Spin Cycle: Nintendo Boasts 20 Million Units Sold in the United States

The NPD hardware charts have always been a deciding factor in the console war between the Nintendo Wii, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. Even though the companies behind the devices have always battled in statements and new features, the sales numbers never lied.

As always, after we've seen the groups reveal their charts for both hardware and software sales over the territory of the United States, the companies involved have released statements that put some very positive spins on even the lowest results registered.

Even though its Wii console recorded a massive 57 percent decrease in sales as opposed to last year's May, from 675,100 to just 289,500 units sold, Nintendo has managed to emphasize the fact that it has now reached 20 million devices on the territory of the Unites States of America, becoming “the fastest-selling console in history.”

But where the Wii lost in year-over-year sales, the DS has managed to grow, with almost 40 percent. The total number of 633,500 DS units was pretty impressive, but almost 390,000 of them were DSi, meaning that the new handheld is a very sought-after console. Total sales of the DS in the US have exceeded 31 million units, the company reveals.

Nintendo once again boasted the fact that six of the top ten best-selling games of May were released for either the DS or the Wii, and just one of them, EA Sports Active, was a third-party title. The rest of them made plenty of money for the Japanese company.

Nintendo of America Sales and Marketing EVP Cammie Dunaway took the chance to thank the average consumers and emphasize that motion controls and social gaming were already present for the Wii, as opposed to its rivals. “ The continued enthusiastic consumer response to our products shows that Nintendo has something for everyone. For Nintendo, precision motion controls and social gaming are realities today.”