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Super Mario 3D World has seen pretty much universal acclaim across the board and around the world, but that momentum did little to motivate buyers in Nintendo’s home country. Weekly sales data shows that the game made a respectable debut, selling just shy of 100,000 units, but that number loses some of its luster when you consider the fact that Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning Returns for PS3 moved 277,082 units in its first week on the market and the latest Pokémon titles combined are still selling over 70,000 copies per week, with a lifetime total of over 3 million. This trend is reflected in hardware sales as well.
To put it optimistically, Wii U sales did increase roughly 25 percent last week, but to put it quantitatively, that was an increase from 15,906 to 21,002 units sold. To put that into perspective, 3DS LL (XL for us North Americans) sold more than three times that, and even PS Vita managed to outsell Wii U, though that was only by 42 more systems.
You won’t be seeing me turn into a Wii U doom predictor any time soon, but I freely admit that somethings needs to be done when a critically praised entry in one of gaming’s most iconic franchises can’t drum up more support in the country of its birth.
Source: Nintendo Life
I wonder if the days of a single killer app being able to sell a platform are over. I’m not talking about us big gaming fans, I mean the households who had an NES with Super Mario Bros+Duck Hunt, or a Wii with Wii Sports.
I suspect the $200 mark was about the cut-off, and that Wii Sports was a lightning-in-a-bottle exception.
With the killer-app concept out, a platform needs a whole general-appeal lineup. Mario 3D World is step one, the upgraded/discounted Wii Fit and Wii Sports releases don’t hurt, and by the time Mario Kart 8 and Smash Bros U are out, I think that tipping point will be reached.
In the meantime, I think bundles are a smart approach, and Nintendo’s been doing a good job with that. In a few months, there could even be a mega Mario+Zelda+Sonic+Donkey Kong bundle. That would not go amiss. :^)
100000 copies is around 10% of the install base of wiiU is japan, so that in 4 days is not bad at all, besides who knows how much digital sales it had. mario is really big in the west, so lets hope that the american debut is better.