Early Estimates Place Pikmin 3 August Sales in the U.S. at 185,000 Units

Good numbers for Pikmin, but just goes to show how insane those comments were back in February about Rayman Legends selling 2 million if if had been released then as an exclusive. Impressive Saints Row figures too considering it only had a week on sale and GTA is right around the corner.

@Peach64 I think it would of sold a lot more than it did, especially if it was given the same reviews, I knew a lot of people that were waiting for rayman to come out so they could buy a WiiU but when it was announced it was going multi platform and wouldn't be released until september they lost interest in it

It's the reason I bought my Wii U too. I have to say I like the Wii U more than the game, the no choice ending left a bad taste in my mouth. My kids however have beene playing coop incessantly, they've platinumed all the challenges - well not boss as they haven't bothered w/ story - and lots and lots of bingo. I really wish bingo was 3 player - 2 on tv and me on the gamepad - so I could get in on the fun.

Oh, and a big shout out thank you to Sony for not releasing the PS4 in Japan until Feb. If the Wii U doenst sell well this holiday Nintendo has no one to blame but themselves.

Given the incredibly small user base on WiiU in the US, 185,000 really isnt that bad in a little under a month. About 2 million people in the US own a WiiU i would guess. Way less than any other console right now, and worldwide sales still havent matched nintendo's initial target of 5.5 million by March 2013. I dont see WiiU outselling its competitors this holiday either. Nintendo has done a nice job announcing games like Mario 3D World and Donkey Kong Country for this holiday, but we're kidding ourselves if we think those are killer apps worth buying a system for, especially a system that lacks most of the heavy hitting third party games like Madden NFL 25, Grand Theft Auto V, and Dragon Age III. If there is a killer app coming, its in the form of Smash Bros, which doesnt hit until 2014. If Nintendo were to release an innovative, true 3D Mario or a brand new Zelda game, or even something in the vein of Wii Sports/Fit that captures a wider gaming audience and hasnt really been done before... Then maybe WiiU would sell this holiday, but as it is, i still see it coming in a rather distant 3rd, if not also possibly getting outsold by old consoles like 360/PS3, and its own sibling, the 3DS.

Not bad at all for a console exclusive on a console that has very little sales.

@rjejr
I was miffed about the ending not letting you continue on and explore myself. I did start over trying to keep all my pikmin alive, but that gets crazy frustrating pretty quick.

Did you play the missions challenges yourself? They are fun as a one-player game as well and pretty tough. I was surprised that they are as fun as they are.

@Peach64
They lost a sale from me when they delayed Rayman. I had money to burn earlier in the year and now I haven't. 2 Million sales is ridiculous but I think its own sales in February would definitely have been enough to justify 6 months of exclusivity. I also think there would have been a lot more positive things being said about 2 screen gaming if it had been released on time. 90% of the recent RL reviews were made using the xbox version and not many explained what the Wii U difference is to multiplayer and the Murfy bits.

@aaronsullivan

Thanks for the tip. I wanted to get all fruit before heading to the final stage anyway.

Still I think the game is great and it deserves to sell well. I would love to see Nintendo making a similar promotion to Fire Emblem + SMTIV to kinda match the deal they gave to Europe with W101

Pikmin is here to stay then

Pikmin 3 kind of deserves to low-sale, it wasn't very good. Easily the most dumbed down and shortest of the series. I'd rather of had a game with crappy visuals and more depth than it. Not to mention the change in controls were atrocious, particularly considering now we have controllers with two analogue sticks again, I wanted classic pikmin controls, not this... god awful pikmin mini game that I waited nine years for.

Awesome title I highly recommend it , it's a blast to play another Nintendo classic not to be missed .

Wow.

Wow.

That ain't bad at all.

And I'd be suprised if Nintendo didn't make sure that this title was kept on shelves for years to come, for some good legs down the road

@AugustusOxy ....You do know you can use the wii remote right? Sorry you don't like the game, but maybe if you play it again with the wiimote control scheme. It's much more enjoyable than trying to use analog sticks f'sho! personally, I love the game.....far from atrocious.

The install base of Wii U is very small so this number of Pikmin 3 sales is very impressive.

Can't help but think that Ubisoft dropped the ball a little bit with Rayman, They underestimated the Wii U and delayed it only to release the game at a pretty bad time, Feb didn't have as much competition around.

I would have bought rayman had it been released in Feb.Now Id rather buy first party titles...Also pikmin3 is fantastic but I too am a little miffed you cant just explore after completing the game.I said I was going to restart the game but eh,thats a hassle.And im not to interested in the challenges.I got no one to play bingo battle with so I probably wont pick it back up till DC is released...

From what I was told by the manager at my Gamestop, you couldn't find one on launch day unless you had it pre-ordered because they blew through the stock that they got for regular retail.

It would seem that kind of success carried on past launch day. Very good news!

On a slightly related note, are we ever going to get the Splinter Cell: Blacklist review? It's quite a fine game.

@SkywardCrowbar

I was actually wondering the other day why NL hasn't reviewed Splinter Cell yet.

@AugustusOxy I couldn't disagree more, though I have very limited experience with the first Pikmin. However, Pikmin 2 feels much less focused than 3. I found the transition between sub-subterranean "dungeons" and the over-world to be jarring, so much so that it felt like two separate games at times.

Also, did you use the Wiimote/nunchuck + Gamepad combination? If not, I strongly advise that you learn that system and try it out. I find it to be absolutely amazing, providing me the opportunity to be as efficient as possible in playing out the day.

The controls were fine for me but i felt the returning time constraint, while more generous then the first, puts a severe damper on exploration. Yes utilizing the various captains aids in what you can accomplish in a "day" but i would have loved to explore at my own pace and experiment with everything.

@AugustusOxy There was the option for classic controls--you could play with the GamePad.

_{Let's not use insults next time. -Lz}

@arrowM i think he was referring to the march ability where you could send pikmin out via the cstick on the gc controller which wouldnt make him an idiot but someone like myself who enjoyed the older controlschemes mechanics.

Great news! I know this is slighty off the subject but does anyone know if pikmin 3 will get online play(any rumors)? If it did that would be great and it will sell many more copies (also move a tone of systems)! My wife and i are so addicted to bingo battle and we have family that we would love to compete with us!

I think thats a very low number for the big deal Miyamoto tried to make about this game acting like it was a major, console selling type release.

However, it is a decent number compared to many games on Wii U, not many have sold as well. First, there aren't that many consoles sold and second, there aren't many people really using their Wii U anyway(most are collecting dust).

I never understood why madden is still popular. Why pay 60 dollars for it when you can buy last years copy at used game store for like 3 bucks. Also if Madden is the only game you buy then you're not a real gamer.

@NbaJunkie - "Also pikmin3 is fantastic but I too am a little miffed you cant just explore after completing the game.I said I was going to restart the game but eh,thats a hassle."
@aaronsullivan - "I was miffed about the ending not letting you continue on and explore myself."

Glad to know I wasn't the only 1 who thought it could have ended differently. Even if before going to Formidable Oak Britanny would have said - "better make sure we gather all the fruit we want before going there as we might not get a chance to come back." That's usually how it works, fair warning. Though a simple choice or "leave now or stay and collect more fruit" would have been better.

I've also thought about restarting but I have other stuff to play. I do like the added missions but I'm settling for all bronze.

I used the wiimote + nunchuck and sat the Gamepad on it's stand next to me. The most annoying part is dismissing Pikmin w/ a shake rather than charging b/c I wasn't locked on. Loud cursing ensued every time. And it happened a lot.

@N64ever Well this years madden has an entire new engine, really advanced AI and animations, advanced physics for collisions and a bunch of new stuff like that.

So what you are saying is not true at all for this years edition. Also, the game adds new players and player ratings each year, I guess you don't realize players change teams and that rookies enter the league and old players leave it?

Some years there are not enough upgrades to make everybody want to get it, but this year is a major release with tons of new stuff.

The Wii U not having any sports games for any of the major sports is a HUGGEEE!!!! Mistake as that is a big % of console gamers right there. Sports is one of the few genres where console is still better than PC. So that is the reason many buy a console just for sports games. Nintendo are morons for not understanding that and will pay big time.

@3Daniel True. They did replace the "move as a group" with Charge. However, Charge is equally effective, and I feel works better once I got used to it. Z-Target lock on --> Shake nun-chuck --> Satisfaction.

@Peach64
agreed anyone that thought rayman was going to sell 2 mill as a wii u exclusive has mental issues. for pikmin these are decent numbers. not system seller numbers, but decent none the less.

@DrKarl lol the controls were fine. I mostly use the gamepad seeing as its wii pointer and not the better wiimotion plus thats used for the other set up. I would have liked a little more customization with controls but they get the job done. There was just something about bathing enemies with pikmin using march that felt better for me then charge but i take bigger issue with the returning day cycle. Maybe we will get to fight for our lives at night if pikmin 4the ever comes about.

Alao i downloaded this so you can add 1 to that total

I'd wager the Pikmin digital numbers are in the region of at least 15-30% extra due to the Eshop promotions. I'm sure Nintendo is happy with the numbers, now we more 1st party titles.

@AugustusOxy I loved the game, though I was also disappointed by certain aspects of it. However, saying it's the shortest of the series is just untrue. Pikmin 1 can be beaten 100% in three or four hours. People who are rushing through 3 are reporting eight hours at least, around 20 for 100%. It's much more densely packed with obstacles and such, where 1 was just kind of like, "run around and grab them all, and you're done in one sitting."

@rjejr You can go back a few days though, right? I haven't tried it. I just didn't want to go through the final area again. It just would have been nicer if you could chill out and explore after you'd finished it.

I had some frustrations the first time through (and I think the lock-on was just too slow or not noticeable enough that led to that same problem for me when I wanted to charge but just dismissed the pikmin) but I must say it's so much easier and enjoyable the second time through from the beginning. I make new challenges for myself like getting the two bridges done in one day before Charlie (trying not to be spoilery). It was frustrating to try and not lose pikmin but I did learn a bunch about the other creatures in doing so.

In fact, I'm rather positive on the game now, while the first run through I wasn't delighted for the first 2/3rds. I hadn't played the originals very much so there was a great deal to learn and what I really enjoy is how deep it is. Sure, you can just bludgeon your way through it most of the time, but learning the nuances of the enemies and pikmin and bosses is fun.

(I also had the frustration of my kids wanting to do stuff on the gamepad while I played which inexplicably pauses the game and says the GamePad is now in control. If someone knows of an option to let the GamePad kind of work in a free mode where a second player can assist without interrupting my playing I'd love to hear about it.)

@GamerJunkie That's very interesting and that would for once make it worth the money. And yes I do know players and stats change every year I have played a few Madden games but didn't notice much change back then besides player stats changing. I meant no offense, sports games are not my type of game really anymore. I still like the crazy type ones from back in the day like NFL blitz though.

185,000 is actually an impressive number considering we don't know the download purchases. But they did have a promotion with Gamestop to allow early access to the game, so there should be a few extra download purchases in there.

My guess is 300k or so if you count downloads.... but Pikmin 3 is an evergreen title. it will keep selling for years for Nintendo. When people break down and pick up a Wii U, a Pikmin 3 sale wont be far behind. My guess is it sell over a million when its all said and done with the generation.

@bizcuthammer The Wii U will outsell the xBone and PS4 this holiday season. You don't seem to be very good at analyzing business. The largest pool of customers this holiday season is going to be parents. Price is a major factor, as well as a free game being included also helps immensley. Game library, Nintendo will have the largest selection overall and way way more exclusives.

Not everyone follows gaming news everyday all day.... PS4/xBone might sell to more hardcore gamers, but I really really doubt they will outsell the Wii U this holiday, adding in supply problems that all new consoles bump up against when they release.

SM3DW is by far the most innovative Mario I have seen to date. You can't get much more innovative than 4 player 3rd person platforming.

@aaronsullivan - I did go back, to the last day after getting thru Oak w/ the final boss waiting. I went and gathered a few more fruit but lacked motivation to continue.

@element187 - "You can't get much more innovative than 4 player 3rd person platforming."

How about 4 player 3rd person super smashing

I know, too slow, not as quick, I've played Shrek Superslam, but it will forever be a dream of mine.

The Wii u should outsell the other 2 just based on supply limitations alone. That and the $499 X1 price compared to $299. I wouldn't be shocked though if the PS4 outsells it. Nintendo at some point will need to advertise the thing. Maybe Sept. 20, after the price drop. They need to match the attractiveness of the 3DS kiosks, the Wii U display is too sterile, like a hospital. Nobody goes to a hospital looking for fun.

Just wanted to comment that Madden 25 isn't really driving software sales boost, as the 1million sold week one this year is actually down over a half million versus last year at the same time frame.

Also, many people bought the Madden 25 anniversary editon on Amazon for the included DirecTv sunday ticket. What makes it notable is that best buy stopped accepting trade ins on the title last week. The correlation being that many people bought the game for Sunday Ticket and sold the game or traded in immediately for the 45 at BB. I would like to see if Gamestop saw a large influx of trades too.

The only thing I really wish Pikmin 3 had is multiple save files.

@element187 @rjejr
Wow, I hope you're right about Wii U sales, I really do. I'm not as confident as you two.

It's certainly possible. PS4 will almost certainly have a better launch than the Wii U and it has ~26 titles at launch compared to Wii U's paltry selection (hey, all I needed was Nintendo Land for weeks, myself). But maybe Nintendo can pull off higher sales and that will be a psychological victory if it does. The Wii U could finally gain some legitimacy in the wider media which would help.

It's going to take Metroid and Zelda to get the attention of the core gamers that are psyched for X1 or PS4. Not sure how much they matter to Nintendo's success in the short term, though. The exclusives that Nintendo offers are far different than the exclusives X1 and PS4 offer no matter the number.

Incidentally (on the topic of exclusive games that could attract some core gamers) I'm really sad that Kid Icarus hasn't gone console and probably won't for a long time. I think it's a great and fun fresh property (fresh to most). I also hope Wonderful 101 can get some real sales in the US. Anecdotally, I see people dismissing it before understanding and enjoying the deep and rewarding gameplay. It's disappointing. It's hard to see anyone dismiss the demo as "horrible" for such a brilliant game for whatever reason.

@Jazzer94 You can just make another user, right? Every login gets a save file.

@aaronsullivan - I don't think the Wii U is ever getting the "hard core" back. Metroid was killed by Other M and Zelda will be awhile. They'll all be playing Madden and GTAV anyway. What I do think is Mario and Sonic and Mario and Sonic Olympics along w/ the $299 price will let Santa leave some of these under the tree this year. IF - and here's the big IF - Nintendo finally markets the damn thing. Print, tv, radio, the works. Treat it as a new system launch, b/c for a lot of people it is. Fit U and Party as well for the "fun for the whole family" factor. Like the 3DS "summer" kiosk displays.

Here's the thing - Santa has to leave something under the tree for the kids, I'm betting this is the Wii U's year to be that something as PS4 and X1 won't be geared towards kids, and a lot of people already have either a PS3 or Xbox360. Nintendo needs to advertise the "Wii in HD" angle more also so old folk upgrade for Windwaker and NSMBU.

@Jazzer94 - Me too. My wife told me if I wanted to start over I could use her account, it won't get much use until Wii Fit U comes out. Or maybe another Zumba game, she's over Just Dance.

@AugustusOxy what are you talking about? The controls are spot on and more accurate then the analog sticks. I'm all in favor for the analog stick when it comes to fps and other genres but motion control suits this best.

@bizcuthammer
Right. Pikmin 3 sold almost as much as Splinter Cell Blacklist or Disney Infinity, but look at how many consoles the latter two released on. Disney Infinity for example released on PS3 (about 75 million) + Xbox 360 (about 75 million) + Wii (about 100 million) + 3DS (about 30 million) + Wii U (about 4 million). That's roughly 255 million consoles. Splinter Cell Blacklist released on at least 155 million consoles.

So for Pikmin 3, which released as an exclusive on less than 4 million consoles, that's absolutely phenomenal! Really, Nintendo should stand tall and proud, ESPECIALLY for a game with little advertisement outside the gaming community, eShop or monthly Nintendo Direct.

@bizcuthammer
Keep in mind that "killer app" is a buzzword often thrown around carelessly, but in reality holds little to no merit. Most consoles sell based on excitement for the console itself, or from a DIVERSE library of MANY offerings, not just "one" killer app. I don't care how good a game is, no one buys a console if it has just one great game, regardless of what some people say. In reality it doesn't happen.

It's a full library of numerous games that catches the eye. A console that has enough must-have games on it that the draw overtakes the reluctance to spend. And for the record, DKC is a MAJOR draw for the Wii U. Don't underestimate this game simply because it's not gunz'a'blazin AAA multiplat material. There is a time and place for big budget multiplats, but there is also a time and place for just plain out great and awesome fun games. And that's what people love Nintendo for, for low-key yet immensely well polished and fun games, not for big flashy AAA material.

You'd be surprised how many people at my job dismiss Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101, even Zelda Windwaker HD and Sonic Lost World, hell even Splinter Cell Blacklist, Watch Dogs and Assassin's Creed 4. But when they hear a new DONKEY KONG game is coming, their ears perk up. They say, "oh I love Donkey Kong! There's a new game coming?"

@GamerJunkie
They're not morons and they understand it perfectly fine. Madden and FIFA and NBA 2K aren't MIA because Nintendo said "hey guys, we don't want your games, go ahead and skip our console would you?". Nintendo had no say in the matter. Try as they did, publishers bailed on Nintendo in droves at the first sign of struggle. It was irresponsible and foolish, and hopefully it will come back to bite them in the end so as to teach them a lesson.

You have to BUILD the base you wish to sell to. You can't expect someone else to always build it with their own sweat and tears, then jump in after all is hunky dory. They are cowards without any sense of character, dedication, loyalty, or willingness to see something through to the end. It would be like sponsoring a pro skater, then pulling the plug after ONE lost tournament.

@rjejr
I'm not sure if Metroid was killed by one subpar game. Even Sonic, with over 15 years of subpar games, is back on it's feet. All franchises eventually get THAT game, the one that gets criticized, put down, and neglected. Interestingly enough, Other M was actually a really great game! It wasn't quite as good as the Prime games, and it definitely had some issues with input (too simplistic with just one action button, yet too cumbersome switching to missiles with motion), but all in all, it was definitely a 7 out of 10. It sold almost 2 million copies- more than Metroid Prime 2 and Metroid Prime 3 did, so it didn't exactly "bomb" as many people think it did.

I think Nintendo's wise to wait on Metroid til halfway into the 3DS and Wii U's lifespan, so as to give it a little break and let people's anger subside. With that said, I'm confident when the new Metroid games are announced for 3DS and Wii U, there will be a fair bit of excitement all around.

@JaxonH @rjejr
Metroid isn't dead in this household, that's for sure. We recently played through Metroid, Super Metroid, and all 3 primes (Wii trilogy) in anticipation of maybe a new Metroid announcement. The announcement didn't happen but my kids are scarred forever now. My 4-year-old has a few imaginary baby metroids he plays with (he does a great metroid squeal) and my 8-year-old daughter wants to dress up as Samus for Halloween.

As much as I've enjoyed it, Metroid: Other M gets a bit nasty for the kids to watch however in ways that I can't edit by changing the viewpoint. :/ I generally don't linger on the dying humanoids in the Prime games as I don't like them getting fascinated with shooting people.

We don't have a 3DS yet, but the new Zelda is enticing. If there was a new Metroid game I'd own one, however.

good to see pikmin selling reasonably well. quality single player orientated software that was really needed closer to day 1. thankfully the game is fantastic, but the delays have undoubtedly fed into the negative trajectory for wii U. at least plenty of owners have picked it up...will be interesting to see how w101 fares in the US in comparison.

@aaronsullivan @JaxonH - Glad to hear about Other M, I own it, but I still haven't played it yet. (I'm currently halfway thru White Knight Chronicles 2, Darksiders 2, Rainbow Moon and Arc Rise Fantasia. I think I need to finish some of those before I start something new. Pikmin 3 had to be played ASAP though.)

And I don't think Metroid is dead forever, I was just talking about for now, in reference to the hard core coming back to Wii U now. I don't think the hard core are sitting around in anticipation of the next Metroid game b/c o fall the bad Other M press. People are always waiting for the next Zelda though.

@rjejr nice, Darksiders 2 is just excellent isn't it, I still need to go back and finish that one. Yeah 2 Zeldas in a 2 month period is pretty exciting!

Not bad,for a struggling console/.