Animal Crossing: New Leaf is one of the most anticipated games in the West right now, with fans of the series foaming at the mouth at the prospect of becoming the mayor of their own little town in 2013. Japanese gamers have had the game for a few days now, and it appears they loved it so much it has already sold out.
According to a Tweet by Satoru Iwata himself — translated on NeoGAF — Nintendo has shifted 600,000 physical copies of the game as well as 200,000 digital downloads. Nintendo’s president apologised for the inconvenience caused to avid fans who couldn't find a physical copy, and confirmed more shipments were on the way for those who haven’t yet got their fix.
Possibly the most interesting part of this story is that a quarter of all sales have been digital downloads, showing that Nintendo’s download strategy is coming to fruition in Japan. Whether or not the game can have this kind of download success elsewhere is another matter entirely, but for now let’s just hope Nintendo distribute enough copies to go around!
Are you looking forward to getting hold of Animal Crossing: New Leaf? Perhaps you have a sneaky Japanese 3DS and are one of the 200,000 who downloaded it? Let us know in the comments below.
[source vg247.com, via neogaf.com, twitter.com]
Comments 37
And now Nintendo can watch the downloads grow as they make even more money from the pricier Downloadable version... XD
Do I want New Leaf? Yes, yes I do.
Considering the nature of Animal Crossing, I'm not surprised that digital sales have been surprisingly large. AC was always a game that was meant to be played in 5-20 minutes bursts daily, so being able to boot up the game whenever without carrying a physical cart around is a nice extra that I can see many video game players being enticed by.
I'm downloading the poop out of this. Very glad to see it doing so well.
I just bought a japanese 3DS from Hong Kong and it came today. I'm downloading Animal Crossing right now
@teh_article
@Mr._Green Welcome, and we need moar Fire Emblem fans around here! Nintendo Life's Fire Emblem Army. You know'. If you're interested.
I always knew Nintendo were a bunch of sell outs!!
crickets chirping.........
Zing!!
Will be interesting to see the length of time that people wil have played this game from the Activity Log. I remember i played the GameCube one for about a year on and off
Oh, Yes, Yes, Yes.
Can't wait!
My personal escape bubble from life's less pleasant realities.
cant wait to turn it over.
I didn't know Animal crossing was this popular in Japan! Nintendo's new third pillar (Mario, Pokemon, Animal crossing)?!
Wow, impressive. It probably won't do this well in the west but I hope it still sells really well.
@Void Haha! Thanks for the welcome! You know I'm interested!
800K in one week?
Holy crap thats better then NSMB2 and MH3G week 1 sales and about equal to both of those combined..........
Calling it now tom nook will be Nintendo's new mascot.
I will make sure i get that when it comes to america even if i have to charge through people wanting to buy it ( not really). Also tom nook would make a awesome nintendo mascot. He could be nintendo's mickey mouse.
The Japanese have such good video game taste, they know a great game when they see it! Can't wait for this next year.
This is basically the most popular game in Japan right now, and it's sold out. Doesnt that explain why people would be more likely to buy digital? The downsides are still blindingly obvious to those who actually weigh up their options.
I didn't see that one coming. I've always thought of AC kind of like the Pikmin series, it's a good series but not super popular. I guess I was way off.
As for the game, I can see myself downloading it in the future. It'll probably be my first retail DL title, cause if I get this, it's definitely going to be something I always want to have in my system considering the nature of the gameplay.
It'll never be sold out the way I get my games....eShop
Great news for Nintendo, although this is not for me. Ever.
i'm one of the few that imported and ordered my copy straight out of japan. my JP 3DS is really lame though. i can't read it.
Its everywhere sold out here in Japan - prices are almost double already on the market since its so hard to get.
Nintendo will ship the 2nd load of Tobidase Mori with 18.November, hopefully the US Release will follow soon too.
I am actually surprised that only a quarter are downloads, as it makes the game more convenient to play, specially in a handheld.
Besides if the game is sold out, the obvious thing is to get the download instead of waiting for the next shipment.
Oh, and the lamb next to the girl is the cutest creature I have seen in all of AC.
I never played the AC games but that will change once New Leaf comes out.
I'm dreading the hours I'll waste on this...
Thats impressive. Animal Crossing is definitely a game worth having digital. Not only is it more convenient for playing in short bursts but its one series a lot of people could easily play until the disk stops reading on consoles.
Look forward to getting a down loadable version of this when released in the Australian/New Zealand e-shop
@V8_Ninja
Agree with you. This type of game is perfect for having it allways on your system. No need for other types of games to have that.
I will download this game also, other games will be bought at the store for a (much) cheaper price.
I'm not downloading ANY 'Full Retail' games from the eShop until they sort out this Nintendo ID out. Too paranoid my 3DS will break or get stolen resulting in £££'s of games disappearing too.
I could never get into animal crossing. I might have to give it another go. The game looks amazing though. Now to get a 3DS....
And as I speak Tom Nook puts up everyone's mortgage by 500,000 Bells.
I saw several copies left in Yodobashi in Akihabara today, so not quite sold out (lol). But I streetpassed 63 people today and can confirm the Japanese are playing the hell out of animal crossing (it is almost everyone's most recently played game).
See how considerate Nintendo are? They're delaying the game in NA/EU until next year so we don't get disappointed by shortages when it sells out. How very thoughtful.
kicks something
Hurry up 2013 I need my AC fix. x-x
Not surprised one bit. This will definately force people to pre-buy and be used by developers so they can force digital downloads by releasing limited quantities. I dont like where this is headed but cant wait for ACNL its going to be the best release on 3ds
@SethNintendo dont expect a ton of streetpass hits anywhere in north america. Unless you attend anime expos or gaming expos or work at nintendo in Redmond it just doesnt work. For some reason nintendo thinks streetpass is a huge factor in owning a 3ds in north america. If it worked I would love it but it doesnt work. I have had 10 streetpass hits since owning my 3ds on day 1. I work in a busy las vegas hotel and carry my system with me at work to count how far I walk each day. StreetPass sucks
Omg I hope they tell you some more about the old past times fishing/ collecting fossils and catching bugs. I wonder if they added more to them X3
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