Many consumers were unable to find Wii consoles in stores, including Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, who told AP he had been scouting for the console at retailers to gauge its availability. The president said the low supply of Wii consoles is unfortunate and certainly not intentional.

"A shortage benefits no one," he said. "We're disappointed. This was all about how we didn't accurately estimate demand. We need to be more bullish about the potential for the Wii."

Nintendo's portable also fared well, selling 653,000 units during the week of Thanksgiving. The figure breaks Nintendo's record of 600,000 Game Boy Advance units sold during the same week in 2005.