800k Wiis sold over Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving week sales more than doubled year on year.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has revealed to Reuters that Wii sales during the traditionally busy Thanksgiving shopping week in the US reached around 800,000 units, up from 350,000 units over the same period in 2007.

"When the economy is strong, people tend to buy three things from the top of their wish list. But when things are bad, people often buy only the first thing on their list," said Iwata. "Fortunately for us a lot of shoppers put our products at the top of their list."

It's not just Wii sales which are up, with the Nintendo DS reported to have seen a 20 per cent gain in Thanksgiving week 2008 compared to 2007.

Iwata added: "We are shooting for quite big numbers as our annual sales targets. But we are not in a situation where it is getting difficult to hit that target or our plans are getting off track."