While sales results in North America and Europe are infrequently shared and occasionally vague, it's easy to keep track of Japanese equivalents with the country's weekly charts. The trend has been largely the same for a long time — the 3DS is dominant. Last week brought a slightly underwhelming début for Super Mario 3D World, and while Mario's latest has had a relatively modest second week, the Wii U hardware sales have nevertheless continued an upward trend.
To start with software, top spot goes to new 3DS release Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai 2, while Pokémon X & Y returns to second place. Super Mario 3D World is in fourth place, with sales under half of its first week; results are below with lifetime sales in parenthesis.
1. [3DS] Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai 2 – 88,708 (New)
2. [3DS] Pokemon X and Y – 86,391 (3,089,129)
3. [PS3] Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII – 60,073 (337,155)
4. [Wii U] Super Mario 3D World – 39,812 (139,400)
5. [PS3] Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends – 35,472 (New)
6. [PS3] Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag – 35,348 (New)
7. [PS3] Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 – 25,166 (212,844)
8. [3DS] One Piece: Unlimited World R – 24,623 (108,228)
9. [PS3] Super Robot Wars OG Infinite Battle – 22,833 (New)
10. [3DS] Monster Hunter 4 – 21,969 (2,981,758)
11. [PS3] Call of Duty: Ghosts – 21,217 (241,100)
12. [PSV] God Eater 2 – 20,556 (325,933)
13. [PSP] God Eater 2 – 18,071 (150,602)
14. [PSV] Criminal Girls: Invitation – 16,415 (New)
15. [3DS] Pretty Rhythm Rainbow Live Kirakira My Design – 15,882 (New)
16. [PS3] Dynasty Warriors 8 with Xtreme Legends – 15,094 (New)
17. [3DS] Aikatsu! Futari no My Princess – 14,436 (86,524)
18. [3DS] Kamen Rider: Travelers Senki – 12,031 (New)
19. [PSV] Dynasty Warriors 8 with Xtreme Legends – 11,870 (New)
20. [PS3] Grand Theft Auto V – 11,676 (605,046)
The hardware results bring some notable good news for Nintendo. The 3DS XL — LL in Japan — has enjoyed a handsome increase with new software and the ongoing popularity of X & Y. Most intriguingly, the Wii U has followed up its increase last week of around 5,000 units with another bump in sales, despite only Super Mario 3D World appearing in the software chart — its weekly boost of over 7,500 units makes it the second best selling system in Japan. Perhaps the result of the value bundles in the region, as well as other factors, it's a welcome improvement; last week's sales are in parenthesis.
3DS LL – 82,409 (63,709)
Wii U – 28,518 (21,002)
3DS – 25,964 (20,797)
PlayStation Vita – 20,202 (21,044)
PlayStation 3 – 13,311 (12,436)
PlayStation Vita TV – 5,391 (7,868)
PSP – 4,232 (3,546)
Wii – 588 (457)
Xbox 360 – 309 (342)
While still in the shadow of the phenomenal momentum of 3DS, it's pleasing to see the Wii U demonstrating an upward trend while securing a top three lock-out for Nintendo. It'll be interesting to see how these figures hold up next week.
[source gematsu.com]
Comments 79
HATERS GONNA HATE

Agree with both posts above. That GIF is pure win btw.
I'm glad to hear that! Hope numbers are rising in US, too. And I hope they start rising in the UK.
2 good news articles in a row?
I'm speechless.
Monster Hunter Frontier G will be released next week in Japan for Wii U. This will improve the sales a bit.
@rjejr When there's happy news, we report it, likewise when things aren't hunky-dory. 'Tis life.
@Azooooz - Indeed, I'll be interested to see how it performs on both PS3 and Wii U, especially as it's — essentially — a rather old port.
Finally some good news! Although wii u may not be the top out of the 3 consoles so far, but I believe it will sell well enough.
What this chart doesn't show that the bump was practically solely thanks to the Wii Party U console bundle - its sales went up by about 10,000 from last week!
Word of mouth about Wii Party U's good quality spreading, and many people want a Wii U with Wii Party U and Wiimote controller included.
NintenDominance
Nice. Very surprising the huge gap between the first and second place on hardware sales. I hope 3D World keeps selling.
@ThomasBW84 - I'm not surprised you reported it, I'm just surprised there's that much good news It was almost 3 in a row w/ the FP piece. Too bad about Luigi though.
Maybe you can just keep re-posting this video every day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1qjF9nH-Oo
This is good to hear. I'm really hoping for big numbers in two weeks though.
Pretty happy that two positive articles have been posted!
Those are some positive signs for Nintendo.
@MadAussieBloke I can't stop laughing!!!
Dang, that 3DS. What a monster. I wonder if it will ever pass the DS family in lifetime sales.
Good to see the Wii U pick up a little. It's steadily improving, and I imagine that it's doing fairly well in NA too. Shame about it flat-lining in the UK, but oh well. Dreary chaps, the lot of you.
Also nice to see the PS3 move a respectable number this late in its life cycle. I've loved that machine since Day 1, 599 US Dollars and all, and am glad that it has done so well.
@MadAussieBloke can you share that gif with me. I need to see that everyday for the rest of my life.
Good news at last!
Well congrats wii u, it's been a kind a long time seeing a good news reported here
Tis a steady climb for potental WiiU dominance.
I think nintendo will always do well in japan, its the west thats causing them problems, the family friendly image just doesnt translate to the type of gamer they were trying to attract with the wii u, well certainly in the uk anyway
I love seeing any sales chart in which Nintendo products occupy the top three selling positions.
@MadAussieBloke
http://mrwgifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Haters-Gonna-Hate-Soccer-MRW-Gif.gif (NSFW due to foul language)
Please leave NSFW tags for gifs with foul language in them -Lz
It's great to see the Wii U continuing to gain momentum in Japan, and being the best selling home console for a couple of weeks now.
What's this? POSITIVITY? I knew the Wii U would pick up eventually. Let's hope that this good Japanese news occurs worldwide.
@CaviarMeths hey! I'm from Northern Ireland, my household has just been brightened up with Wii U Mario & Luigi bundle and will be soon be blinded by the brilliance of SM3DWorld!
Obviously it's strategy that the twins are trying to manipulate perception. Perception is everything these days. Let's get serious, Wii U is the only next gen machine whereas the other two are rehashes without any compelling difference. Sales and opinions aside, the twins didn't bring anything new or compelling to the market. In the interest of technical advancement, Nintendo is the only one trying new things. I want to see something new from the other two, not the same. Why should I buy a better ps3 or Xbox for twice or three times the price?
The real question is who are these people buying the Wii and 360 at this point?
Nintendo just has to keep getting this system in front of people, because people who have it, love it. There have been some incredible Wii U prices lately in Canada, so people are starting to buy it. Even people who aren't typically Nintendo fans or had previously written the system off, are surprised how much they are enjoying it.
The PS4 and Xbox One got all the hype this month, but neither have a game as good as Mario 3D World.
Dat 3DS LL number.
(And I suppose WiiU isn't doing too bad this week either)
After all, Wii U won't see another Christmas
Hoping that Wii U will build up momentum during the holiday, and keep it going throughout 2014 with big game releases. Longevity is better than short term big sales.
Nice, hopefully it will continue to sell at least a little better than this, at those levels it can remain a fairly stable platform. Here's hoping third parties, other than those awesome Indie devs, will jump on board.
@justinluey I just picked up the Mario and Luigi bundle for 250$ from Future Shop. I just couldn't resist at that price. I think the wii u will do very well this holiday season
@ted-k You're not alone. Check any "deals" forum, and they are filled with people who suddenly decided to buy it, because of that price point. You'll also notice that no one regrets the purchase.
The only mistake Nintendo made with these new bundles is they should have included a Nintendo Land download, and possibly another game. This would have added more value, while costing them almost nothing.
Good to see. When you think not that long ago it was selling less than 29K worldwide it does change the outlook.
As we all know the SuperMario3DWorld sales does not include downloads so all we are left with to reflect the true success of the game is the consoles that are sold.
Anyone else notice how slow Eurogamer, IGN and Kotaku are to report this compared to last week's when they reported it to say that 3D World is a failure?
Seems good news for the Wii U is slow to get to them as always.
Don't want to bust anyone's balls, I'm going to simmer down on this. The PS4 and XBONE have yet to come to the fight in that part of the world. I do hope Nintendo gets to take advantage of the Christmas while they are still absent.
Well, that's good for Japan. Now the Wii U needs to pick up in the west. I just recently bought one if that helps. Also, glad to see GTA5 still on that list.
They need software and fast to get a real hold of japan
I find it funny that for a long time the biggest criticism of the wii u was its lack of games, yet thousands of people have already picked up a psbox. I think this genuinely shows how the market has changed, the ps and xbox brand being far more significant to western audiences than nintendos. I fail to see how nintendo can ever grab western audiences next year with the few exclusive games announced. This news again reaffirms my suspicions that the wii u will only possibly do well in Japan :/ Not trying to put a downer on this good news btw
YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Datasun_7 I agree with you. Isn't it sad, though?
Good news indeed. Wii U outselling PS3... A sign to Nintendo to keep buggering on
This is good news for Japan.
Nintendo now just needs to do the same in all the other territories too and on a consistent basis...
Also, where's the 2DS sales numbers...?
@Kirk 2DS has not been released in Japan. This seems to come up every week in the Japanese chart post
@Kirk The 2DS is not available in Japan.
2DS is out in South Korea so it could make it's way to Japan someday.
SM3DW is an evergreen title it will keep keep keep selling
I do want to see the 3DS consoles bundled together in one figure though as is Pokemon X&Y - after all, they are exactly the same thing . . .
Every time i see the 3DS numbers in japan i'm like " Daaaaaaaaamn....thats crazy".
I can foresee a future where Nintendo Consoles (Not the handhelds) will be for Japanese markets only. I personally hope this is a long way off as I have had Nintendo consoles from the SNES and GBA through the years to present day WiiU and 3DSXL and no other manufacturers console (accept the NeoGeo pocket). However as I read on another thread "UK market appears to be Sony's turf"
Great news. Go go go!
Why aren't 2DS numbers being included in these reports?
@Peach64
Ah, ok. My bad.
I'm sure I must have known this and yet I still said what I said. Doh!
@strongest_link
2DS isn't being sold in Japan.
Finally, some good stuff!
anyone else notice this?
http://www.vgchartz.com/weekly/41602/Global/
according the VGchartz, the Wii U sold more than the ps4 last week. Yes, I know VGchartz is not reliable until like a month or two...plus we know the PS4 has sold 2 mil already so it may not be accurate but still, I found this interesting.
@mostro328 I'm not really sure what you're expecting. They have Dragon Quest, Monster Hunter, Yakuza, Mario, Zelda, Pikmin... I can't think of anything else that would really turn things around. Final Fantasy, maybe?
@shad0w-7 Xbox has always been a very horrible seller in Japan, it will only be PS4 vs. Wii U for home consoles in Japan. I would be very surprised if Microsoft launched the Xbox One in Japan after the catastrophic failure of the Xbox 360.
It wasn't long ago the Wii u was selling about 3000 a week. I honestly think it's on the up and I do struggle to believe that Nintendo didn't have a piece of software in mind when they decided on the dual screen approach. For 3ds the 3d element was made for a Link between two worlds. Something big is coming for Wii u.
I really am curious how 3D World has sold digital. I don't live in Japan so I don't even know anecdotally how digital is selling there.
Anyway, good to see some fair Wii U numbers — let's get those higher before February rolls around.
A return to form of Nintendo hardware chart dominance. People absolutely LOATH Nintendo succeeding. I can guarantee you everyone but Nintendo fans are completely ignoring this news.
I think it has to do with that the Wii U wasn't as innovative as the original Wii. But I love my Wii U, and eventually, the rest of the world will find out how great a system it really is.
I'm so happy with nintendo products right now
Why would you buy next gen? i have a ps3 and they still make new games for it I mean they should of killed dev to the old gen. Trust me by mid 14 Wii U will be number one!
@justinluey the sub next gen twins don't have any games that match Pikmin 3, WWHD, W101..... SM3DW is overkill in comparison.
@shad0w-7 I can guarantee you xBone won't do anything in Japan.
@JustinH go look to see how active the Miiverse community is in Japan. If it's still updating fast 2 weeks after release than I take it it is selling well.
@n057828 there is plenty of people to buy into the propaganda of the new machines. Most actually think they are "new tech" or a high end machines.
Then there's the fans of Microsoft and Sony that buy all of their products whether there is games or not for the system..... A friend of mine on my Facebook was so happy last friday he picked up a xBone... This week he is complaining about nothing to play on it. Same guy who ripped my Wii U last year as having nothing interesting on it..... I'll take NSMBU and ZombiU ten ways to Sunday over dead rising and this QTE only game called Ryse.
**turns to the haters with a smug smile spread across my face** Told you.
Can't wait to see this week's update for North America. 3D World shifted approximately 245,000 copies in NA during it's first week; can't wait to see how it performed this week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56u6g0POvo0
@element187 Excellent point.
Glad to see the Wii U's sales go up now if they would just stay right about...there also glad to see the Vita finally has some momentum behind it, the handheld not the TV (which isn't looking so good) good news from the land of the rising sun
@ikki5
If WiiU could keep 111K units a wek going then the future will be fine. 5-6mi WiiU a year will really be enough to guarentee its gets lots of good games in its 5yr life. What else is good is software unit sales of over 800K and Mario World only out for 1 day when chart compiled. What these charts show is a signigicant drop for ps4 after a steller week one and then a great week one for XB1...once all the preorders and people willing to stand in line falls off for these new systems I think demand will soften significantly. The longevity of ps360 will be a damper on sales in 2014....Sony was smart to delay Japan release of ps4 till 2014 as that will help when numbers slumping in western markets. Nintendo is doing what they need to now with more visability, better prices, and games games games.....just keep it up and 2014 might be better than people think.
@Link41x
You're right. Can't argue the XBOX point.
http://youtu.be/yodVOarpsH8
Nice to see Wii U picking up a bit. I just hope the trend continues...
@CaviarMeths HEY HEY! Dont tarnish us brits with the same brush! I for one ADHORE my WiiU and though I bought a ps4 last week and love that also, I know full well which console im playing mostly this year. Lego city, batman, lego marvel, pikmin3, mario 3d world, wii fit u, wii sports club, wii party u, windwaker hd. The list could go on about the number of excellent games the wiiu has. Its just a combination of bad marketing over here,retailer suport lacking(to say the least!) and heresay amongst the hardcore masses the have pushed the wiiu outside the popularity bubble that gamers seem to crave nowadays!
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