Wii launch

The Wii launch was the release of Nintendo's seventh generation video game console. This successor to the Nintendo GameCube was released in most territories in November and December 2006. It was the third (after the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) seventh generation console to be released in Japan and North America, but was second in Europe, being released before the PlayStation 3.

Announcement

At a June 7, 2006 policy briefing, Nintendo revealed plans to release 6 million console units and 17 million software units during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007. This included the 4 million or more console units they expected to ship by the end of the 2006 calendar year. On September 14, 2006, it was announced that the majority of the 2006 shipments would be allotted to the Americas.

The Spanish launch of the Wii console was moved to December 9, 2006, because December 8, 2006 is the celebration of the Immaculate Conception and thus all shops were closed. For the same reason, the Italian and Swiss releases were also moved to the day before, December 7, 2006.