Kid Icarus Ignites 3DS Sales Spike in Japan

obviously nobody buys xbox games in japan. well that`s one good reason to go there on holiday then.

By my maths 3DS outsold the rest of the hardware chart combined by a comfortable 25,000 units.

I think a bunch of software bundles and also the new blue 3DS (standalone version) released this past week. They probably contributed to the hardware sales spike as well.

Wowza! And to think that a couple months ago everyone (mostly) was considering the 3DS dead in the water. Seems everyone was WRONG!!! I was expecting the PSVita to be a good competition but seems like the PSVita is the one dead in the water now huh? But then again, you don't hear that kind of talk for a Sony product. Boogers! Strange how i haven't heard any numbers on the PSVita for the USofA...

@zeeroid Yep good point, the Cobalt Blue console launched last week. The MH3G machines hit the week before, I think.

@Gustoff Considering everyone wrote off the 3DS and it turned out OK, don't you think it's a bit foolish to write off the Vita at this stage?

i bought a vita at launch, it sucks @#%!

Kid Icarus Uprising is one of the best handheld games I've ever played and is definitely one of my favorite games of all time, quickly reaching my top five list in the matter of only one weekend. Glad to see it doing well where it counts most.

DSi 778? In ALL OF JAPAN? Wow, 3DS is better than we thought. And not to mention the 3DS is DOMINATING Japan!

@James, the Vita sucks. Even this early. 3DS will dominate the Vita. The 3DS might not have that oh so special 4G but why have 4G when there is Wi-Fi everywhere and you are connected to it almost 24/7? That and AT&T sucks.

@James
Yup, you are absolutely right IMO. I just get frustrated that when its a Nintendo product that is doing poorly, a lot of people start saying "i told you so". But when it's a Sony product, its more like "its doing good and as we expected". Just compare the remarks between the two consoles from when they started out. I for one hope the PSVita turns around because it does have lots of potential. And with titles that interest me like FPS, i might even consider getting one, at the right price that is.

Does this translate to UK/ROI and European charts?

3DS at least had a few excuses that were fixed later. What are Vita's excuses?

@cammy These are Japanese charts only. European sales figures are protected by copyright so I can't share them with you I'm afraid.

@3Dangerous3Dash My point is that people who dismissed 3DS last year look a bit foolish now. I wonder if the same thing would happen to people who dismiss Vita? Hmm..!

In my opinion the vita has a lot more catching up to do then the 3ds ever did, and the online pass they brought out with the online games is rediculous, you basically have to buy the games new or buy a $10 online pass for the game.i have 2 games for my vita(probably wont change for a while) and 35 for my 3ds i will always support nintendo they have great games.

I dont have a reputation to lose... maybe I will sound stupid, whatever.

But I'm a fanboy, I say stuff like that.

But lol, I make fun of myself a ton.

One very effective move on the part of Nintendo was to ensure that they killed any good reasons for buying the previous DS iterations, since the 3DS is fully backwards-compatible and costs about the same anyway.

Compare that to the disastrous PSP to Vita situation, where the old system continues to outsell the new one and there is little reason for most consumers (particularly in Japan) to consider an upgrade.

Well, obviously Japan is a Nintendo country. You are a part of a big population here if you have a 360 for exaple, but in Japan if you have a 360 there really aren't that many people that have a 360.

The 3DS almost had 10 times the sales of the PS Vita last week.

Anyone who is hating on the Vita should stop. It's doing poorly now, but will pick up as soon as Sony releases the PS4. Right now Vita is in direct competition with PS3 (stupid if you ask me) so that is why it is struggling. It is also a decent amount more expensive than 3DS, especially after buying a memory card for it. As soon as people stop comparing it to PS3 in terms of graphics it will start doing well. I'll probably never get one, but this is how I see it.

Good to see that Uprising is doing so well. (not that I'm surprised). And while I believe that the Vita will pick up soon, the situation is most likely still gonna be like the last handheld gen. As in both do well but Nintendo is still clearly the winner.

One of the reasons Nintendo doesn't do an online pass must surely be that its online services are woefully underdeveloped compared to its competitors. Vita does cross-game voice chat, live messaging etc. as well as online multiplayer — that stuff ain't cheap.

@Alienfish Actually i think things will get worse when that happens as unlike the 3DS the vita lives off of mostly ports and doesn't really have its own list of great handheld games (like how Nintendo has golden sun, pokemon, fire emblem etc)
If anything what the vita needs now is to distance itself from the home console and get some good games rolling, after all the system itself is good but it just isn't being given the 'love' it needs from developers, sorta like the Wii just for different reasons.
A problem that may happen is that if the rumors of no backward compatibility for the PS4 are true the competition with the PS3 won't disappear just like the PSP is competing and beatings its descendant it would become a problem for both the PS4 and the vita, having to compete with not only other companies products but also their own established ones.

hey james, who's side you on? and i beilieve that steam does the same thing to and doesnt charge for it.

@nfzeta007 @Alienfish

Exactly. If the game developers would actually stop trying to make it a direct 'PS3' portable, they need to give it a bit of 'PSVita' uniqueness.

What's the point in giving it a new identity(PSVita instead of say PS3p) if you aren't going to give it many of its own games?

I have to say, the Japanese know good video games.

@NintyFan

You are my new favorite person.
Please be my friend?

I'm glad for kid icarus, I knew there there was potential for a great game from this series, since pit was revieved on super smash brothers brawl. I can't wait to get my copy I ordered. Thank the god given, decision, nintendo made to make this game local/regional. Good move nintendo!

Poor DSi...

So glad that Uprising is selling well. If it sells well throughout the rest of the world this could be the beginning of a new main Nintendo franchise! I've been thoroughly enjoying Icarus these past few days and would absolutely love a sequel on Wii U!

EDIT: Also, Lol at Vita sales :3

I don't recall the 3DS dipping much below 30,000 that far from release, whereas Vita is barely scraping 10,000...

@VintageBoy, I am an odd and, just to say this, rather I am weird but persistant. And I dont know wheteh or not to take your comment as a compliment or not, but ok!

I still laugh every time i see you guys pluralize math...

And I love to see both Kid and 3DS doing great!

I love my 3DS, but I love my Vita, too. In Japan, they're still getting PSP games, so the difference is kinda understandable. I want the Vita to do well everywhere because I want more games. My DS collection has well over 100 games, my PSP collection has around 15 physical games. At the very least, I'll have a lot of 3DS games, but I want to have Vita games from companies other than Atlus, XSEED, and Square Enix.

The vita will do fine, after all its like its older brother; it has a 10 year life cycle.

its awesome KI is doing well because iirc KI was japans least anticipated 3Ds game back in 2010

Wow, I didn't think Kid Icarus would do all that well tbh..But that's great! Now we might get a sequel at some point.

Nice to see Kid Icarus get some good early sales and hopefully it continues, the game is packed full of content and the group at Nintendo who put this game together deserves to be rewarded for it. I'll be interested to see the NA and European numbers as well.

Also just want to throw it out there that the Vita absolutely does not suck. Anybody who says that is just a Nintendo fanboy who hasn't actually spent any good amount of time using it. It is possible to admit that the Vita is a good system while still liking the 3DS as well.

Stop the Vita hate at once. That's all.

I'd be glad if the Vita sells well. It will force Nintendo to develop more games and to push the online capabilities of its handheld. That's my humble opinion.

Nice to see that it sells! Hopefully we see more from Pit in the future!

Why does it seem like I've seen that Japanese dude's pic way too many times? Are you guys reusing it over and over for various articles? Is this an inside joke? Are you guys leaving me out?
I'm telling Mom!