Iwata Is Hoping For a Big Holiday

“In September, which people overseas call ‘back-to-school,’ people start to pay more attention to home consoles. If we can convey the appeal of Wii Sports Resort to existing customers then, it will surely contribute to the sales of hardware and generate good momentum toward the holiday season. So we feel that Wii Sports Resort will drive hardware sales mainly in Q3 from October to December. Last year, we had some internal discussions about the close launch period of Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit but we ended up launching them with the hypothesis that several major title launches in close proximity can produce a synergetic effect. As a result, it went very well. This year we hope to do well again as we will be launching three ten-million class titles consecutively, and would love to hear that ‘Holiday 2009 was the best one ever for Nintendo!’”

Source: Nintendo Everything

Nintendo has big plans every holiday season, as do most game companies. We're seeing a lot of them shift games out of the holiday season this year into the first quarter of next year to avoid the rush and hopefully generate a few more sales. Nintendo has New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wii Fit Plus, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Metroid Prime Trilogy, and Wii Fit Plus all scheduled to come out before the end of the year. I can see all of those potentially being big sellers so Mr. Iwata may have a lot to look forward to.

I can say without a doubt that New Super Mario Bros. Wii will be the biggest seller of all those games. The DS iteration of the game is still on the NPD best seller list every month and the game has been out for three years. Mario is a huge force in the gaming world and any time a title with his name on it comes out it sells huge. Wii Fit has a bigger install base than the PS3. The updated version this year has made some additions that many people will welcome and it will warrant a second purchase for people who have been happy with that product.

I'm looking forward to all of those titles, and will be out on day one buying Metroid Prime Trilogy and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Which holiday offerings from Nintendo are you looking forward to?