Amen
nintendo has needed a decent handheld with real 3d graphics for a while, its hardly gimicky. anything that uses the extra touch screen is a bonus
Nintendo is nothing more than gimmicks and retreads.
my mom got me one for xmas already so im safe
ive also got an sp but all gba games no gbc or original gb games, so i dont care at all about the non backwards compatibility thing for gbc back.
My mom was kinda skeptical about it at first but when i saw one and played around with it in a gamestop for a minute, both my parents said "yeah, wow thats cool"
Also getting mario 64 urbz and maby urban asphalt gt or rayman ds
I'm holding out for the next gameboy
The ds sounds ace the down side is u cant play gameboy or gameboy color