Even if the Wii occasionally breaks down, it still manages to sell like crazy. Since the November 19, United States release, Nintendo managed to sell over 600,000 of their next-gen consoles, or at least that is what they claim.

I didn't do the math, but 1up.com did, and according to them, the Wii became a US$ 190 million business in just one week, first party games and accessories included. These 600,000 units sold by the Wii represent almost double compared with the first month's sales of the Xbox 360. I will not even include the PS3 in this comparison, as its sales figures are hilarious. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about how powerful and well-designed the PS3 is; all I'm saying is that you can't find one. Maybe you can still get one on eBay but for twice or three times its initial value.

According to Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime, even if the sales exceeded 600,000 units, there is still a lot of demand for the Wii, and because of this, Nintendo will ship more Wiis this holiday season.

Why do you think the Nintendo Wii was launched so close to the holiday season, if not to "force" parents to get one for their children as a Christmas gift. This was a strong marketing move on behalf of Nintendo. Sony tried to pull a similar stunt, but the number of PS3s available is far too low, so regular parents who don't have deep pockets won't be able to buy one for Christmas, no matter how much their children cry and beg. Maybe they will enter that PS3 hacking competition...