Wii makes Nintendo top dog in games
FROM
Guitar Hero to Mario Kart and Grand Theft Auto, Australia has become a
nation of gamers, but according to last year's industry statistics one
vendor outshone the rest: Nintendo. 
Wii Fit took top honours as the biggest selling video game in Australia last year
According to figures from market researcher GfK Retail and Technology
Australia, video game software accounted for about $1 billion in sales
last year, as the market including consoles inched towards the $2
billion mark. The likes of Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 filled
their share of Christmas stockings, but it was Nintendo and its growing
range of family oriented games that dominated sales for the year. In 2008, including third-party titles, the number of Nintendo Wii
games topped 4.5 million, while game sales for its handheld sibling,
the Nintendo DS, accounted for more than 3.5 million units. Total game sales for the Xbox 360 for the year (first and third-party titles) hit 2.1 million units. According to the GfK statistics, Nintendo had eight of the 10 top selling video games last year. Its popular Wii Fit game took top honours with more than 370,000
sales. Wii Play came in next with more than 320,000 sales, while Mario
Kart Wii rounded out the top three with more than 269,000 sales. The popular gangster epic Grand Theft Auto IV was the only
non-Nintendo game in the top 10. It occupied places five and six,
respectively, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Nintendo Australia managing director Rose Lappin said the secret to
the company's success was its ability to provide a product the whole
family could enjoy. "This is one of the best years on record for
Nintendo and a great year for the industry as a whole," she said. "We have been successful globally, and we have opened up the market
for everyone - from the youngest in the family to the oldest, who can
enjoy wii games with their grandchildren." Sony Computer Entertainment Australia was unable to reveal the
yearly figures for games sold on PlayStation consoles ahead of its
quarterly financial reports, which will be disclosed later this month,
but local boss Michael Ephraim was encouraged by the acceptance of
video games. "Every time someone buys a console, whether it is ours or that of a
competitor, it is all good because the whole industry is opening up
households that have never played games before," he said. Source | 
