Although the concern for Nintendo’s well-being is legitimate (they’ve been resting on their laurels for more than long enough), apparently they had enough juice for one last big holiday season. Last month they sold a whopping 2.7 million consoles just in the US, including both Wii and DS sales. That’s pretty nuts, considering both those systems are practically end-of-life.
A few high-profile DS games like Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (awesome, I just finished it) and Donkey Kong Country Returns, combined with lowered prices for original DS Lites and such, helped drive sales to what will certainly be the high-water mark from now on. I’m no doomsayer, but Nintendo’s going to need to pull some tricks in order to see those sales next year.
In the meantime, the 360 is also having a second spring brought by the Kinect, and sold ~1.37 million in November. PS3 sales probably aren’t as high, but honestly, if I had a few hundred bucks to spare right now, I’d be buying Sony. The PS3 has really come into its own over the last year.
You can read the whole (very PR-ish) letter over at GoNintendo.