The original Wii Sports was a free game that came with the Wii. It was was easy and concise and gave new players a chance to really get into the controls before they started up with Link or Samus in one of their bigger, badder games. But the surprise was how much fun it was. It might have been simple, but it was well-crafted and new enough that it merited a sequel.
When I first heard about Wii Sports Resort, I honestly didn’t see the point: giving a free, low-budget game a sequel with a real release? And doing so in a sea of licensed games or huge franchises carted out by Sony and Microsoft? Apparently, I was wrong to doubt. As you can read in this article from Cubed, sales of the game have been stellar.
Despite lower sales for Wii hardware, the follow-up to Wii Sports (which itself has now slipped past 50 million) has now sold 6.97 million copies worldwide, giving a fairly solid install base for MotionPlus-enabled owners.
Fellow software in the Wii range has also performed exceptionally well, with Wii Fit selling 22.5 million with the balance board, the expansion, Wii Fit Plus creeping past the 2 million mark and Mario Kart still hogging the charts at 18.4 million. The mini-game compilation bundled with Wii Remote, Wii Play knocked up 24.4 million.
Nintendo has also performed continually well with DS software, the classic 2D revival, New! Super Mario Bros selling 19.94 million copies, Mario Kart DS 16.1 million and Professor Layton and [the Diabolical] Box is at 1.26 million. The much desired Pokémon Gold and Silver remakes, Heart and Soul, together shipped 2.27 million, with Platinum topping 6.39 million.
And if you’re looking to get your hands on Wii Sports Resort or some of the other games mentioned above, check out Amazon.com!
Limited-Edition Wii Sports Resort Bundle with Two Wii MotionPlus
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Mario Kart DS
