Wii U near-sellout shows there's still demand for new consoles

It looks like demand for Nintendo's new Wii U is as strong as it was for the original Wii six years ago...at least, for now.

Nintendo told CNETthat the roughly 400,000 units sold in the Unitd States during its debut week was "essentially" a sell-out, with supplies running dry at most retailers during that time.

By comparison, the original Wii sold 475,000 units during its debut six years ago (according to NPD data), which was also a near-sellout of its initial shipment.

Interestingly, due to Black Friday discounts, Nintendo's old DS portable managed to outsell its new 3DS, 275,000 to 250,000.

More from Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime at CNET.

This story initially reported that Nintendo's 2006 shipment of the original Wii was 300,000: it was actually 475,000. The article has been updated to reflect this.