Microsoft Talks Wii Sales
GS: You announced this week Xbox 360 surpassed 10 million units in the US. How significant do you think this is when Nintendo is only about half a million units behind with one year less on the market?
AG: I think it speaks to the fact that we were the first console to reach that point – one of the advantages to being first to market. But we really feel that our competitor in the space is PlayStation 3. The Wii is much more of a complement to our experience. We’re speaking to a different type of customer. I think it’s important, but it isn’t the only metric. Software is important too, and we do the best there.
In the prior generations, though, the first to hit 10 million units was the leader in that generation. We feel good about being at 10 million first. We feel good about 12 million Live members. We expect this will be the biggest year in the history of video games. That’s great for us, that’s great for Nintendo. As the pie continues to grow, that’s good for everyone here.
GS: There were quite a few Wii games up in the top sellers this month – obviously Xbox 360 leads in attach rate, but do you think Wii might be starting to progress in that area?
AG: We’re still seeing that the Wii – the attach rates remain quite a bit behind the 360, but that the games that are selling are still only Nintendo games. We’re seeing a lot of third parties make games for Wii, and get them on shelves, and people not buying a lot of games, and the ones that they are are the Mario Karts and the Wii Plays.