Super Smash Bros. Slams the Competition Yet Again, 3DS Sales Drop

When will the N3DS releases in Japan? Poor Bayonetta. She's too old I guess.

Great for the 3DS that its still sell fairly well in the face of a new model right around the corner, and great that Yokai Watch 2 is still selling so high.

On the flipside, Bayonetta gets the expected week 2 drop off, and combined with Fatal Frame's figures don't send a good message at all about how non Nintendo developed games will sell on Wii U.

Fatal Frame: Oracle of the Sodden Raven & Bayonetta 2 - Thats just horrible, well there is nothing left to stabliise Wii U until SSB. U comes out whenever that is.

The handhelds are doing well. Software is doing well besides ya know the aforementioned.

@BensonUii 10 days, October 11th 2014.

@Peach64 Not true at all. The Professor Layton Series happens to be the best selling DS series ever made. Lots of non Nintendo games that are exclusive to Nintendo sell really well.

Fatal Frame looks like it gave the Wii U a tiny boost.

wow, Bayonetta 2 bombed pretty hard in Japan!!

Also: Don't forget that the new 3DS will be released next week!

Its desperately sad to see what little impact Bayonetta 2 is having in Japan. Hopefully when it is released in other territories it fairs significantly better.

I have a feeling B2 will sell a bucket load more in the west. So many people excited about it.

Poor Fatal Frame, I really don't know if it would do any better in the west either. But I'd get it in a heart beat.

Wow. That's a lot of exclamation marks in at number six.

This is the problem and delima with niche titles like Bayonetta and Fatal Frame: they are needed to fill out a genre catalog, but cannot carry a console on their own. I am afraid that they both will suffer the same fate as Wonderful 101. Those that like them will love them, and everyone else will mostly ignore them.

Wanted to add that I just saw a story on Kotaku that Fatal Frame is being hammered by Japanese fans for being too erotic and going overboard with the fan service to the point of distracting from gameplay. That may have something to do with poor sales also.

Is it safe to say Japan has moved on from home consoles?

Forget the Japanese, bring Fatal Frame V here and I would buy it day one just like I did Bayonetta 1 & 2. Just so ya know I also got the original Bayonetta on PS3 as well.

This is why Fatal Frame shouldn't be localized, also shame about Bayonetta 2.

Wonder why people are surprised. Fatal Frame games always sell rather poorly.

@Jazzer94 How is that exactly?They could keep the voice work in Japanese and make it available only on the Eshop,so there is very little risk.If it was given a little push by Nintendo then I'm sure it would sell at least better than these pitiful Japanese numbers.

I'm glad to see 3DS LL sales dip w/ the new model coming out in 10 days makes me think Nintendo is getting the message out. Of course if sales don't rebound when the new LL releases that would be bad, but I'm expecting a bounce back. Unless everybody in Japan is ready to give up screen size for faceplates?

So now that HW and B2 are out in Japan, and SSB U is still dateless even though its Oct 1, what else is coming out to sell Wii U? Is Captain Toad dated in Japan? I can't imagine Sonic Boom will help much. And the collector happy nation may buy every amiibo available but w/o games I don't see amiibo sales helping Wii U any.

Japan usually gets some pretty cool Wii U bundles, maybe they are waiting for a SSB U bundle when the release date is set? Which better be soon.

Edit - So apparently Japan did away w/ most Wii U bundles before summer started, and it looks like they never even had an MK8 bundle, so they better have something new up their sleeve if they expect Wii U to ever sell.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/05/older_wii_u_bundles_including_all_black_systems_discontinued_in_japan

They need a Wii U bundle w/ a special edition amiibo that you can only get w/ the bundle. Maybe Hello Kitty?

Bayonetta 2 (((( At least is still on the top charts but still is bombing hard in Japan. We have to do our part to make this game succesful or at least to make it appear on the next NPD top ten chart!

@liljmoore Xbox One? Yes. Wii U & PS4? No, although the latter is eventually projected to have more success than the former.

@liljmoore No way to know for certain until the next home console Dragon Quest is released. (If that bombs because it is on a home console then they have. If it doesn't then they are still willing if they want something enough).

My copy of Bayonetta 2 is already pre ordered! I don't really understand why it's not going well in Japan... Man, if things keep going like this Nintendo will have to survive with their own games. Dunno about the rest of the world, but I won't miss such a great game.

Not surprised. Something tells me that if only the DS had faced the same problems that [initially] crippled its successor, we'd have seen a portable Smash even sooner.
However, about the day one breach - today I've checked out the retailer I often buy stuff from and, as they've done for years, bam! Smash Bros for 3DS (complete with the dual-cartridge bundle, to boot!). But given I'm waiting for the digital release, I'm willing to share the same pain felt by those who are waiting for the portable Nintendo encyclopedia to come out.

Also, can someone explain to me why yoshi New island is still selling in Japan? I thought it got overall panned by nearly every review place on the planet? I don't understand Japan at all lol

Some great news here... Smash Bros still selling, Wii U still kicking PS4's butt.. all good in Japan.

@Tulio517 Uhm...so, like theyve been doing since...the N64 ?
Correct me if im wrong, but isnt it Nintendo who regularly produces games that are considered "the best of the best in their particular genre" ?
If you cant survive on that, what else do you need ?

@readyletsgo Bayonetta flopping, Yoshis NEW Island going strong...japan buddy, japan xD
Its all about the kawaii i guess.

@Einherjar lol, so should I order YNI along with my pre-order of Bay2?

Yoshi's New Island is a great game. Brilliant art direction - stills don't do it justice!
Bayonetta 2 will do much better in the west.

@OorWullie It would be lucky to touch 30k, look up previous entry sales on bigger installs bases barely made a dent so I understand why they aren't in a rush to localise.

Well i'm pretty sure 3DS sold as much as it can to the point where it's like everyone has one. That or people are saving up for the New model

Judging from a lot of these comments people seem to constantly forget that home consoles are pretty much dead in Japan and Platinum games have historically fared better in the west

I'm looking forward to Bayo1&2 but I do so hpe for a western release of Fatal Frame. I have never played a title before. Mostly because I never had a ps2. Are there any available for the ps3?

@Yurikun Fatal Frame 2 was remade for Wii, I think.

@Yurikun The first 3 PS2 games are available as PSN downloads on PS3. The 4th game is a Wii exclusive but only ever came out in Japan.

@readyletsgo Well, if you ask me....stay FAR away from YNI...far far away...
Or at least play it without music
In all seriousness, its not half as bad as people make it out to be. Its a solid, mediocre platformer with a godawful soundtrack and its definitly obvious, that its the job of a 3rd party, and doesnt come from nintendo themselfes.

If you cant skip a platformer, get it. If you can, you wont miss it.

@Einherjar
Personally, I've already had my share of non-Nintendo Yoshi's Island with Yoshi's Island DS back in 2006.

@AlexSora89 I skipped that one entirely and constantly forget that it actually exists

I don't know about you guys but 28k seems pretty good for a niche title like Fatal Frame. If you thought this title is going to be a blockbuster you're just being silly.

@Einherjar
It's not a bad game per se, mind you. It just happens to have the misfortune of carrying a name way heavier than the game itself, and thankfully it didn't get titled "Yoshi's Island 2" as originally planned. As long as you remember it's a sequel developed by an external studio, and you're able to forget it's supposed to carry the Yoshi heritage on its shoulders, it's actually a pretty enjoyable title. Not to mention the fact the plot is respectful to the SNES original, contrary to... THAT opening cutscene seen at the beginning of Yoshi's New Island.

Cant believe they are still buying the 3DS when the New3DS is coming in a couple of weeks

The N3DS is going to explode !!!

@Hy8ogen

I agree and I actually think Bayonetta's sales aren't bad considering the circumstances either. People need to remember that this is the Japanese market, there's a different (and imho more reasonable) measure of success there. Most niche or anime related titles can expect to sell roughly 30K/40K in their first weeks. You're only going to see those six or seven figures for the most popular franchises or stuff like Senran Kagura that's still niche but managed to secure a big dedicated base.

I'm in Japan now! It's amazing!

@PrincessSugoi Well, the first Bayonetta had a much better opening week in Japan, both on the PS3 and on the Xbox 360 (of all things). So yeah, the numbers are definitely bad.

I'll get Bayonetta 2 when it releases in the west mostly because I'm dying to finally get another retail title for my Wii U - I decided to skip Hyrule Warriors, which makes Mario Kart 8 my latest retail purchase in early June. Either way, I gotta admit it's not the kind of game that really excites me; I'd much rather get a third party JRPG or open world title than an action-heavy exclusive.

Everyone who has 3DS already has one or is waiting for the New 3DS. Seeing the dip in sales isn't surprising.

people are preparing for the new 3ds and giving up hope on circle pad pro. thanks nintendo! that junk was used on like 2 games

Not really worried about Bayonetta 2's/Fatal Frame's (well, it depends on if it's released outside of Japan or not...) sales. You know what other game flopped there? Wind Waker HD. And Hyrule Warriors.

@BensonUii New 3DS comes out on October 11 in Japan

According to Famitsu this is the third highest opening for Fatal Frame game in Japan.
http://playeressence.com/famitsu-compares-the-fatal-frame-franchises-debut-sales-to-lifetime-sales/

So not bad as I thought if you put in perspective for a small niche series like Fatal Frame, could be worse.

Nintendo should localize as Wii U needs more games.

@whiffy5 @Punished_Boss
Thanks. I guess that explains the drop on the LL sales.

Despite so much competition, and in it's 2nd week still in the top 20, I think Bayonetta 2 is doing fine. For a niche type game with a lot of adult themes that only sold a little over 2 million copies across 2 consoles the first time around, Platinum should be proud. Japan's current gaming trends are just wacky right now, it'll be huge everywhere else.

@Einherjar I completely agree with you, I'm just sad with the overall lack of third party support, and even more when I see the best outside game of the year (imo) not getting the attention it deserves. I guess we'll have to wait until western release. Japanese are a mystery after all xD

I'm more than happy with the first party games coming, and I strongly believe the Wii U will get stronger as time passes. I just wish the console will get the eyes of outside developers and publishers back to it, so we can get even more great games.

Shulk= Smash sales Luigi= 3DS sales?

Glad to see Smash is still doing well. Not surprised about the 3DS since the N3DS is very close to releasing.

@Tulio517 Look at it that way: If youre a big Dev, would you support a system where its own fans say its lacking ?
Keep up the hype and it will be heard If we all just keep on whining, that will also be heard, trust me.

@Einherjar Well, I guess being positive won't hurt xD

@Yurikun Nintendo co owns the series so no

Man Wiiu games can't catch a break in japan,now i wonder how Smash bros for the Wiiu will do.Will it flop or will it be a success?

@Mega719 Actually, you can get Fatal Frame 1-3 on PSN despite Nintendo co-owning the franchise.

And Vita sales increase

I cannot believe the inability of WiiU owners to buy games when they release good titles on the system. People need to start buying stuff other than Mario, Zelda, SSB, and so on. I love those games too and I own them, but I also have at least 20 3rd party games as well. Put the money where the mouth is and if you don't. Do not complain when 3rd parties run to Microsoft or Sony because you are part of the problem if you ignored Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta 2, or Fatal Frame and live in a country in which it was released.

Bayonetta 2 sold about 67% of it's stock, so no it didn't do bad at all, it did pretty good for a country dominated by mobile games, not counting the digital sales of course

On the bright side, there are 3 Wii U games on the list and 1 PS4 one. And that's the piece of trash Destiny too.

Also, the 3DS sales drop is kind of expected. When does the N3DS/LL come out again?

Monster hunter 4 would sell alot of wiiu consoles if they would port it, nintendo needs to do more get capcom to do the port or just buy out capcom and do it themselves, and save megaman resident evil please!

With those low Fatal Frame sales, I hope NoA will consider just subtitling it and throwing it on the eShop. Gotta make up the sales numbers somewhere. I don't know why Reggie hates that IP so much though.

Huh, so the Vita isn't dead after all.

@Olaf Not sure what's the biggest hype failure of the last 10 years, Destiny, Watch Dogs or Duke Nukem Forever...

I can't believe Hyrule Warriors had such a short run on the charts. I hope it did better in the west. It is a great game.

Hmmm..... Things aren't looking particularly great for the Wii U are they?
I really expected Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta 2 and Fatal Frame to boost the Wii U to Destiny PS4 launch week totals. People really don't like the Wii U and to be fair, without 3rd party support, who can blame them?

2015 I'm pretty sure brings no major 3rd party support to the machine and that leaves Nintendo just solely supporting their machine with Indies picking up the slack digitally, why Nintendo aren't co-publishing big titles and using Nintendo Direct to advertise the eShop indie stuff is just painful to watch.

I love my Wii U but I can also see when it's time to cut the lost cause, the 3DS is keeping Nintendo in a relatively safe position currently, but the home console? Could be time to ditch it and move on... I'm looking forward to Yoshi Yarn, Xenoblade, Star Fox and all the other glorious Nintendo games but I can't help but feel they would have a greater impact as launch titles for a new Nintendo home console rather than the Wii U that is just sucking resources and is pretty much Nintendo's 21st century Virtual Boy.

@Darknyht That is complete bs the fans are loving the game. Kotaku is a nonsense site.

@Peach64 the sales figures are consistan with japan for the last 5 years.

@FourBs Sony spent millions on a national advertisement campaign on primetime tv to sell 10 000 extra consoles and 100 000 games. They lost more than they made.

@CaviarMeths the sales are exactly the same as the sales for Fatal frame 4 which released on a console with an install base of 10 million. The sales are very good it almost sold out.

People think that if a game does not sell a million copies it is a failure, however, those million seller games are the products of teams of over a thousand people. Platinum games Bayonetta 2 team was 20- 30 strong. It probably only cost 2 million for nintendo to pay the rest of the development costs, it was already half made when ninty picked it up.
Fatal frame is dirt cheap.
They both made money. Hard to believe but games dont need to sell like watch_dogs to be a success or this industry would be dead years ago.
But believe what you want.

@ben- I didn't bring Sony into it.... As far as I'm aware, losing money is the same which ever way you look at it. You could lose £1000 or £1,000,000 - if it's business, you're still not making the money required to keep a company successful in the long run.

I love the Wii U, I'm just saying that the proof is in the pudding that others don't.

@Artwark Third party games on Wii U. Not DS or any of their other portables.

Can't wait for Friday! Sales are going to be HUGE!!

@FourBs But how do you know if Nintendo lost money on Bayonetta?
I mean they havent spent anything on marketing in Japan so I guees they dont need much to break even

Marketing costs as much as making a game.

@Punished_Boss
Is Bayonetta not selling due to poor Wii U console sales (as in, not many people own them)? Or do you think this is just due to lack of interest in the game?

@ben- I don't, much like nobody knows if they actually will make any money on it. It's all very well saying Nintendo paid the last 2 Million to fund it, something a citation wouldn't go amiss on but don't forget how much Platinum have put into this game over it's production run, 40,000 copies isn't that great to be honest, and 24,000 for Fatal Frame, even less so, sure a game doesn't need to sell a million copies to be considered profitable / successful but less than 100,000 copies could certainly be seen as less than stellar.

Don't forget that Wii U games in particular don't stay in the charts for very long so it's entirely possible that Bayo 2 only sells 100,000 copies in it's lifetime in Japan. Fatal Frame and even Hyrule Warriors are in the same boat, a big company like Nintendo are used to ever-green selling titles like all those Wii and DS games that kept selling and selling, something I'm not seeing from the Wii U, at all.

Again, love the U, it's just the harsh reality of it.

@Samurai-Kinopio I think it's due to a myriad of factors. Such as the reduced importance of Japan's console-market, the multiplatform sequel turned exclusive to a platform which never even had Bayonetta before (which causes issues e.g. New platform purchase), not much of a marketing push which led to low interest equaling low shipments and the kicker the market for Bayonetta and certain other games aren't primarly on Nintendo platform(s).

Certain games sell well on Wii U, certain games don't.

And people wonder why nintendo might be reluctant to localise fatal frame. I realise the figures aren't out of keeping with previous entries but they are hardly the kind of figures that will have nintendo scrambling to get it localised asap.

For what it's worth, I think they will probably translate it eventually, but I think it will only be into english, and maybe just an eshop release. If people kick up enough fuss on miiverse, it might move the decision along

Bayonetta 2 may not have done well, but I couldn't expect different. In Japan, video game fans don't usually go for mature games. Mature titles are well below their demands for RPGs and Anime-based rhythm games. Also, "M" rated games (and I don't know exactly how Bayonetta 2 is rated in Japan) are not placed in the front shelves of Japanese retailers. They are usually at the back, locked up, near the cashier. Most game shops' front floor space is dedicated to the 3ds and PSVita games/accessories, then there's a smaller section for promoted home console hardware (usually Sony). I expect Bayonetta 2 not to be anywhere the front floor space, and therefore far away from any casual fan who would even give it a try.

In North America, this is not a problem. The more violent a game, the more shelf-space it gets. I can definitely see Bayonetta 2 get more success outside Japan.

@FourBs

I agree with U but add to it that Japanese gamers just seem to be lagely burned out on standard games. Bayo2 is just not new after numerous GOW, DMC, Bayo1, Castlevaia LoS the genre appears burned out there.

I am actually a little shocked by poor ps4 performance in Japan. It seems the erosion of console play is bound to effect these companies sooner than later. How can Nintendo continue to support projects like W101 or Bayo2 when they fail so miserably commercially? W101 is not everyones cup of tea but it is an awesome game with so much sass and polish.

I really worry about the future of gaming when so many great games are ignored or unappreciated. Last years Splinter Cell BL was one of the best games in the series in years but sold horribly across all platforms. I greatly enjoyed it on x360 and then WiiU. Go look up sales on Bioshock Infinite....it bombed pretty big even though it released to 3 major platofrms and had a TV add campaign in the US and reviewed excellent.

The most disturbing thing I saw recently was some data on how few people finish games. People complain on here about WiiU and missing DLC but it turns out not even single digit % of people finish the main story of a gane like AC4.

So expect changes in gaming because shorter games, more online, and incremental content would seem to be the future. Nintendo will be fine as they will survive of their mega hits even if some projects fail financially. I think Amibo is going to be huge in the USA.

@FourBs but zelda musou did bring wiiu to that level. At its release week wiiu sold 18k systems. And it already passed 100k weeks ago, it was at 114k last week in famitsu and still selling. It have a great chance of getting to the top 10 of wiiu software in Japan, passing dqx which got 130k sales.

bayo is a disappointment, but 32k is the expected sales for fatal frame. The best result for the entre series was 78k Ltd of the Wii version and nintendo keeps doing them, so those game are not expensive. It will never do 100k sales, but not even nintendo expect this. Bayo is surely a disappointment though. Also, it got a pretty big push in Japan. Both of those games. Nintendo market almost all of their games in a nice manner. Dont know if they do that in the us

To end it, the wiiu got third party support. Namco is releasing a lot of games still the end of the year, including an exclusive taiko no tatsujin, where the series was a best seller on the Wii and the first is one of the best sellers on the wiiu. From the next 12 games at retail still the end of the year in Japan, 10 of them are 3rd party. Hardly nintendo going on by itself.

The problem is people follow fashion and trends and hyped up marketed games more than the unigue games which are original and fun , Even to an extent where people want to buy games just to jump on the hype which means we will see less and less unique titles and more games turning into a hybrid of all kinds of different games in a sandbox, I actually have enjoyed more of the eshop releases lately due to their pretty unique ideas and gameplay which work great on the go as casual and cheaper games for 3DS.

lol what Even, haters gona hate, me and my friend just bought a 3DS for Smash Bros and its fantastic Wow!!!. what kind of yellow journalism is this? the game just released and they are saying 3ds sales are down what over 45 million units sold weather all yall haters like it or not XD and if you dont own a WiiU in 2015 you will be a sad gamer cause the WiiU has the best line up hands down

and also Hyrule Warriors and Fatal Frame gave an unexpected boost to the WiiU. I cant wait for the Main Event Smash Brothers on the WiiU is bound to be another Sublime master Piece on the WiiU like every other game this console has been kinking out.

Smash brothers out sold Destiny over night lol XD well destiny had bad awful scores I am not surprised.