In some areas of Japan, a second-hand Wii is actually retailing for more than a nice, shiney new one!

Nintendo systems, both handheld and home, are selling like hotcakes in Japan. So, does this news really come as a surprise?

Kotaku have recently reported that in some areas of Japan, a second hand Wii system will actually retail for more than a new one. The same can also be said for the Nintendo DS lite.

Lo and behold, after descending two floors of stairs, sneaking past the shoujo doujinshi section, past the auction display cases, and through the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, I finally came to the videogame aisle. There were no shop clerks nearby, and fortunately there were enough people to my left browsing the used PS2 games so as to keep the security camera busy while I snapped my illicit photos.

The first shot shows a Wii box, with a 28,350 yen (US $238) price tag, slightly above the 25,000 yen ($210) retail price. The second shot has several DS Lites of all the colors of the rainbow (at least, the really boring pastel rainbow), for 19,950 yen ($168) each, again above retail. Sorry for the weird lighting on that one, but my flash went off by mistake and I decided that it was legible enough.

Further proof that demand is high in Nintendo's homeland!