Wii U sells 308,570 units over Japanese launch weekend
New Super Mario Bros. U top seller, followed by Monster Hunter
The Wii U has had a strong opening weekend in Japan, selling 308,570 units - according to Famitsu and Enterbrain.
The best selling game for the system was New Super Mario Bros. U, followed swiftly by Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and Nintendo Land. 55 per cent of all Wii U purchasers bought Mario, which sold 170,563 units, whilst 110,159 people purchased Monster Hunter - an attach rate of 36 per cent.
For comparison, by Famitsu's own numbers, this makes the launch the seventh biggest in Japanese gaming hardware history. Its predecessor, the Wii, sold marginally better, shifting 371,936 units over launch weekend with Wii Sports as the top-selling title.
No comparable figures are yet available for other territories, and Nintendo is yet to confirm the number officially.
A list of the top selling Japanese hardware launch weekends is below, courtesy of Famitsu.
- PS2: 630,552
- GBA: 611,504
- NDS: 441,485
- Wii: 371,936
- 3DS: 371,326
- PSV: 321,407
- Wii U: 308,570
You should always feed the washing machine when the tumbledryer is in overdrive :)
Even the Vita sold out which sold just slightly higher than the Wii U.
For Nintendo, its firstly can they hit their initial 5.5m target for the FY - and secondly can they ship roughly the number of games they expected.
Once that is done, I have a feeling they are building up an armory of "games" to use against either dips in sales, and/or when the next PS/360 consoles are released next Xmas.
And its likely both Sony/MS will have the same supply issues next Xmas Nintendo had this one (and Ninty will have a lot more stock) - so the real battleground will be mid-2014, and leading up to Xmas 2014. Assuming of course both Sony & MS manage to launch, and roughly on time as expected.
I have a suspicion a big Pokemon (online?) title is on the way. This will be the 3rd Xmas for the 3DS, and there still hasn't been a real Pokemon title launched. So maybe a x-platform 3DS/WiiU online Pokemon game in 2013... (just a hunch).
Be also interesting to see if Ouya and/or Apple get into the console ring, and maybe some sort of dent.
You're not deliberately trying to make the Wii U look like it's selling poorly in comparison to the above systems by having the least numbers now do you?
I have pulled together a list of what I believe is the launch figures for most major consoles for the past 10 years.
PS2: 630,552
GBA: 611,504
NDS: 441,485
Wii: 371,936
3DS: 371,326
PSV: 321,407
WiiU: 308,570
PSP: 166,074
WSC: 145,975
NGC: 133,719
Xbx: 123,929
WS: 102,655
DC: 101,490
PS3: 88,443
360: 62,135
NGP: 21,471