Dismissing all thoughts of Nintendo’s Wii being a gimmick, essencially more toy than hardware, analysts have predicted a massive Wii base in homes within a few years.

Merril Lynch has suggested that as much as 30% of all homes in the US will have a Nintendo Wii by 2011.

This follows news that the Wii was the top selling console in January in the US with 436,000 units sold.

The Financial Times has also joined in by predicting that a third (33%) of all Japanese homes will have the Nintendo next-Gen console.

Credit Suisse analyst Jay Defibaugh has spoken out against critics of the motion sensor.

"There has always been a strong concern that the Wii was gimmicky, but each passing month assuages that", he said.

>> Link - Official Site/Merril Lynch
>> Link - Official Site/The Financial Times
>> Link - Official Site/Credit Suisse