13th February was a big day for Nintendo in Western territories, as it released the New Nintendo 3DS and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D, with Capcom's Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate also arriving in stores. When we spoke to Nintendo UK's James Honeywell he was optimistic about the potential fortunes of these arrivals in the country, and it appears that view has been justified.
Today's chart results bring plenty of good reading for Nintendo UK and its supporters. For starters, the New Nintendo 3DS - released in six variations, two of which were special editions - contributed to an overall hardware sales increase in the UK of 57%. It's in software, however, where the most eye-catching results are to be found.
Majora's Mask 3D had a terrific week, coming 2nd in the all-format charts and topping the single-format results - that's impressive in a week when the much-hyped Evolve landed on both PS4 and Xbox One. The news for Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is equally - perhaps more - notable, as it secured 4th place in both the all-format and single format results; its launch sales are 95% higher than the equivalent numbers for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate.
The only downside for the new arrivals, but not necessarily surprising considering it's a remake and up against more anticipated titles, is that Bandai Namco's Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy+ failed to make an appearance in the top 40.
Other titles such as Super Smash Bros. and Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire retain similar positions as in recent weeks (24th and 37th respectively, the latter being Omega Ruby).
Overall that's been an impressive launch for the New 3DS and its major accompanying releases in the UK. We perhaps expected demand to be high for Majora's Mask 3D, but it'll be Capcom that'll take the most heart from the results - perhaps Monster Hunter's growth in the West is finally picking up.
[source chart-track.co.uk]
Comments 23
Guilty as charged because I bought everything and Ace Combat+! Just wish something like this happened to the Wii U...
So happy Evolve and Majora's both had great launch weeks. Goes to show Nintendo don't need to stick so hard to the tried and tested formula for their big IP in order to have sales success.
We stole the word "debut" 300 years ago, I'm pretty sure it no longer needs the diacritical mark. ;-p
@Peach64 Yeah, I hope this time that Majora's reaches the sales it deserves as it launched at quite an unfortunate time during the N64 days (near the decline of the system, in addition to Expansion Pak raising the price to make it very expensive, as well as the fact that it was living in Ocarina's shadow in the eyes of many).
Nice to see such an increase over MH3U, but this series is still going to struggle to gain traction in the west. The game is designed from the ground up to be played on handheld with local multiplayer at meet-ups, conventions, after work/school with colleagues/classmates, etc, a style of gaming that westerners haven't really taken a liking to en masse.
Nice to see bright skies ahead! I think that this shows that the 3DS userbase isn't just kids.
@ROBLOGNICK : The acute accent mark is still relevant as it helps distinguish words such as "touché" and "Pokémon".
Let me take a step back and say:
niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiceeeeeeeeeeeeee
That said, it would be better if these releases had very long and sexy legs.
Yay this makes me feel so happy for Nintendo and the Capcom! I love my new 3ds I was waiting for it since my birthday in January and it did not disappoint!
Well, seeing how incredibly GORGEOUS my Monster Hunter New Nintendo 3DS is in person, I'm not surprised! Well deserved sales for both the systems, and the games.
A week of good news in a country that Nintendo needs it from.
I think we'll have similar if not even better results in North America. The real test will be weekly sales of the new 3DS after the initial push.
Im still wating for my MH New 3DS -_-
Still looking to get a 3DS now, after four years. It has proven its merits now.
We have Majora's mask in the house, but that's about it for now, even though the demo was more elaborate for MH4U than in was for Tri, I still couldn't get into it.
I bought the New Nintendo 3DS XL Majora's Mask edition and I'm in love with it. I really am impressed with Nintendo's launch last Friday, well done. Just keep in mind though Nintendo will have to pull this kind of thing off more often to regain the market they once had.
I know that it says that their are 6 variations of the New 3DS released here, 2 that are special editions, but was it the Majora's Mask New 3DS and the Monster Hunter 4 New 3DS that were released in the U.K as well as America???
Very good and well deserved result for Nintendo.
Go Monster Hunter!
Isn't there a controversy involving Evolve's ridiculous day-one DLC, and its misguided season pass content? In other news, it is great to hear about Nintendo's fortunes picking up in the United Kingdom.
Wow that's brilliant! Well done Nintendo!
Still looking for a n3ds in NA got MM and MH4U on launch and still have not played them yet.
I guess that's just when happens when you've got a clue of what your customers really want.
I kinda wish they had released STEAM instead of Majora since it really could've used the boost of being a revision-launch game.
Monster Hunter all the way!
It is going to be tough to play the previous Monster Hunters again after playing through this amazing game (except maybe 3U which I really liked).
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