Mario & Luigi Has a Dreamy Japanese Chart Debut, Wii U Hardware Sales Drop by a Third

XL and regular 3DS outsold all other consoles combined!

@ferthepoet It's always the case.

Wii U is not selling well, but at least it outsold the ps3. Being outsold by the vita in Japan might not be so bad since its handheld market is bigger than home console market. Though I doubt the Wii U will continue outselling the ps3 until a big game comes out.

That was to be expected. If anything, last week showed us that future big Wii U releases will very likely propel the sales of the console in a big way. Once we approach a critical mass of big games, we're bound to see more of a steady stream of sales for it.

Yep, just like you guys said, pikmin 3 is not a console seller..... Great times for the 3DS though!

i am not surprised pikmin as far as i can remember was never a console seller for the gamecube even though they were great games

@GoombaJMR I actually wanted Danganronpa (the game) to be on a Nintendo handheld but sadly it seems my dreams won't ever come true since the game is only for PSP T^T

@King47
I don't think outselling an eight year old system should be an achievement. On the hardware side I would expect next gen to have more growth han current gen, while being slower on the software side.

Pikmin isn't nearly as big of a seller as Mario or Zelda, so this is hardly surprising. Still disappointing though.

The Nintendudes practically shot themselves in the foot with the Wii U. They should've just used the ideas for the 3DS onto the Wii U and the Wii U ideas on 3DS. There should be no reason a handheld is more poweful than their home console.

@Coldfirex44 Yeah zz especially with it coming to PS V next year (English version), chances of it coming to the 3DS are rather low...
Fortunately Spike Chunsoft might localize Conception II for the states after it comes out in august! It's basically a harem persona game

See I told you so. Nintendo is not doing enough to salvage the U. Dip into that fat bank account and dedicate some resources to saving this console. But it might already be too late. "Wait and see how Christmas goes" isn't a strong strategy. Meanwhile they have 25 years of existing content which isn't being made available with any speed or urgency whatsoever.

I mean technically it was the best selling home console...

@Sony_70
It is not. It's sad actually. But for a while it was not outselling it.

It seems that a boost in sales will come after the release of Sonic. Sonic and Sega fans will buy it for sure.

Seems Pikmin ain't the Wii U saver after all.

@King47
I'm not a fan of xbox but I bet XBox One will have more sales than Wii U. Comparing an last gen console like ps3 to a current gen like wii u is like saying the Brock was a weak gym leader even though his Geodude beat your squirtle. XD

The only thing is Pikmin 3 is already the best selling Wii U Game of the year- Nintendoland and NSMBU have each only sold around 140,000 copies this year. And it has only been out for 2 weeks.

3DS started like the WiiU now ↓


WiiU started like the 3DS & by next year will↑

I knew as soon as the XL (LL) came out last year, it was going to be somethin' special.

Not too much of a surprise really, Pikmin isn't exactly a system seller. If the same thing happened with Mario Kart or Smash Bros then I would start to worry.

Very bad numbers for M&L. Bowser's Inside Story started with 212.000 and what's much worse, it has sold less than Partners in Time 137.000, a game which Nintendo considers that didn't sell well.

Wii U selling more than PS3 while no new games except Pikmin 3 yet, PS3 with all its momentum still going strong, this is not too bad at all for the Wii U. It will surely skyrocket once the big titles come later this year after Pikmin.

Doesn't Lego City come out in Japan this week? We'll see how that does.

Wii U sales will definitely go up during the holiday shopping season when the bigger games come out. Pikmin 3 has my attention, and I will be getting it launch day for sure, but it's not a big seller like Mario or Zelda, lots of people still have yet to play and feel the charm of Pikmin

As for 3DS XL and the regular, it well makes up for Wii U sales going down so much, but at least it's not selling like the Xbox 360 is over there!

This is not unexpected. I have never played Pikmin but I plan to buy this game when I get the Wii U later this year. From what I read, it's a great series but that it's somewhat of a niche title. Wii U will get a hardware boost again when it releases in Europe on Friday and again in North America in August. The Wii U will gain momentum throughout the year with Nintendo's steady release of new games starting with Wonderful 101, Sonic, Zelda and some third party support. In a way it's good that Nintendo staggered the release dates for Pikmin 3 to give them a continued hardware boost in different regions until the other games come out.

I agree that it's just phenomenal how the 3DS is selling more than all other consoles combined.

Just to clarify, these are weekly sales figures, right?

The Wii U sales are still improved from previous weeks so I think Jimmy Nintendo can sleep a little easier tonight.

I think some Nintendo fans are living in a different reality, the Wii U should have been outselling the PS3 from day one. Seeing as the PS3 is almost 8 years old, with the PS4 coming out within a matter of months. I guess it's a testament to Sony really, but this does not look good for the Wii U this Xmas especially.

@banacheck Also quite amusing to re-read the comments within the sales article (in Japan) last week when Pikmin 3 came out.

I said it'll be nothing but a blip, a momentary one-off rise in sales. I said that whilst Pikmin 3 shall surely be an excellent game, it will NOT be a system seller. I also said the numbers may well go back to 'normal' the following week.

But nope, apparently my prediction was totally wrong last week.

... and yet I was totally spot on.

Lol at the sensationalism headline well played Nintendo life.

@banacheck no new console has ever outsold a old one in the first year. This must be your first console launch.

3ds is a fantastic machine and deserves every bit of praise and success that it gets.
The WiiU is not, and based on todays game market it's just not a competitive console. I actually wish the resources for that could just go to the 3DS and forget about WiiU. I was excited for Pikmin3 when WiiU came out but not really anymore. It's just not worth getting a $300 brick to play it when there are better options coming soon. Windwaker, I love and already played. Mario 3D and even smash bros I've played before and the new ones don't look much different. It's time for something new and only 3DS has given us that plus the old favorites re-hashed (since they love to do that so much).
Theres a reason Mickey mouse isn't starring in new disney movies, because we've moved on.

Pikmin will have long steady sales on the Wii u over the next 5 years... most people still don't know it exists. We never had any versions till my wife liked the game built into Nintendo Land. Now she plays the Wii version a ton.

But alas, it will not boost sales ever.

I'd love to know how Pikmin 3 did on the digital front.

@Brother_Jolteon

What are you blabbering about? 3DS isn't more powerful than Wii U.

So is super luigi bros. a retail version? I thought they didn't track downloads.

@theadrock13 VC is not a system seller either, it just one more thing for us to complain(yes I complain or pondered the speed in which VC is being created for WiiU a little) Regardless the cash they are never going to rush their titles anyway.

[Wii] Taiko Drum Master Wii Super Wonderful Edition – 5,630 (522,496)

This game has been on every chart you guys have published for like 3 months. What is this Wii game?

Also Tomodachi Collection: New Life has over 1 million is physical sales! I hope they release a figure with eshop purchases.

WOW Japan hates the 360

Bummer, was hoping for a jump in Wii U. I think developers are swaying, so that's good.

@LUIGITORNADO
I'm not talking about in terms of the specs, I'm talking about sales, appeal and better games.

@turnmebackwards Xbox sucks in Japan, X-box live is half arsed compared to its western counterpart and there is little to no advertising for anything. Not to mention localisations for games come suuuuper slow. I'm not surprised Microsoft decided to delay the Japan launch of X-Box one, maybe this time they will put more effort in then they did for X-box 360. Plus Asian as a whole don't really do the whole dude bro thing that sits at the core of X-Box gaming.

Macarony64:@banacheck no new console has ever outsold a old one in the first year. This must be your first console launch.

I didn't mean literally outselling the PS3 but yes this is my first console launch, but for some strange reason almost a year in i had the opinion console's did better than the Wii U. I not talking about a good launch a few months down the line almost dying, and three of the biggest publishers dropping support. Maybe thats because Nintendo has never really been good with 3rd party dev's, yes i'm physic i'm 5year old on my first console launch. year in almost and the so called console launch is no excuses, even tho the console launch ended months ago we're almost hitting the year 2014, if you haven't noticed. But don't get me wrong not all console's do well, maybe the Wii U will be joining the ranks of the golden age? Dreamcast, Sega CD, Saturn, 3DO, TurboGrafx 16, Atari Jaguar etc.

One thing I'm wondering is if the 3DS is doing this well and the Wii U is doing so poorly, just how much a system seller like Smash Bros. going to help if its cross-platform? Of course it'll probably sell consoles but how many people will get a Wii U for a game thats already on their 3DS?

I got MH3U knowing I can pick up where I left off if I get it on Wii U, but I'm in no hurry to get a Wii U just for that one game. The Wii U has a solid line-up on the way so I'm sure sales will pick up when the time comes but I think releasing too many cross-platform games will get in their way, especially in Japan.

@Sony_70 The thing you have to remember is that the PS3's library is incredibly bigger than the Wii U's, for about the same price. That's simply the conundrum all new consoles face close to launch. The PS3 just hit its stride with a steady stream of good exclusives a year or two ago. So in that right, it is an accomplishment--one offset somewhat, however, by the fact that many people already have PS3's by now.

@Zombie_Barioth Fair points about MH3U and Smash Bros., but for me personally, those are not games I'm remotely interested in playing on the 3DS. I tend to think most twitchy action games suck on handhelds, and will always go for a console version if it's an option. Not sure how many others agree with me on that, but the Wii U could have an advantage there.

And the sales chart proves it, Wii U sucks!

@taffy

Yeah mario kart, smashbros, Xenoblade, (Epic) zelda those games are the system sellers, but nintendo has to step up and bring more Epic games, and they have to hurry with it. maybe they can do something with sega, to bring shenmue to WiiU, that would be a system seller.

@Banker-Style I don't understand people's expectations for any one game to suddenly start selling massive numbers of Wii Us. All games are "system sellers", just to different degrees. But massive Wii U sales with a consistent upswing will not come from any one game. Not Pikmin, not Zelda, not even Mario Kart. All games will help shift units to some degree, but that upswing is temporary and tied to the corresponding game. To achieve permanent upswing, it takes a variety of great games, not just a single "system seller" as so many believe. Despite popular belief, most console sales are due to an impressive lineup of many games. Hardly anyone says well Pikmin 3 sold me on the system, now I'll buy a Wii U, if they weren't confident many other titles were coming as well. It's never one game that makes the difference, it's the collective library of consistent AAA titles that sells systems. Everyone's "critical mass" is different. Some might feel Wonderful 101 is the one that tips the scale and finally convinced them enough good games are now on offer. For others, it may take 5 more 1st party titles for them to finally deem the system worth buying

@Brother_Jolteon The XBoxOne will sell miserably is Japan, like the 360. If I'm not wrong they aren't even launching there around the same time. I'm not hating on Microsoft, just sorta how it has been.

I am not sure what to say.. I mean a third of a drop is big.. but then.. it's still almost twice the average.. the Wii U normally sells.. so Nintendo has technically had 2 good weeks.. however week three will be back to the normal 7 K average most likely..

@dumedum

PS3 has 5 games on that chart (Wii+WiiU has just 3 combined)and the PS3 only 4k hardware shy of the new "next gen" wii U....remember PS3 is how many years old? Pretty much everyone has one already.

PS4 is going to blow the Wii U away in Japan and even worse in EU and USA.

Nintendo only has a future in handhelds this generation, the Wii U is already dead compared to what PS4 and Xbox 1 will sell(Wii U will beat Xbox1 in japan i think, thats all). I have my Wii U and will get the 1st party stuff, but its a huge disappointment.

I think it's funny how people are already saying that "Sony and/or Microsoft has already won" even though neither of them has sold a single PS4 or XboxONE.

Beyond the news of initial preorders being sold-out(or shut-off), we have no idea how many units have actually been preordered or how many units will even be available to sell at retail on day one, etc.etc.

And judging by their confirmed launch titles, it's not much better than the WiiU's launch. All those awesome "system sellers" we saw at E3 won't be available till spring 2014 or later.
http://www.ign.com/wikis/playstation-4/PlayStation_4_Launch_Titles
http://www.ign.com/wikis/xbox-one/Xbox_One_Launch_Titles

As far as we know, Sony & Microsoft's launch issues may mirror Nintendo's to a certain degree. My point is: We simply do not know.

And until we have ALL 3 next-gen consoles at retail with actual units on the floor to sell, we can't call anything. Anyone who does at this point is either moron or they have a Flux-Capacitor jerry-rigged to their car.

@DarkCoolEdge That number is only for 2 days, and 100,000 games sold in 2 days is pretty damn good. Those numbers you posted are for the first week of release. The number found here in this article is only after 2 days of being on the market. The number will be higher next week.

I remember back in 2005 when the Nintendo DS launched, Nintendo planned the DS to be the third pillar, a system the would sell along side with the GameBoy Advance and Nintendo GameCube. Nintendo also had a backup plan if the DS was a failure.

My point is, does Nintendo have a backup plan if Wii U fails? Also if Nintendo did scrap the Wii U, it would be best for them to do it sooner than later, so they only piss off a smaller base of Wii U owners than a larger base of Wii U owners.

I have a Wii U and I wouldn't mind if Nintendo dropped support in the system, and just started over with a new system better than the Wii U.

I'm still amazed people are buying Wii's! Those must be the confused parents thinking they are cheap Wii U's......
A lot of people want Wii U's, but not at the moment; they are aiming for this fall, primarily for a price drop.

@hwrose379 No, they won't. Time will tell you.