Wii is a gift that keeps on giving to Nintendo

— -- The popularity of the Nintendo Wii continues to grow, with November as the biggest month in sales so far for the hotly sought-after game console.

Nintendo sold 981,000 of the Wii systems ($250) in the U.S. during November, according to market tracking firm The NPD Group. That represents the highest monthly sales figure so far for the Wii, says Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan. "Obviously, there is more supply and it's all getting sold," she says. "There's no end to the demand in sight."

To harried shoppers, she says: "We know how popular it is and it's the hugest compliment. So we want them to hang in there. If they keep hunting they can find one."

Since being brought to market last November, the Wii has been hard enough to find for traditional video game shoppers. Being one of the most desired holiday gifts this season makes for a harder hunt. Nintendo has sold six million Wiis overall.

"If you were to ask me to compare the availability last year versus this year, I would say this year it's even harder to find," says Ben Chui, who operates Wiitracker.com. "That is probably because the legend of the Wii has grown over the year."

NPD analyst Anita Frazier said that "since there is still an evident (Wii) inventory shortage at retail, it's difficult to say just how high sales could be if you took that issue out of the equation."

Video games for the Wii are hot items, too. During November, the new Super Mario Galaxy sold 1.12 million copies, outsold only by the combat game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for Microsoft's Xbox 360 system, which sold 1.57 million.

Currently out of stock in most stores, the Wii version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Activision) has sold 426,000 copies — less than the Sony PlayStation 2 version (967,000) but more than the Xbox 360 version (367,200). Also among the top 10 games of the month: Wii Play, with 564,000 copies sold.

All game systems had stellar sales during the month. The Xbox 360 sold 770,000 — its second highest sales month since last December — driving total Xbox 360 system sales to 7.6 million.