After a year of enjoying the triumph of 3DS in Japan while wincing at Wii U sales, it seems both of Nintendo's systems are now showing strong form in Japan. This week's results see another major leap for the Wii U, while the 3DS has an outstanding week along with the highest selling software titles.
To start with the games, the smartphone phenomenon Puzzle & Dragons has made its début on the 3DS, clocking an outstanding start at over half a million units. Pokémon X & Y also had an impressive week, while Super Mario 3D World continues to show very decent momentum over the Holiday shopping season. The top 20 is below with lifetime sales in parenthesis.
1. [3DS] Puzzle & Dragons Z (GungHo Online Entertainment, 12/12/31) – 543,630 (New)
2. [3DS] Pokemon X and Y (Nintendo, 10/12/13) – 159,244 (3,360,163)
3. [Wii U] Super Mario 3D World (Nintendo, 11/21/13) – 57,862 (241,107)
4. [PS3] Nobunaga’s Ambition: Creation (Tecmo Koei, 12/12/13) – 54,590 (New)
5. [3DS] Attack on Titan: The Last Wings of Mankind (Spike Chunsoft, 12/05/13) – 42,311 (135,782)
6. [PS3] Call of Duty: Ghosts Dubbed Version (Square Enix, 12/12/13) – 37,519 (New)
7. [PS3] Gran Turismo 6 (SCEJ, 12/06/13) – 37,306 (242,090)
8. [3DS] Inazuma Eleven Go Galaxy Big Bang / Supernova (Level-5, 12/05/13) – 30,517 (122,160)
9. [3DS] Monster Hunter 4 (Capcom, 09/14/13) – 27,921 (3,030,279)
10. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nintendo, 11/08/13) – 26,409 (3,522,987)
11. [3DS] Tomodachi Collection: New Life (04/18/13) – 22,189 (1,545,717)
12. [3DS] Aikatsu! 2-ri no My Princess (11/21/13) – 18,415 (117,675)
13. [3DS] One Piece: Unlimited World R (Namco Bandai, 11/21/13) – 17,906 (141,280)
14. [3DS] Disney Magic Castle: My Happy Life (Namco Bandai, 08/01/13) – 17,628 (350,022)
15. [3DS] New Super Mario Bros. 2 (Nintendo, 07/28/13) – 15,128 (2,158,254)
16. [PS3] Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 (Konami, 11/14/13) – 15,058 (243,425)
17. [3DS] Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (Nintendo, 03/20/13) – 15,051 (958,510)
18. [PS3] Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix, 11/21/13) – 14,837 (373,592)
19. [3DS] Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai 2 (Sega, 11/28/13) – 14,566 (121,499)
20. [Wii U] Taiko Drum Master: Wii U Version (Namco Bandai, 11/21/13) – 13,980 (51,436)
The hardware sales bring even more cheer for Nintendo, with the 3DS (both the LL / XL and standard) enjoying sizeable increases; both were no doubt helped by the impressive software sales figures of Puzzle & Dragons Z as well as X & Y. We suspect the Wii U number will give greater cause for relief, however, with an increase of over 26,000 units to 74,903 for last week. Only Nintendo hardware enjoyed such substantial gains, and it's another week of valuable upward momentum for the home console. The results are below with last week's sales in parenthesis.
3DS LL – 130,710 (92,375)
Wii U – 74,903 (48,762)
3DS – 50,846 (32,894)
PlayStation Vita – 30,440 (25,594)
PlayStation 3 – 23,959 (24,085)
PSP – 6,475 (4,416)
PlayStation Vita TV – 5,506 (3,772)
Wii – 1,197 (767)
Xbox 360 – 536 (473)
An excellent week for Nintendo in its homeland, with the Wii U posting the sorts of numbers that are required to boost confidence in its fortunes. As for the 3DS, it just keeps accumulating impressive sales week after week; the portable can do little wrong in Japan.
[source gematsu.com]
Comments 47
Japan's gonna get alot of Wii U games in 2014.
AWESOME!!!
I hope they get the games they're missing like Scribblenauts Unlimited, Mighty Switch Force HD, and Ducktales because of this.
...and a MK8 demo after this aftn direct and west will be yours too!
The Wii u is blessed!
wow realy crazy instead of sales going down they are going up again this is a nice thing to see
@Longforgotten BLEEEESSSEEEEED!
Hopefully it we see another rise next week, and we might actually start to see some third party announcements from Japanese studios.
And wow at those Puzzle and Dragons numbers. They must have made a ridiculous amount of money on that game between all versions/regions.
Seems like Nintendo might secure the console spot in Japan before the rest of the next gen consoles arrives after all...
@Haxonberik Can't tell if serious…
That's a very good Wii U number. Encouraging news!
Booyah! Things can only get better from here!
Holy meatballs.
Go Wii U!!!! ^_^
Great news for Nintendo. I'm glad to see Mario still producing solid numbers. I was a little concerned after the first week but perhaps the title truly is "evergreen".
@Haxonberik PS4 will be a beast in Japan.
I love you, Japan.
Amazing Wii U numbers, and let's hope they translate into MOAR GAMES announced in the near future.
Nice news again. I am amazed to see Lightning Returns at 18th place, after being the first place last week.
Good thing Knack is not available in Japan yet, or it would have beaten 3D World
That's great news! I hope this leads to Japanese developers making more Wii U games.
FINALLY... GREAT NEWS i am thrilled.
And after just watching the Direct this is icing on the cake.
Good to see an "app" game at #1. Something for the hardcore to ponder.
@Peach64 It was in a news article posted here a couple months back that it was making about 4 million a day off the game. Just imagine the numbers off that half million copies sold! 3ds games go for well over the norm in Japan as well. Probably cost 50$ or more.
and they don't even celebrate christmas in Japan! BOOM!
@ejejr indeed
Man. This is impressive. It's almost like Wii U isn't doomed or something.
Now all they need to do is find out how to improve EU sales before they lose their shelf space. I would note that we hardly see any sales figures for Europe these days which probably means they are neither terrible or terrific. Completely un-newsworthy sales.
Positive news indeed. Hopefully we see similar signs of life in the other regions. The Direct today was good as well. Hopefully we get a January one along the lines of last years and can drool over all our gaming options coming in 2014
I am well pleased. SM3DW is still selling systems and hopefully will carry on doing so for a while yet. It is the only Wii U title in the mix at the sharp end.
Japan has woken up to what a good console the wii u is.They could just wait a couple months for PS4 but..they want it.
Now for Europe??
YESSSSSSSSS!!!
After a fantastic Direct like today's, this is welcome.
I'm really pleased to hear about this turn around for the Wii U in Japan. These sales numbers reflect the awesome value that Nintendo is offering this holiday season. I can foresee the momentum carrying on throughout the spring of 2014.
@dyopri Christmas is celebrated in Japan, just not as big as it is in the west.. But you certainly see the decorations and lights in Japan.... Google Christmas in Japan.
@DestinyMan yes but 90% of Nintendo fans live and breathe on every sales chart and every release.
I just say the system will be a long term proposition. As more exclusives come out as the price drops there will be a convergence of the two and the system will start to sell over a period of years. Nintendo will be fine, and the Wii u will be fine.
@Nintenjoe64 Nintendo should just pack it up in the UK and concentrate on the parts of Europe that still enjoy Nintendo consoles.... Like Gemany.
This is a good day. Great Direct, great sales, and that happy Christmas spirit going around.
inhale Aaaahhhh...
Clearly Mario 3D World is the cause of the increased Wii U sales since Dragon Quest X has dropped off the chart completely.
Wow, those are some great sales figures. Just look at how many 3DS games are in the top 20.
The way I understand it New Year's is when most people in Japan go out to shop and celebrate. "Black Friday" there is right around New Year's day, so the biggest boosts are yet to come.
What is this, like 3 weeks in a row? Hopefully some of the other news outlets will run this story so the idgets shut their pie hole, forever crying about Wii U sales.
@kyuubikid213
You said it buddy... cheers!
Congrats to wii u. I was glancing at the charts, and the impressive showing from the 3ds, then I noticed for ps3....
Nobunagas ambition: creation(tecmo-koei).!?!?!?
Wth??? Is that coming to NA? If so, time to get a ps3(to go with my wii u)
@shigulicious The PS4 is already a failure in Japan. Can you even imagine how the Japanese took the news that they would not get the system until February? February in Japan is a nothing month. No bonus, no national holidays, no kids with money, people worried about next years transfers/ work.. You have no idea about how Japan works. I've lived here for years. The PS4 is for otaku and foreigners. What's more most Otaku have bought a gaming PC.
Sony see Japan as a lost cause.
@aaronsullivan That's right. The kids get their New Year money and go nuts.
It is hell in Japan in the first week of January.
I see the WiiU is going to go big this winter in Japan. A big problem here was that a lot of the families could still buy wii games. They just weren't ready for a new console. Now the software is dying on the older systems and they want a new system. The Wiiu also undersold it's family friendly nature. Kid can play in the same room while you watch the news, dad can jump in on a game when the news has finished.
Well that's great for Japan, where the Wii U doesn't even have any next-gen competition YET, but what about the rest of the world...
Yes!! Now sales need to boost in Europe.
74,000 consoles in one week? Wow that's amazing, given the current circumstances of the Wii U! Can't wait to see what Mario Kart 8 does!
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