3DS Reigns in the U.S. for Another Month as Pikmin 3 Sneaks Into the Top 10

Good for Nintendo!
Also I know this is a little off topic but does anyone find it weird that with Pokemon X and Y coming soon GLOBALLY that other big games such as wind waker aren't following those footsteps?

Alot of the doomsayers have just sat down in their seats at the back of the class again

Amazing numbers for Nintendo... So many games selling so much.

So that's some comforting news!

I'd have expected those numbers to be higher. That's a little under 10% of Wii U owners. 10% would be an amazing attach rate for a console like the 360 with thousands of titles, but what are Wii U owners buying? Looks like 90% of them aren't spending at all. Splinter Cell did under 5k and nobody can blame it being a late port this time.

@Peach64 nope but you can blame it on it being very glitchy, especially the online component. Until it gets patched that's what's holding me back & I'm sure it's holding many others back as well.

@AMR a patch was released recently by UBI... check it out, since the listed all fix done from it to the WiiU version!!

115K in a month is a huge number for a niche title. That's actually a higher number sold then I'd expect given the number of consoles owned. Probably points to a lack of games and people wanting to buy something just to have a new game. I would think that should be a good indicator of healthy sales for the more popular titles coming up.

@Peach64 - Just realized I didn't help that number as I bought Pikmin 3 used. Otherwise I would have just rented from Gamefly anyway so I'm never any help. Pikmin 3 is the reason I bought a Wii U though (2 weeks before the price drop was announced) so they got that out of me anyway. Santa will be bringing the kids - and me - a bunch of games at Christmas, I wonder how those games are counted

@MadAussieBloke - A lot of the doomsayers are pointing to Madden 25 and Sept's future winner (another multiplat not on a Nintendo console) and just laughing at the Wii U. I'm curious how Pok X+Y does in Oct. along w/ the 2DS. At least Wii U gets in on the multiplat fun in Nov. plus SM3DW.

@Peach64 No one bought Splinter Cell for ANY console. The Wii U version actually enjoys an attach rate on par with the XBX 360 version. And keep in mind, that's with roadblocks being thrown in the way to make it harder to buy it on the Wii U in the first place.

Things like the Wii U version being Best Buy exclusive while no other version was (and even though it was Best Buy exclusive, few Best Buys carried it. I had to purchase it online after looking in 3 Best Buys and them not having it), and the game not being offered for pre order in Canada, and having TV ads that said it was only on ps3 and 360 surly hurt the Wii U version's sales. When you take all that into account it did amazingly, since Ubisoft was seemingly intent on setting it up to fail.

@RickyNGmr The patch doesn't do a thing to fix online connection issues and freezes, which are the number 1 complaint when it comes to glitches in the Wii U version. (These glitches are Wii U exclusive )

Also being just another repetitive linear cutscene fest doesn't really help its case

@wombatkidd It sold nearly 300k overall so hardly nothing. You think Ubisoft will be happy the Wii U version got the same attach rate as the others? They'll see it sold about 140,000 each on PS360, a bit over 8 million dollars each, and they'll see it sold under 5k on Wii U, making under $300,000 which is definitely less than it cost them to port it. How much longer do you think 3rd parties are going to keep making Wii U versions when each one loses money?

People will get angry next time a multiplat game is announced with no Wii U version but green lighting a project that will definitely lose you money is no way for an business to operate.

Im glad to hear some good news and also the regular people that want to criticize any Nintendo news…quite entertaining actually.

Its no secret Nintendo has to improve on its marketing for the Wii U but its ridiculous to criticize the people who own the Wii U or the games they choose to buy…especially by people who dont own a Wii U and actually havent themselves contributed or supported to its hardware or software sales…

On another note the Wonderful 101 is coming out this Sunday!! I cant wait to finally pick this up! If ur close to NYC the Nintendo World Store is having a Wonderful 101 event @ 11am!!

I'm very happy with the Fire Emblem sales. This bodes well for future releases and translations in the west for strategy games and JPRG's.

@Peach64 300k overall is the same percentage of people who bought it for Wii U. So, by your logic, when "only" 10% of Wii U owners buy something, that's proof that Nintendo owners won't support third party games, but when "a whopping" 10% of XBOX 360 owners buy something, that proves that they do. Flawless logic. /sarcasm

It's an attach rate. The same percentage of people bought it for both systems. And that's a number you said was no one in the first place.

If they want the Wii U attach rate to be higher than other versions, they have to make it attractive for Wii U owners to buy it, which means not releasing it with fewer features than the other versions and not throwing roadblocks in the way of people who want to buy it like they did with this.

But they still have to be realistic. The best selling game on the best selling system right now has an attach rate of 25%. Using your own numbers, even if the had an attach rate like that, they would have made 750,000. If they budgeted more than that on the game then they are just stupid.

But if you feel like defending Ubisoft some more, please tell me how not allowing the Wii U version to be preordered, making it a Best Buy exclusive, not shipping to most Best Buy stores, not having any TV ads that state it's a Best Buy exclusive, having TV ads that don't even show it's on the Wii U, having some locations sell it for a higher price than the other versions, and limiting the online stock of the game were meant to help the Wii U version sell better. That's something I'd like to see.

@wombatkidd As I said in my previous post, they won't care about attach rate (which is nowhere near 10% on any system). They'll look at 5k sales vs 140k sales. Do you think anyone there is going, well this lost us a couple of million but it's okay because there's not many Wii U owners out there. All they will say next time is will putting this game on 360 make us money? Yes. Will putting it on PS3 make us money? Yes. Will putting this on Wii I make us money? No. I'm not blaming Wii U owners for their taste in games. I certainly haven't bought Splinter Cell on any format, but people can't get mad at publishers for dropping Wii U support when every Wii U game they release loses them money.

I've just had a quick google and it looks like its only a best buy exclusive in Canada which is the exact same situation for 360 and PS3.

If Ubisoft wants us to purchase games they got to stop shanking Wii U owners.

Most Wii U owners own multiple systems, so when they read that the Wii U version has missing features most gamers are going to go "OK I'll just get this on the PS3/x360"

So Ubisoft is cannabalizing their Wii U sales by pushing customers towards their PS3/x360 versions. Same thing with WB and the new Batman. They announce that the Wii U version wont have multiplayer. SO Wii U owners who own multiple consoles are going to buy the PS3/x360 version instead.

Publishers who cannabalize their Wii U market intentionally like this shouldn't' be surprised at the numbers... those 5k in sales are from Wii U owners who either only have 1 console, or they like the gamepad features.

Btw, how is 300k in sales a good thing for a AAA game between the PS3/x360, yet 400k of Zombi U selling is a bad number? I can guarantee you Splinter Cell cost more than 10x to make than Zombi U did. That reporter who misquoted Ubisoft of saying Zombi U wasn't profitable should be publically flogged. Ubisoft came out and said they were happy with the sales of Zombi U back in January, so either this reporter is lying and the whole gaming idustry ran with it, because hey, who doesn't like a negative Nintendo story? or the Ubisoft CEO is known for speaking like a politician.

@Peach64
"I've just had a quick google and it looks like its only a best buy exclusive in Canada which is the exact same situation for 360 and PS3."

No it isn't the same situation for the others. I live in Canada. You can get the 360 and PS3 versions in Walmart here and could preorder them. You can't with the Wii U version. Best buy also actually had copies of the 360 and PS3 versions. Getting mine was a nightmare.

" No. I'm not blaming Wii U owners for their taste in games."

"what are Wii U owners buying? ... Splinter Cell did under 5k and nobody can blame it being a late port this time."

Yeah, you sort of were. You said a 10% attach rate was nothing. And you're still going by the logic of "10% of Wii U owners buying something means they don't support third parties, but 10% of Xbox owners buying something means they do. herp derp"

"but people can't get mad at publishers for dropping Wii U support when every Wii U game they release loses them money."

Yes, you can. The reason you put games on unproven platforms like the Wii U isn't to make money on the initial sale. It's to get the console to a point where there are enough users to make money from it. Only everyone expects Nintendo to do that on their own and so give us crap versions of ports while letting Sony and MS s build their consoles on the backs of third parties without having to do anything to get their support. If third parties actually released games on the system that were just as worth buying as on other consoles, and didn't keep stripping Wii U exclusive of exclusivity, more people would buy the thing and then they'd have a chance to make money on it.

When I'm in a store that has electronics, I like to look at the games section. I've been in 4 major stores and have not been able to find a Wii U copy yet there are multiple copies of the other versions. 5K is a small number for a major release but how much would it have sold if it were available?

Good news.

@Peach64

I personally like the way ur always objectives to the numbers like an analyst…but if im not mistaken haven't u stated that u dont even own a WiiU?

Im sure ur aware of the troubles putting out a new hardware brings and the fears of developers but u critical about Wii U owners supporting 3rd parties when u dont even own a WiiU…yes yes i understand the importance of being a concerned and well researched shopper but people will buy the games they want on the systems they want.

I bought my WiiU at launch and aside from the game drought and game delays im happy with my purchase because im playing the games i want and not jus based on reviews in order to support the devs and system.

ZombiU was a great experience even though reviews were mixed. Got Rayman legends b/c ive played Origins and am more than happy to support it. Wonderful 101 demo was awesome and am getting the game this sunday.

People talk about supporting games they like but at te end of the day they dont support the games they like or hardware…

Enjoy the experience of playing video games on which ever console u choose…oh and maybe Splinter Cell is just not as popularas it once was regardless of its "good" reviews…or maybe like Rayman Origins it will turn a profit once its price drips who knows jus support the games u like and stop being critical about the choices others make especially when u havent even made urs

Those Fire Emblem numbers are amazing! Hopefully, this will teach NOA not to skip over another game in the series like they did with the second DS Fire Emblem game.

This is why I don't understand why Nintendo is so unwilling to put out their RPGs overhere. All of the Fire Emblem games since 7 have sold well in North Amercia, and games like Xenoblade & The Last Story have sold good over here as well.

No, Fire Emblem will never put up the sales of a Zelda or Pokemon game, but hopefully Awakining opened Nintendo's eyes on the fact that their RPG games can be very successful over here.

I need to play more of Awakining in the future once I can get my own copy...

Well the good news is.. The Wii U.. the 32 GB version in US Amazon retail was (Last night) as close to the top 100 it has been in Video games since I have begun keeping track (#110) and Zelda WW HD was number 72 overall last night (And that's preorders) and New Super Mario Bros. U was back into the top 100 again too.. the force is strong with this one.. the Wii U Zelda WW Bundle was way down.. (Like 482 or something) But to be fair Amazon U.S. does not actually sell the Wii U themselves.. and because of that prices are a lot of times higher last check 550.00 for the Zelda WWHD bundle) I am not sure how great any of this is.. (Seeing as to how Amazon sells for hardware are most likely not counted but the Software is) But the last time there was 2 Wii U games in the top hundred was Pikmen 3 and Super Luigi Brothers.. and I think New Super Mario slipped in there too temporarily.. and that would be the first time 3 games for the Wii U has ever been in the top 100.. so I am expecting great things for the Wii U..

@Peach64 I don't think it helps that the Wii U version of Splinter Cell has almost no reviews, so its Metacritic score for the Wii U is still tbd.

I kind of want the game, but I'm happy to wait for a more personally convenient time (when my current project at work wraps up).

Mario and Luigi is a lot of fun although the game gets too cute sometimes for my 25 year old tastes. But there's nothing better than having to turn your entire 3DS vertical so that you can control Giant Dream Luigi in what is essentially a Japanese monster movie fight.

you go big N

A little off topic, but I worry for Nintendo when I go into GAME, the Wii U section is hidden and I see pre-order lists with games that will be available on Wii U but the Wii U info is missing from the list. If GAME and Nintendo want to sell any units this xmas, they need to promote the fact they have Watch_Dogs, AC4 and CoD:G on a console that is cheaper from the outset.

@Peach64 you often cite Actual figures especially when you in Nintendoomed mode... Fact is those less suportive publishers will cite lower sales figures as to why they don't support WiiU, but @wombatkidd is absolutley correct, it's attach rate figures that count, and supportive publishers are looking at those figures not simple sales figures.
By your logic NO new system would ever be supported as sales figures do not reach as high than the systems they are replacing.

@Peach64 I would not rely on the 5k sells figure( Not saying it not possible). Its a rumor. http://wiiudaily.com/2013/09/low-blacklist-wii-u-sales/ But i personally doubt the sales are that bad.

Also did they outsource the production( of the wii u version) of this game in Shanghai? If so the production cost would be WAY cheaper vs the other versions.

What my theory/ opinion is they would have to sell WAY less copies to make a return!

@Nintendojoe64 I noticed that, You have to search for the WiiU versions on thier website. Game are doing the special editions along with the standard edition variations on WiiU, but GAME certainly are not promoting the WiiU versions.
As you say the WiiU versions are cheaper than the Ps4 and XB1, and the WiiU is the cheapest system to buy of the 3 you would think they would push the WiiU and its games a bit more.

@Senario
GAME have given up on Vita as far as I can tell. I overheard the assistant telling customers not to buy it and that he'd taken his one back because there were no games.

@nathanjones007 Its total BS...
Go here:
https://shadownet.splintercell.com/#!/home/single-player
At the top of the page change the region to US, and make sure its set to WiiU. On the bottom right corner of the map wait for the number of registered users to appear. You'll see that the number of registered users isn't great, no getting round that but at just over 16,000 registered users its over 3x more than what http://mynintendonews.com/2013/09/13/npd-splinter-cell-blacklist-wii-u-apparently-accounts-for-less-than-2-of-total-sales/ is implying.
These figures change depending on platform and region, and gives a great indication of Sales performance.

@GiftedGimp Thanks. I checked it out 10 minutes ago. I saw 16,419. Thats not counting the peeps who are not registered with shadownet.

@Nintenjoe64 GAMESTOP kinda seems like a state( like russisa or cuba) sponsored game retailer! I talked to the workers at my local gamestop last week. It was super interested, they said the WII U is toast! They were so fixated on graphics and technology( talked up the PS4 and XBONE)! I told them it would be foolish to write off the WII U. They pretty much ignored what i said and brought the conversation back to graphics! I realized that i was wasting time. LOL..

@wombatkidd

So Ubisoft basically bragged that the Wii U version shipped with online co op at the same time as the others, then they shipped a glitchy product, and then they release a patch that does not fix the issues? So it has no offline co op and half online co op?

@sinalefa Pretty much.

@sinalefa Online had/has to be fixed on ALL platforms not just WiiU. The Patch has fixed most problems, Online is still semi-broke... With knowledge of portforwarding, assigning dmz and not running a too strict router firewall it does work online fine.
2nd patch already on its way which should fix online completely on WiiU. (It took 2 and 3 patches on other systems too)

Here's my experience with Splinter Cell Blacklist in Toronto Canada. I normally don't preorder games, but this time I did hoping it would help out initial orders of the game. When I got to the store, there is normally a RewardZone (loyalty program) bonus of $10 for preordering advertised on the paper cutout. It was there for all other platforms except for the WiiU.

I asked a rep about this and they said the bonus should apply to all preorders. I went ahead and preordered it, but it didn't show up in my account. I had to call in and get them to put the bonus $10 for preordering. Inconsistent support /advertising from Best Buy is unfortunate because no one wins (consumer/best buy/Nintendo/Ubisoft)

I haven't looked for it in stores since I had it preorded, but when I did pick up my copy at the store I remember several copies on the shelf.

That being said, I was disappointed when the reviews came out and said that local coop was not supported, which is a strong reason i bought this game, since my WiiU is mostly used for local multiplayer. That saddens me. I haven't even tried it yet (still playing Pikmin3), but hopefully when I do the bugs will be patched away.

Anyway, I bought it to support a local studio (Ubisoft Toronto) and to support the WiiU. Looks like I'll be shafted for my loyalty. That makes me sad, but I don't regret my decisions.

Also maybe a bit of conspiracy theory, but I suspect NL hasn't published their review of Splinter Cell because they were waiting for the patch so as to not give a too negative review.

@Senario Now that I think about it, I see what you mean. I recently went into gamestop to get my nephew DKCR and the 3DS section is always in a corner and sometimes the new games don't even have display boxes on the shelf. Which is a shame.

And those are excellent numbers...for the 3ds. The fact that M&L has only been out for a month, I expect sales to really ramp up for the holiday season. And really surprised with FE:A. I'm not really a SRPG person and I didn't know anything about the series before this game. Hopefully this will encourage more localizations.

That's why I don't buy games from specialty gaming stores anymore. They are just a haven for MicroSony fanboys that think neckbeards are cool... eShop 4 Lyfe Baby

@GiftedGimp

Then that goes to show that Ubisoft Shanghai distributes its incompetence equally among all supported platforms.

@MadAussieBloke the doomsayers out there are dooming the wii U, not the company LOL

All Nintendo consoles have been doomed since 1998... Do you know what I'm sayin'
[youtube:su-HUDo7XQ4]

@Peach64

You are a little off on your assessment of revenue generated per game sale. Google "Anatomy of a $60 Video Game." If a company sells 1 million copies, they make far less than $60 million. There is royalty fees, development costs, manufacturing, advertising, retailer cut, etc. A game like Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 had $50 million in development, and $200 million in advertising, which they made back with their massive sale numbers. In fact, the average 3rd party developer nets a little over half the amount of the $60 on a new game. When games go on sale at retail, it is the retailer simply trying to move product because they bought too many of the game, and eat their own profit. Nintendo benefits from not having to pay a royalty fee to themselves (last gen is was around $7 per game per console). This also hurts Nintendo as the more people buy 3rd party games from Nintendo, Nintendo collects a royalty fee per game.

This is one reason for the digital push that will become more prevalent. You take out the manufacturing, shipping, and retailer's cut and put that back into the game developers pocket, which is why everyone wants to sell digitally. It is not a huge amount, but enough that it adds to the bottom line, which all these publicly traded companies want (more revenue and profit).

@element187 Very true, indeed. It would be extremely rare that in any particular household the Wii U would be the sole console in use. Very likely the Wii U was purchased to bolster the family's gaming experience rather than being its only source. So when a publisher delays the Wii U title, handcuffs it with less gameplay options or simply makes it glitchy, how can you blame people for buying the other versions? Why won't these companies give the Wii U at least a fair shot? Guaranteed on a personal level, I would choose the Wii U version over any others based solely on the added gameplay features granted by the use of the Gamepad, if a developer would be smart enough to utilize this amazing revolutionary piece of gaming hardware. Why do developers continuously shoot themselves straight in the foot?!

The funny thing is, it isn't the fans that have deemed the wiiu inferior , the people that own them actually really like, and the people that are waiting for games actually really like. Its the publishers that deem it inferior, which is ridiculous. If this systems fails, its because of third parties not giving it a chance to succeed.
People aren't dumb.....well I hope not. They see that games are gimped, or missing features and why would they buy those games?
This little system could be amazing, and any version it has can easily be the definitive one simply because of added playability. Not because of visuals, and that's something the publishers don't want. They don't want the system with the lowest processor to win again.
Nintendos presence is a slap in the face to big publishers, because they are constantly reminded that they don't need to pour millions upon millions into development in order to succeed. Nintendo is the proof.
This industry is a joke, every which way you slice it.
Sony-lost 3 billion plus on the ps3 alone and is bleeding money, so much so that they sold two of their buildings to boost revenue.
Microsoft-hasnt made a profit since the inception of the original Xbox, in fact their share holders want them to sell the brand.
Third parties like SE, EA, Capcom spend so much money making games, that selling 3 million copies is considered a failure. They are losing money hand over fist.
Nintendo is actually makingoney, maybe not lime 5 years ago, but they aren't laying people off, or selling assets to make up for a lack of profits.
How long can an industry survive like that?
And here we go again with ps4 and Xbox one, two mega expensive consoles to manufacture, being sold at a loss.....and probably for years at that.
I wouldn't be surprised if there was a collapse and I truly believe if that were to happen, Nintendo would be the only one out of the three to stand back up.
But that's just my opinion...so whatever

@Boukman I can't wait for the next one. Until now, Pokemon was the only thing I ever pre-ordered, but the next Fire Emblem I will pre-order as well.

Nintendo has always been awesome, but the 3DS just makes it perfect, IMO. It's everything I ever wanted in a game system of any type.

@coren Exactly.

@coren TESTIFY!

@FlashFan207 I can't answer that. It doesn't make any sense to me either... Sniper V2, which is a fun game, 505 games decided to remove online coop from the Wii U version..... Go look on Miiverse it was SLAMMED hard for excluding online and DLC.

Those people that are angry are not going to buy it. I wanted to buy it, had it preordered, and soon as I heard about the lack of online coop, I cancelled my preorder and added the game to my gamefly renting queue.... singleplayer was fun, but i'm not buying a broken game or incomplete game.

@GiftedGimp I see a lot of people are calling out peach64 on his/her crap, I noticed it months ago, how can someone with a catpeach avatar be such a damn hater and skeptic of Nintendo all the time?