Last week Wii U launched in Japan and clocked up some impressive sales, so impressive that it even outsold the 3DS, which has been dominating hardware sales in Japan for a sustained period and outselling the competition by 2.5 times.
However, the Wii U wasn't on top for long as this week the 3DS came back with a vengeance, selling more than double the units that Wii U managed. According to Media Create, the 3DS sold a staggering 319,025 units between 10th December and 16th December, while Wii U managed to shift 126,916 systems.
As you would expect with it being a new console, Wii U outsold its main home console rivals by quite a sizeable margin, with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 posting steady sales at their usual levels. The 3DS, which has an envious number of exclusive XL consoles in Japan these days, is showing no signs of slowing down and is closing in on the magical 10 million lifetime sales mark in Nintendo's homeland. In contrast the PlayStation Vita is still struggling to get a foothold in the market, with the PSP this week outselling it two times over.
Nintendo is also dominating the software charts, with nine out of the top ten games being on a Nintendo console. The best selling game of the week was the newly released Inazuma Eleven Go 2: Chrono Stone, which finally knocked Animal Crossing: New Leaf off the top spot. Perhaps Inazuma Eleven is responsible for the huge surge in this week's 3DS sales.
The full hardware chart is below (numbers in brackets are lifetime figures in Japan):
Nintendo 3DS - 319,025 (9,118,403)
Nintendo Wii U - 126,916 (435,058)
PlayStation 3 - 42,976 (8,759,236)
PSP - 33,002 (19,521,238)
PlayStation Vita - 14,446 (1,089,067)
Nintendo Wii - 10,346 (12,619,046)
Xbox 360 - 1,760 (1,610,159)
PlayStation 2 - 1,102 (21,830,214)
Nintendo DS - 541 (32,876,010)
[source neogaf.com]
Comments 22
Wow. The 3DS is unstoppable in Japan. I wonder how well Wii U will continue to sell there?
BTW, I want that red XL in the picture. O_O
Not a surprise really. With as little time as most Japanese people spend at home its no wonder that a portable system would sell better than a home console.
Wow. What's most impressive to me is realizing how many units the PSP has sold over there. Almost 20 million? Man, the market in Japan is sooo different from the west. The fact that 3DS has already outsold the PS3 is astonishing. Hope the Wii U is able to get a foothold, enough for Japanese 3rd parties to support it, at least
I think the Wii U is off to a good start there too. If lifetime home console sales hover around the 10 mil mark and half a million have sold in the first few weeks that's not bad.
I'm surprised the Wii is still selling 10K. The DSi will probably be discontinued in Japan next year.
I wish more people would show the 3ds some love over here. All people see are Mario and can't look past that. The 3ds has so much more to offer and the first 6 months of the coming year is going to be really hot on New releases! Now is the time to get one people if you've been holding off.
I bet the WiiU will out sell the 360 by summer over there
makes up for the sales over here hopefully these sales will make nintendo show us that long promised zelda 3ds
I remember last year when the 3DS was new and sales were not that good causing the price drop. I believe the 3ds will sell here in the US alot more when we finally get a real Nintendo game (not named Mario) like Zelda, Metroid, Animal Crossing, or of course a real Pokemon. Mario sells but has a kiddie stigma to it.
I can see the 3DS catching the DS some day, if they make a few more models, but I don't see how the Vita is ever going to catch the PSP when the PSP is still outselling it 2-1. Are they still selling the PSPgo in Japan, maybe they need a Vitago?
@rjejr Vita go? Why? The vita can already download games, making a Vita that only plays DL titles would probably be the final blow to Sony
More proof that NOA is bungling the 3DS in the US.
Japan totally has it figured out, with games that appeal to the customers.
In the US, what is our Monster Hunter or Inazuma or Dragon Quest?
The BIG game that gets people on the system. The BIG game that is built FOR the system and the US market?
It's probably a shooter, despite me not liking them, and NOT having a dual circle pad 3DS is a huge miss when considering the US market, it shows a crazy lack of understanding of what the 3DS needs to be successful in the US.
YEAH for Japan though!
We need more of their intelligent approach to gaming overseas!
I want the XL in that pic.
And this is one of the reasons I want to visit Japan. I'd probably get a hundred StreetPasses by just standing in the airport!
@WingedFish Yeah I've heard that the puzzles ninty sends out get completed in about a day (3 at most) in japan
The PS2 sold almost as many units as Xbox 360 in Japan? That's scary!
They have monster hunter, animal crossing, fir- oh forget, if nintendo wants sells like that in the US bring those games over!
That'll be great for developers wanting to make RPG's for the system.
Blimey the 3DS is pretty popular.
I'm surprised people still buy the Vita.
Wow. Why do the others even bother turning up?
@MrSRArter
You mean the DSi
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