Nintendo Wii sales hint video games still play well

— -- More than two years after its launch, the Nintendo Wii had its biggest month ever, selling more than 2 million systems in November.

The sales boost — twice the number sold in November 2007 — suggests the resiliency of the video game industry in a soft economy. But it also reflects increased availability of the $250 system. "The expanded supply of Wii systems at retail was clearly evident in the sales figures this month," says Anita Frazier of researcher NPD Group, which announced November industry sales on Thursday.

Before November, shoppers still found it hard to buy a Wii at retail, says Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities. "I'm surprised on two fronts," he says. "I'm surprised that Nintendo was able to supply at that rate, and surprised that demand was that high in what is largely not a holiday period."

Nintendo's sales mark represents the most game systems sold in any month since November 2002, when Sony sold 2.7 million PlayStation 2 systems (priced at $200), Frazier says. The PS2 has gone on to sell about 43.2 million in the U.S.

So far, the Wii has sold 15.4 million. Nintendo's handheld DS system also hit a record sales mark; its nearly 1.6 million sold in November is the highest for a handheld.

"Consumers are recognizing that given everything going on in the economy, they are looking for the most value," says Nintendo of America's Denise Kaigler. "With Nintendo products, they know they can get a system that is supported by hundreds of games and many, many hours of game play."

Also accentuating the industry's strength: The 3-year-old Microsoft Xbox 360 sold 836,000 units — the most in a month since December 2007. The Xbox 360 had the top two best-selling games of the month: the Xbox exclusive Gears of War 2, which sold 1.6 million copies, and Call of Duty: World at War (1.41 million).

"All three of the newer-generation console systems have something to brag about," Frazier says. Sony's PlayStation 3 sold 378,000 units, bringing its total U.S. sales to 6.1 million (the Xbox 360 has sold 12.5 million).