San Francisco (dpa) – Nintendo’s new video game console the Wii U is essentially sold out at most retail stores, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Amie said Monday.
The console launched on November 18 and by the weekend had sold over 400,000 units, Fils-Amie told technology news site CNet.com.
That figure is on par with the sales of Nintendo’s enormously popular Wii console which upended the video game market when it went on sale in 2006.
The current market environment is considered more challenging due to the growth of casual gaming on mobile devices and improvements in competing game systems such as Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s Playstation 3.
”Wii U is essentially sold out of retail and we are doing our best to continually replenish stock,” Fils-Aime said.
”Retailers are also doing their best to get the product to store shelves. But as soon as product hits retail, they’re selling out immediately.”
