Nintendo Calls Wii Sales 'Fantastic'

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) - A top Nintendo Co. executive said holiday sales of the Wii game consoles have gotten off to a ``fantastic start'' but warned Tuesday that Wiis would be scarce through the end of the year.

Nintendo sold 350,000 Wiis in the U.S. last week, when many stores were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, compared with 300,000 the previous week in the U.S.

It was unclear if last week's sales broke a Nintendo record. During one eight-day period in late November 2006, when the Wii debuted, consumers throughout the U.S., Canada and Latin America purchased more than 600,000 units sold.

The company is on track to sell 17.5 million Wiis in the fiscal year ending March 31. Last fall, Nintendo executives predicted they would sell 14.5 million Wiis.

They were producing roughly 1.2 million units per month at the time.

Nintendo has ramped up production to about 1.8 million per month, but its manufacturers cannot increase production again, said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime, who spent Friday and Saturday spot-checking Wii supplies at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best Buy Co., GameStop Corp., Target Corp. and Toys ``R'' Us Inc. stores in Erie, Pa., and Redmond, Wash.

``I couldn't find a single Wii system on the shelves - literally as I was walking into a Wal-Mart at 11 a.m., someone was walking out with the last one,'' Fils-Aime said in an interview at the company's new Redwood City office. ``Consumers are buying every game we can put into the system.''

Fils-Aime predicted a new sales record the week before Christmas, despite being ``very concerned'' about the U.S. economy and the rising price of gasoline. About 40 percent of Wii sales have been in North America and Latin America, while 35 percent were in Asia, primarily Japan, and the rest came from Europe and the Middle East.

He dismissed speculation online that the Kyoto, Japan-based company - maker of Pokemon and Super Mario games - is deliberately constraining supply of the $250 console to generate buzz.

``A shortage benefits no one,'' he said. ``We're disappointed. This was all about how we didn't accurately estimate demand. We need to be more bullish about the potential for the Wii.''

Unlike consoles with joysticks that players operate with their thumbs, the Wii responds to the user moving a wand-like wireless controller strapped to a wrist.

Wii games including tennis and bowling appeal to children, parents, hardcore gamers and even senior citizens.

Sony Corp.'s top-line PlayStation model, with an 80-gigabyte hard drive, costs $499 in the U.S., down from the original price of $599. A new low-end model with a 40-gigabyte drive will go on sale Nov. 2 for $399.

Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 costs $350 in the U.S.

The Wii has been a tremendous boost for Nintendo.

In the quarter ended Sept. 30, it more than doubled its sales to $6.1 billion from a year earlier, when the Wii had not yet launched.

Nintendo has sold 5.5 million Wiis in the U.S. since the console went on sale.

(This version CORRECTS comparison data, which is for broader geographic region than the U.S.)

Nintendo, Nokia and Motorola flunk the Green test

Nintendo, Nokia and Motorola have flunked a 'toxic test' conducted by the quarterly Guide to Greener Electronics.

The latest edition of the mag assessed for the first time TVs and the rapidly growing games consoles market and even the mobile market for their environmental credentials.

While Nintendo completely failed to show any environmental credentials, Microsoft and Philips did a little better.

The Greener Electronics Guide is a way of getting the electronics industry to face up to the problem of e-waste with an aim to make manufacturers get rid of harmful chemicals in their products.

The purpose of this guide is to see an end to the stories of unprotected child labourers scavenging mountains of cast-off gadgets created by society's gizmo-loving ways.

The guide ranked companies according to their policies and practices on toxic chemicals and takeback. Along with mobile phone and personal computer companies, the biggest makers of TVs and games consoles were also added.

Old TVs are a large part of e-waste and the games console market is one of the fastest growing in consumer electronics.

Nintendo has the dubious honour of being the first company to score 0/10 in the guide. Microsoft did little better, scoring only 2.7. Philips is the lowest TV-maker scoring only 2.

The companies are new to the Guide and thus have plenty of room for improvement.

Sony Ericsson is heading the ranking, and has taken over number one spot from Nokia while Samsung and Sony have zoomed to now occupy second and third positions.

Nokia and Motorola have each had a penalty point deducted after it was found that their claims of global takeback were not being matched by actual practice.

The implementation of product takeback programmes in six countries where Motorola, Nokia and Sony Ericsson claim, on their websites, to operate product takeback programmes, was tested.

Nokia representatives in the Philippines, Thailand, Argentina, Russia and India were not informed about their companies' own programmes and in many cases provided misleading information.

Motorola staff in the Philippines, Thailand and India were unable to direct customers to collection points in their respective countries.

Therefore, Nokia falls from top position to ninth and Motorola drops from ninth position to fourteenth.

"Companies shouldn't be under any illusions that we won't check up on their claims of green greatness," commented Iza Kruszewska, toxics campaigner at Greenpeace International. Companies making the most progress with new products without the worst toxic chemicals are now ranking higher than companies who have only committed to remove them in the future.

Toshiba has laptops free of toxic chemicals like vinyl plastic (PVC) and has reduced the use of brominated flame retardants (BFRs).

Apple's score improves slightly due to new iMacs reducing the use of PVC and BFRs.

All new mobiles from Sony Ericsson and Nokia have been free of PVC since the end of 2006. The guide focuses on toxic chemicals and takeback policy because of the rapid growth in quantities of toxic e-waste being dumped in developing countries like China and India.

However, Nintendo's Wii console appears to be more energy efficient compared to the Microsoft Xbox and Sony Playstation, energy use is not yet covered in the ranking.

Many companies have made big strides to improve their products and recycling schemes since the introduction of the guide.

But no company has so far succeeded in offering an entire range of products free of the worst toxic chemicals or a comprehensive, free, global takeback scheme to ensure responsible recycling.

Nintendo's Wii console bags Pocket-lint's 'gadget of the year' award

London, November 26: Nintendo's groundbreaking Wii console was declared the gadget of the year at technology website Pocket-lint.co.uk's annual Gadget Awards recently.

The best-selling games machine beating off competition from Apple's much-hyped iPhone and Nokia's N95 mobile.

It also won the award for best console, beating Sony's Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360.

Apple's iPhone won the Best Smartphone award. However, the company's iPod Touch lost out to the lesser known Archos 605 Wi-Fi in the best mp3 player category.

According to the Mirror, the Awards were judged by a panel of top tech journalists.

The winners at the Pocket Lint Awards 2007 were:

Best Gadget - Nintendo Wii

Best MP3 Player - Archos 605 Wi-Fi

Best Headphones - Sennheiser PXC450

Best DAB radio - Pure Evoke - 1S

Best Console - Nintendo Wii

Best Smartphone - Apple iPhone

Best Mobile Phone - Nokia N95

Best Mobile Phone Accessory - Jawbone Bluetooth headset

Best Satnav - Navman S901

Best Car Gadget - Griffing itrip auto

Best Compact Digital Camera - Fuji FinePix Z5fd

Best DLSR Digital Camera - Canon EOS 40D DSLR digital camera

Best Printer - Kodak Easyshare 5300 All In One Printer

Best Laptop - Sony VAOI TX11N - ultraslim

Best VoIP Accessory - Philips VOIP841

Best TV - Pioneer Kuro

Best Home Cinema Accessory - Apple TV

Best Console Game - Gears of War, Xbox

Best Sports and fitness gadget - Timex iControl

Best Green Gadget - usbcell