The Nintendo Wii was first released back in 2006. It is the latest gaming console from Nintendo and it has proved to be massively successful across the world with sales approaching 50 million units worldwide. The console was first released in the run up to Christmas and so it quickly became the gift that everyone wanted. The rush to preorder Nintendo Wii consoles was overwhelming and led to a shortage of units which meant that several high street retailers were unable to fulfil their preorders.

The Nintendo Wii has marked a definite resurgence for the Japanese company and it has established itself as the clear market leader outselling both the Sony PlayStation3 and the Xbox 360. A successful advertising campaign highlighted the wireless gaming potential with several titles featuring a range of funky peripherals and encouraging families to jump around their living rooms. Consider the disaster Nintendo had with the GameCube which sold barely 20 million units worldwide and placed them a distant third place behind the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox. It is clear the scale of their comeback has been astounding and by innovating they have once again managed to create the must have console of the generation.

It is interesting that the numbers of people looking to preorder Nintendo Wii consoles were so high when you consider that it is by far the weakest of the next generation of consoles in terms of processing power. Both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 are capable of running much more complex programs with high definition graphics and yet the Wii is outselling them. Naturally cost must be a large factor in this and the Nintendo Wii is significantly cheaper than the competition.

Throughout 2007 the Nintendo Wii continued to sell at an amazing rate and manufacturers struggled to keep pace with the demand. Many retailers continued to allow people to preorder Nintendo Wii consoles because the stock was flying out of the door as quickly as it arrived.

The Nintendo Wii is the smallest console Nintendo have ever released and it is designed to be as user friendly as possible. The simple Wii remote is an easy control method and the console has succeeded in appealing to a wide demographic outside of the usual gamer category.

Few people within the industry expected the success that Nintendo have enjoyed with the Wii console and consequently many publishers and developers concentrated on producing titles for the Xbox 360 or the PS3. That trend is definitely begin to change and one of the biggest publishers and developers in the world, Electronic Arts, recently announced they would be focussing on producing more Wii titles in the coming year.

It is possible that the PlayStation 3 will begin to catch up in the coming year and the Xbox 360 has achieved sales figures not far away from the Wii in some territories. However, while they may outsell the Wii in coming months, it is extremely unlikely that they will reach such a large overall share of the market that they threaten the Wii’s position as king of the current generation.

The clamour to preorder Nintendo Wii consoles seems to be over now and production has finally caught up with demand. The vast majority of retailers now have units in stock but it has taken a surprising length of time for demand to be fulfilled. Back when it was originally released it was the fastest selling pre-order item ever.