Wii U在美上市首周频频脱销

In its first week on the U.S. market, Nintendo Co.'s new Wii U game console sold out at retail stores, indicating strong demand for the company's next generation of videogame devices.

在美国市场上市销售的首周，任天堂公司(Nintendo Co.)新款游戏机Wii U在零售商店脱销，显示出市场对该公司下一代视频游戏设备的强劲需求。

Nintendo said Monday that it sold more than 400,000 Wii U consoles after its Nov. 18 release, according to internal metrics.

任天堂公司周一说，内部统计数据表明，在11月18日开始发售之后，Wii U的销量已经超过40万台。

Reggie Fils-Aime, head of Nintendo's operations in America, said the company is shipping more devices to its retail partners but that demand is outstripping supply. 'As soon as Wii U hits the shelf, it's selling out,' he said.

任天堂美国业务负责人雷吉·菲尔斯-艾米(Reggie Fils-Aime)说，该公司正在向零售合作伙伴发送更多设备，但目前可谓供不应求。他说，Wii U一上货架就卖光了。

Nintendo said the sales were comparable to the original Wii when it was first released six years ago.

任天堂表示，Wii U火爆的销售情况可以和六年前第一代Wii首度上市时的行情相比。

Analysts and industry executives have expressed concerns about whether the new device, whose marquee feature is a controller with an integrated touch-screen tablet, can reignite interest among consumers that the originally Wii console created.

关于Wii U能否重新引发第一代Wii当年在消费者中创造的兴趣，分析师和业内高管曾表示过担忧。Wii U的主要特色是带有一个集成了触屏平板电脑的游戏手柄。

The videogame industry has been suffering from falling device and game sales at retail stores in the U.S. for nearly a year, according to market researcher NPD Group. The lack of new games and compelling new hardware to play them, economic worries and consumers' increasing interest in playing games on smartphones and tablets have prompted the slump.

市场研究机构NPD Group指出，由于美国零售商店游戏机和游戏销量下滑，视频游戏产业萎靡不振已近一年。导致这一产业低迷的因素包括：缺少新游戏以及让玩家感兴趣的新游戏机；对经济的担忧；消费者在智能手机和平板电脑上玩游戏的兴趣越来越大。

Nintendo is the first of the major game makers to release a new console in this environment, attempting to reverse its own trends of contracting sales for its Wii console. That device has sold nearly 100 million units world-wide, Nintendo said, and has averaged about eight games sold per device.

任天堂是在这种市况下首家推出新款游戏机的主要游戏厂商。此举意在扭转老款Wii销量不断下滑的趋势。任天堂表示，Wii在全球范围内的累计销量已接近1亿台，每卖一台Wii平均能售出八款游戏。

But competitors Sony Corp. 6758.TO -1.22% and Microsoft Corp. MSFT -1.14% aren't far behind. They have already integrated motion controls, a top-selling point of the Wii, into their offerings, and are expected to unveil new devices themselves sometime next year.

但竞争对手索尼(Sony Corp.)和微软(Microsoft Corp.)也不甘人后。两家公司已将Wii的最大卖点“运动控制(motion controls)融入各自的新品中，两家公司预计将在明年推出各自的新设备。

Nintendo said it was pleased with the Wii U's sales so far, as well as interest in the roughly 30 game titles that were available during the device's launch, such as its own 'New Super Mario Bros. U' and Ubisoft Entertainment SA's UBI.FR +0.08% 'ZombiU' post-apocalyptic shooting survival game.

任天堂表示对Wii U到目前为止的销售情况感到满意，而消费者对随Wii U一起面世的大约30款游戏表示出的兴趣也令任天堂高兴。这些游戏包括任天堂公司自己推出的《新超级玛丽》(New Super Mario Bros. U)以及Ubisoft Entertainment SA推出的背景设置在世纪末日过后的射击生存类游戏ZombiU。

Sales of videogames are particularly important for Nintendo. The company has acknowledged that the Wii U device is being sold at a loss, despite its starting price of $299.

视频游戏的销售对任天堂来说特别重要。该公司承认，虽然Wii U的起售价为299美元，但它仍在亏本销售。

Industry watchers are following the company carefully as it comes off its first annual loss in more than three decades.

在任天堂曝出30多年来首次年度亏损的消息后，业内观察人士正在密切注意这家公司。

'It is critical that we get consumers to purchase software to engage with the system,' Mr. Fils-Aime said, adding that the company's goal is to increase sales of all games made for its devices. 'That's the fundamental of the business model.'

菲尔斯-艾米说，让消费者购买同系统兼容的软件至关重要。他说任天堂的目标是增加为其设备开发的所有游戏的销量，称这是任天堂商业模式的根本。