Iwata: "Wii has recovered from slowdown"

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata reckon's Wii's fortunes have "recovered," speaking in a Reuters interview, although he's still wary of of singing about a comeback yet.

"I think it's now safe to say the Wii has recovered from slowdown," said the boss.

"But I'm not sure if it's prudent to use words like revival and recovery lightly before making absolutely certain we can maintain this momentum. So, I steer clear of such words today," he said.

Iwata added that increased software output was not the sole driver for the rebounding Wii .

"It's a combination of factors. Towards December, our software lineup got stronger. Also, the price cut certainly helped, although it is not the sole factor," she said.

Nintendo said yesterday that it sold more than 3 million Wiis in the US last month, ahead of NPD figures in mid-January.

The company's European arm announced yesterday that Wii had passed 20 million units in Europe since its release in December, 2006.

Recent first-party Wii games in Europe were shown to be selling extremely well in a slew of announcements on Tuesday, with New Super Mario Bros. Wii passing 2.5 million units and Wii Sports Resort beating 5 million sales in just five months.