Pachter: Wii sales surpass PS2's initial 2-year performance
In what is perhaps his softest attack on credulity yet, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has predicted that life-to-date sales of Nintendo's Wii console will overtake the PlayStation 2's two-year sales when it comes time to tally December's NPD-compiled North American sales results. In other words, Pachter believes that the Wii has flown off shelves faster than the PlayStation 2 did in its first two years of existence. The gall of that young upstart! (The Wii, not Pachter.)
While Nintendo's astonishing performance in November may render Pachter's bet a safe one, trumping the massively mainstream PlayStation 2 is nonetheless what we in the business call "a big deal." If December's NPD results reinforce the analyst's claim, it may even fuel his assertion that 2009 will offer more Wii hits from third-party developers -- albeit in the form of "mainstay" fare. Still, if the Wii is to become the new PS2, maybe someone will give the system its Shadow of the Colossus.
