Nintendo's Wii the Big Winner in 2008, how about 2009?

Nintendo Co., Ltd (ADR) (OTC:NTDOY) won the game console war in 2008, more than half of all game consoles sold in 2008 were Wii's and the Wii took the top four best selling titles as well.  But are NTDOY shares worth buying?

Nintendo (OTC:NTDOY) shares have fallen from $70+ to current levels in the mid $40's.   Still, since late October NTDOY shares have managed to gain back 25%+ after falling into the $30 range.

According to NPD Group's statistics, in 2008 Nintendo managed to sell 10.17 million Wii game consoles in the United States, breaking sales records. Nintendo's DS handheld game device also sold 9.95 million units last year, the success of which is largely attributed to the DSi's delay in this country.

NPD reports that of all video game consoles sold in the U.S. in 2008, 55% of them were Wiis. In 2008, the video game industry as a whole saw a 19% increase in revenue over 2007 to $21.33 billion. Overall 2008 video game hardware sales were up 11% to $7.81 billion. Overall 2008 video game software sales were up 26% to $10.96 billion. And overall 2008 video game accessories were up 14% to $2.57 billion.

Nintendo took top the top four slots in game units sold in 2008 as well. At #1) Nintendo sold 5.28 million Wii Play with Wii Remote games, at #2) 5 million Mario Kart Wii, at #3) 4.53 million Wii Fit, and at #4) 4.17 million Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

In December sales alone, Nintendo sold 2.15 million Wiis and 3.04 million DS units. This compares to other game consoles including Xbox 360 at 1.44 million, Sony PS2 at 410,000, Sony PSP at 1.02 million and Sony PS3 at 726,000.

So the big question is Nintendo a safe investment play?  Let's face it, nothing is these days and add to it that the stock trades on the Pink Sheets and its hard to get on board and buy shares. Wii sales at some point in 2009 could level out but U.S. Nintendo DSi sales (rumor to start selling in April) could help keep the stock afloat this year.

The Nintendo DSi has been out for months already in Japan and all us Americans have been dying to get our hands on it. IGN has said that the release date for the DSi will be sometime this April.

The price should be $179 on release, which isn't too bad considering that the DS lite still goes for $129 in some places.

SOURCE for Game 2008 Stats: http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/41048/98/