Japanese Charts: Pikmin 4 Comfortably Holds Onto Its Throne

Don't think Ive ever seen a Pikmin title hold on like this, good going. Still haven't looked at the demo yet, some other title keeps eating up all of my time. Looking forward to later comments.

Whatever Nintendo release on the Switch breaks all kinds of records for that franchise. I'm scared of how prolific they are going to be after the September Direct.

Go Pikmin! I wonder if it can cross a million physical units in Japan?

while it's great to see Pikmin 4 doing well in Japan its outside of Japan where 4 is falling off the sales charts

+91000 Nintendo Switch units in a week! Yeah! Nintendôminêshon! NintenDOMINATION!

Are these top 10 switch titles or top 10 titles in japan but they're all switch? That couldnt be, could it?

@CammyUnofficial It's the general top 10. All of the top 10 being Switch games happens quite often. Last week was the same.

Pikmin 4 seems very popular, but based on the Demo I am not sure if I should get it. The demo seems really slow and easy and just kinda boring.

2DS LL once again holds the top spot for dedicated handhelds at 29

@chipia I have heard constant complaints about the early tutorial portion but consensus is that the game really improves if you can push through that opening part

@chipia There are some more challenging caves and dandori battles later on in the game, but you can still make the game harder for yourself by not taking the max amount of Pikmin with you, instead of taking 50/60 Pikmin around the map maybe take 25/30 to make fights more challenging.

There are also lots of items and upgrades that make the game way easier such as armor and health packs, again if you want a challenge then just don't buy into those.

@Manguy888A do the later levels, past the tutorial missions, also reduce the chatter? That is the one thing that bothered me about the demo. The frequent dialog boxes.

@EaglyPurahfan Weirdly yes if you go by sales tiers during this current Switch era. A-tier franchises like Mario, Zelda, Animal Crossing, and Pokemon have sold at least 15+ million copies per game. B-Tier sell in the 5-15 million copy range (Luigi's Mansion, Kirby, Mario sports titles, Mario Party). C-Tiers seem to range in the 1-5 million copy range (Xenoblade, Fire Emblem, Pikmin, Metroid). But even being C Tier for Nintendo = top sales for PlayStation & Xbox franchises this console generation.

I'm glad the game is selling so well. Japanese sales and feedback are what Nintendo pays attention to most. Not a Pikmin fan, but it's good that Nintendo is seeing the series succeed so it gets more entries.

Putting a Puppy in Pikmin4 was genius.

So happy to see Pikmin finally taking off. Was a slow walk but it is working.

Glad it's selling well... I hope it's got a few more million in the US and rest of the world.

This game really got its hooks into me and won't let go. It was a bit slow to start, and at first seemed far too easy - but let me tell you, getting platinum on all the challenges is NOT an easy task and it's highly satisfying when you pull it off. On some of them, even getting bronze took 10+ tries and some serious strategizing. It's probably my favorite entry in the series now. Feel the Dandori.

@chipia I feel like the demo poorly represents the game. The first few hours of the game are dull and full of dialog, after that point though, it gets increasingly better! I was on the fence at first, but my playthrough has turned out to be around 30 hours and I’m loving it!

@chipia Totally agree with @DAHstroy , I was also on the fence after the demo but it picks up! There's way too much nonsense dialogue but after a while I realized it was totally skippable. The "overworld" areas are generally quite easy but the underground challenges can be tricky, especially later on. The combat in the game is usually pretty easy, especially compared to Pikmin 2, but there's more emphasis on speed.

It seems no matter how many triple a titles Sony got on or coming to PS5, them titles won't be able to stay on top in Japan for the long run. Final Fantasy XVI, Horizon: Call of the Mountain, Elden Ring, the FFVII Remake, Ghost of Tsushima, Street Fighter 6, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Resident Evil 4 Remake, God of War Ragnarok, Diablo IV, Hogwart Legacy, all fantastic titles but all failed to remain relevant in the Land of the Rising Sun. The only three hopes PS5 had left are Baldur's Gate 3 which I doubt will even move units in Japan since that's a western RPG and Japan are hardly ever attract to western RPG that much let alone an rts RPG. Their second redemption is Final Fantasy VII Rebirth which hopefully Square Enix doesn't screw up the story or else that one would be a stinker too. The final nail in the coffin is Spider-Man 2, that one likely may do better in the west than in Japan.

Perhaps Pikmin 4 is the reason why there's no major first-party August release. They really want the franchise to break through its sales ceiling.

@Thomystic pikmin 4 has exceeded anyone expectations. including nintendo..

@Serpenterror japan is switch country but the rest of the world is quite different and japan is the third largest gaming market fourth if you include all of europe..

@Serpenterror ragnarok and hogwarts have done quite well japan is meaningless to those kind of world wide sales those games have sold..

@UltimateOtaku91 Thanks for the advice, sounds interesting to make the game more challenging for yourself.

But may main issue is probably how slow everything is. There is so much time waiting, waiting until Pikmin bring ressources to the ship and then returning there to let them join me again, or waiting until the Pikmin destroy an obstacle. It just seems kinda tedious. Does this get better later on?

@Serpenterror my question to you is why you think Sony has these massive expectations for Japan any more? Home console sales have been on the decline in Japan since the ps2. Sony knows this. They also know that their main market now is the west. This is why during the console shortage they prioritised sending consoles to Europe and North America.
Most of those games you mentioned had huge sales globally. GOW ragnarok shifted 11 million in under 3 months. Ghost is at 10 million, that's a new IP. And well hogwarts had shifted 15 million by May, its still the top selling game in America for 2023 with a big percentage sold on Sony's platform.
You using word like nail and coffin is funny when you consider they've been smashing records for the last year in sales and revenue. Christmas quarter 2022, Nintendo revenue 4.6 billion. Playstation 8.8 billion. I'll agree that the Japanese chart doesn't look good at first glance, but when you have one platform that has 30 Million customers and another with 3.6 million, do you really expect the one with 9 times less owners to show up in these charts and stay around?? And especially when 70% to 80% of Playstations software sales are now digital.

Never underestimate doggo

Awesome. Such is the Power of Dandori!

No doubt good boi Oatchi is helping sell Pikmin 4. He's awesome.

@chipia I don't want to ruin too much for you, but you also get a dog which you can control seperately so you can split up two different teams each with their own Pikmin, so il send my character with some yellow Pikmin to destroy an electric fence and whilst they are doing that I will control the dog and take some other Pikmin somewhere else. Then if you want to rejoin fast there's a skill for the main character that calls all pikmin back to him no matter where they are on the map.

Also even if you didn't split up you can send some Pikmin to fix a bridge (for example) and just leave them to it whilst you carry on doing what you want to do, you don't have to stand by your Pikmin and watch what they do.

its so awesome to see just how well pikmin 4 is doing. the game totally deserves it as its tons of fun and its about time the series got this kind of love.

@chipia its just to teach the younger audience how to play. I think, despite how boring it is, its a good addition to help those younger players get comfortable with the game and its mechanics. if there's anyone they want to be pandering to, its kids. Thats how you create nostalgia! But yeah, it gets waaaay more interesting from there on out.

Also, it does get faster in some ways. There's different kinds of pikmin that make things easier to move things later on, you can create shortcuts, move your base, etc. It never gets SUPER fast but if you let yourself get immersed you'll find that that's kind of the point. There's a special fun to be found as you triumphantly march back to the ship with the spoils from a won battle as you hear the pikmin make there little sounds and the pitter-patter of their tiny feet. It's the small details that really makes this game. I'm usually the kind of guy that hates that kind of downtime, but something about it here just works.

@Axecon so you really don't think during this switch generation, MS or playstation have had any games sell more than 5 million? Really? Just ignore spiderman/MM being at 33 million. GOW ragnarok hitting 11 million in under 3 months. A new IP like ghost hitting 10 million. And with MS you really just can't judge. The make billions from GP, most of their games sell digitally, which they don't give sale figures for, and they also have very good sales on the PC steam platform.
By all means enjoy these charts, but remember, it's
30 million vs 3.6 million vs 500k. Globally its a whole different story.

So happy to see Pikmin 4 still selling well. Recently beat the game myself and it's easily the best in the series for me.

I actually purchased my copy of Pikmin 4 in Japan last week, I guess I count as one of those!!! I can't to play it as soon as I'm done with TOTK.

I was hoping to get pikmin 4 soon-ish but I've never played the franchise before... if it's #1 it must be good

@Serpenterror I reckon Armoured Core will be fine.

@johnedwin ahhh there you are! Hope all’s good.

"This takes the game's total sales to a rather ominous-looking 666,377."

In what way is it ominous?

PS5 sales so far so good.

What would you expect from a game that is just kid fun???? duh....

1. Switch OLED Model – 71,256 (5,312,645)
2. PlayStation 5 – 45,095 (3,588,885)

Don't get how one reads number and say sales are better then Switch????

@strongest_link probably the 666, or probably you already know that and are taking issue with it.

@chipia

So, the big thing with Pikmin games is learning how to multitask so you can manage your days more efficiently. Staying with your Pikmin as they break down a wall or build a bridge or carry something back to the base isn't really the way to play. While you have 10 Pikmin building a bridge, another 10 can be carrying a Bulborb corpse back to the base while another 10 are chipping away at a wall. It's a very satisfying gameplay loop when you know how to micromanage.

This is especially important in Pikmin 1 and 3, where you have a limited number of days to complete the game. Otherwise, your character will die of starvation or from running out of oxygen. Pikmin 4 still has lots of moments that force you to optimize your time, though, like the dandori battles and some post-game content I won't go into.

Pikmin games are also satisfying for those who want to replay the game and get a better score. All of the games will display a record of how long it took you to complete them, as well as how many Pikmin were killed. Nintendo definitely tried to make Pikmin 4 easier for beginners, but if you're really looking for a challenge, maybe start with the first game. Olimar only has 30 days to collect all 60 of his ship pieces, or he will die. The pressure is constantly high, and there definitely isn't time to stand around and watch your Pikmin tear down a dirt wall. You've gotta go, go, GO!

@AmplifyMJ Mad thing is the actual number of the Beast is 616, but that gets glossed over!

So glad that Pikmin 4 is doing well, it is utterly fantastic. I’m nearing the end (I think) and it’s making me sad.. 😢

@EaglyPurahfan Yeah hopefully Pikmin 4 will receive DLC. Although it may not be due to it's success as Pikmin 3 on Wii U also had DLC packs.

@AmplifyMJ Nope, genuinely didn't get it before, but I guess you're probably right.

@WiltonRoots really, I didn’t know that! But then, my knowledge comes from The Omen and a man I work with who’s almost fanatical 😆

@strongest_link When I was answering, I was starting to doubt myself and thinking you actually did know 😅 hope it didn’t come across as cheeky

@AmplifyMJ What a great film. (not the remake)

Good to see TotK falling, though I wish garbage like that would completely fall off. I'm ready to see the inevitable "We got sold half a game" angry articles after how bad it was. It only sold as well as it did off the back of BotW, so here's hoping they actually make a new Zelda game next instead of this garbage.

@Not_Soos There's no post game content if you finish it all before the ending, since nothing new unlocks after you finish the main story. Or are you talking about the factual second half of the game, after they force you to a fake credit sequence that's obviously not the end? Because that's not post game content, it's just the second act of the game. Post game content doesn't make up the majority of the game or have main quests, post game content unlocks when the credit sequence is finished and takes you back to the main screen to say "you've unlocked NG+! And the Ultimate weapon, and you can carry all your unlocks through to brand new challenges!"... Pikmin 4 has ZERO post game content.

I don't understand why people keep thinking it does.

@AmplifyMJ Not at all 🙂