Wii is a "Social Hub" Thanks to Wii Play

Recent February NPD numbers have indicated that Wii Play has reached the 10 million mark (insert trumpet blast).  While many gamers see this as one of the signs of the apocalypse, Cammie Dunaway, NOA vice president of Sales & Marketing, views it differently. She adds the perfect amount of spin to the NPD figures, noting:

"Even if you believe people are buying Wii Play solely for the controller, that indicates that there are now more than 10 million people who have an extra Wii Remote controller in their homes."

Though it seems like Dunaway has admitted that Wii Play could be a ploy for those out to buy an extra controller, the comment does solidify the Wii as a strong multiplayer platform.

It seems to be the case even more, when Dunaway adds that 12.7 million separate Wii Remotes have been sold as well.  Add the numbers up, and you have roughly 23 million extra controllers compared to the 45 million Wii systems that are out there. She caps it off by saying that "this reinforces the growing ‘social gaming' trend we have been seeing where friends and family use their Wii games as a social hub - both in person and online."

Remote Confusion

I, for one, have four Wii Remotes.  I know other Wii owners that do as well.  It is cause to wonder; how many households are reinforcing this multiplayer gaming trend? After all, that would appear to mean that at least 22 milllion Wii consoles only have one remote by their side.

To be clear, the NPD numbers are representative only of the United States sales data. According to Bloomberg, Nintendo has moved 18.7 million Wii consoles in the States. Do the math again, and that means there are at least four million homes with more than two Wii Remotes in them.  That's a lot of potential injuries, by some standards.

Sources: Edge and Bloomberg