Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush finally arrived in Europe last week, a decent period of time after it landed in North America with the name Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. We're not convinced the delay has helped matters a great deal, however.
The GamePad-focused title has had a disappointing first week in the UK charts - which are by no means representative of Europe as a whole - by making its début in 21st place; it only just creeps into the top 20 in the single format charts. As one of just three new titles in the top 40 - Project CARS is at number one - that's a disappointing outcome.
Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition didn't make much of an impact, either, making its all-platform chart entry down in 32nd place in its first week.
On a more positive score there are some Nintendo titles showing some ever-green qualities in the all-format charts. Super Smash Bros. on Wii U and 3DS is in 28th place, closely followed by Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate in 29th. Mario Party 10 is hanging on, too, in 37th place.
It's good to see five Nintendo system exclusives in the UK top 40, though unfortunately we may see Kirby's latest and Puzzle & Dragons depart within the next few weeks.
[source chart-track.co.uk]
Comments 70
Wow, I am quite shocked by that.
I wonder if Yoshi's Wooly World will fare any better? I plan to get it.
Considering Nintendo has barely acknowledged either games' existence in the UK, I'm not surprised. They've focussed all the attention on the Splatoon demo.
Wow, wasn't expecting it to be a chart topper but to be down there it must have really sold next to nothing.
I'm not too shocked as Kirby from what I understand, has never been a big seller in Europe. However, I hear Splatoon has become the number one selling Wii U game on Amazon in here in the UK so I have high hopes for that.
neither game has been promoted at all. It's hardly any wonder they've not fared well sales wise.
Kirby's new game is a unique and fun title that makes use of the Game Pad, the Puzzle and Dragons game, although I haven't played it, is supposed to bring smartphone gaming to the 3DS and should therefor typically be quite popular among those who like that sort of thing.
The marketing budget must be so stretched on Splatoon that these two titles have just been left to sort of rot. Shame on them.
Rule #1: Don't delay your games by several months in only one region if you want it to sell!
I did buy Kirby at launch but I haven't started it yet. Splatoon demo, Mario Kart 8 and FE7 have been taking up my time!
Yeah delay a game and never talk about it again then release when the hype died down and a few weeks before Splatoon.
It could be because the new Kirby game kinda sucks...
Bring on Woolly World
The Puzzle & Dragon 3DS demo was pretty bad, the main game wasn't even shown, just the smaller gimmicky Mario portion was playable which I still enjoyed but would have rather played the real meat of the game.
Nintendo should experiment with worldwide releases, hype sells, when games get delayed I often forget about them when other titles are released instead.
A delayed average game that forces you to look at the Gamepad and releases with a whimper on a week where Nintendo is pushing Splatoon,not surprising really.It'll likely disappear off the chart all together by next week.This game should get another chance on Smartphone/Tablet next year,short demo and then 4.99 to unlock full game.
Why was the game renamed Kirby and The Rainbow Paintbrush as opposed to Kirby and The Rainbow Curse?
Im from sweden and i bought it digitally
Should have been a 3ds game.
Darn shame! They are both excellent games that definitely deserves to sell well. Hope they sell better in the rest of the world, I live in Sweden and I bought both of them on day one.
I think it would have done better as a normal Kirby game. I would have got a normal Kirby game and I have zero interest in this
As others have said there's been no advertising and everything's been focused on splatoon.theres also the eshop discount for those who bought kirby vc games to take into account and the matter of people getting paid 2 weeks ago n being skint mid month.i plan to pick it up once I've cleared a bit of my backlog.
Nintendo won't learn. The gamepad is the issue.
I buy Kirby games, but not this one. If Nintendo want to make a stylus controlled game, then make it for the 3ds.
I use my Wii u to play games on the big TV screen and to view them in HD. That is why I paid out £250 for the Wii u. This Kirby is NOT a Wii u game....it is a Gamepad game.
Nintendo have 3 games systems the 3ds, Wii u and the Gamepad. And it can't make enough games for all three. Nintendo seem to want to prove a point....'Look the gamepad it's great', and all the critic's were wrong.
Speaking of delays I wonder how the wii u project cars will fare compared to other formats.
I don't want to say that both games deserve that. But for me, the demo of Puzzle & Dragons was too hard at normal difficulty. When I know that a game will stress me I'm not buying it, bottom line. If it would be easier I would buy it, that's for sure.
And Kirby looks so charming and since Kirby Triple Deluxe I like Kirby games. But focussing on that Touchpad Control is not what I was hoping for. As a normal platformer I would have bought this, too.
@CreativeWelshman Why should Nintendo Europe have to do everything NoA does? The game is Kirby Touch in Japan. NoA decided to call it Rainbow Curse, NoE decided on Rainbow Paintbrush. No one has renamed it from Curse to Paintbrush.
That's sad news. I have to say i enjoyed the Puzzle amd Dragons demo after a few goes and it clicked. Been playing it all weekend and i'm actually enjoying that's it's harder than othrr Mario games. What annoys me is that i don't seem to be getting many items to help transform alies at all but i think i've been very unlucky with that. The demo should have had both games and an extra for playing the demo like Theatrhythm Curtain Call did.
The major problem though is that there's been zero advertising with both- no tv adverts, no paper inserts and only an email if you're on Nintendo's email list. This is extremely poor and no wonder they're both so low.
I get how they want Splatoon to do well but ignoring these releases is a bad move. That goes for CodeName STEAM too. They need to advertise all their games and not just a select few otherwise how are people supposed to know what's coming out?
@zool You're very closed-minded aren't you.
Puzzle & Dragons double pack is a very good deal imo. No microtransactions, no timers and an included Mario edition.
Its so stupid that people have no problem with spending hundreds of euros/pounds/dollars on the iOS version but 30 for a 3DS version is too much? WTF. I loved playing P&D on my iPad but the timers and micro transactions made me want to strangle someone. Ugh...such a shame...P&D is a solid and entertaining game.
I'll be buying Kirby & the Rainbow Paintbrush, but I'm not in any hurry, and I'm not surprised it hardly registered on the charts. It's not going to be a compelling purchase for many, and at a price of £25 minimum on release it was pretty obvious there wasn't going to be a rush of instabuys.
Hopefully I'll be able to pick it up for £15-20 somewhere in the not too distant, as I think it will be a great game to play with my daughter. Saying that tho, Captain Toad doesn't seem to have dropped in price anywhere...
@zool While I don't agree with the idea touchscreen games shouldn't be on Wii U, I do agree that the GamePad's screen is very muddy and low-res and its not doing Kirby any favors. I wish I could play that game on my HDTV.
It honestly feels like a waste of the amazing claymation art style.
Part of me wonders if the effect of mainland Europe imports is also playing a part. If I'd purchased Puzzle and Dragons for instance I could have gotten it for sub £20 from Spain. Why would I want to pay £25 or more for a UK version?
Maybe one day NOE will wake up and notice it is not 2008 anymore.
@CreativeWelshman Look at the DS versions the titles reference. It was Canvas Curse in America, Power Paintbrush in Europe.
European titles (especially of Kirby games) tend to be more literal and dry. I feel the reason is because some customers won't have an excellent knowledge of English.
Nintendo really should take the occasional pricing risk - drop it onto store shelves for £14.99 and it would make an impact and raise the eyebrows of people who would otherwise have no idea the game even existed.
@RainbowGazelle Depends on your viewpoint here though. Kirby was advertised pretty much all week on CITV leading up to the release. So much so it went from a game I was never going to get, to one my kids both pestered me for, based on the adverts running during their favorite shows! As I already had an old VC Kirby game I qualified for 10% discount on the eShop, so for convenients sake I downloaded it Friday night (downloads don't count in the charts do they?) and all 3 of us have been enjoying it since! For me Nintendo got their marketing spot on, it reached the desired audience and forced a purchase of a game which it would not have othewise.
Kirby is honestly worth the £25 price tag, better value than Captain Toad and I don't see that dropping in price
I think a big problem for puzzle and dragons was the demo. I personally enjoyed it until the normal difficulty came along and then it just started to annoy me with how hard normal mode was. This led me to cancel my preorder for the game because I doubted that I would enjoy it.
Maybe when NX comes out Nintendo will get better at simultaneous worldwide releases. Spkatoon is getting 1, I bet Zelda will get , but first Captain Toad then Kirby and soon Yoshi. Why spread out your advertising $ on separate releases, just promote s game once then move on to the next. Its ok for XCX, lots to teanslate, but 3 simple platformers should be able to be released at the same time.
My problem with Kirby is that myself and so many other Nintendo gamers are currently saving up for the upcoming amiibo and the release of Yoshi's Woolly World and Splatoon.
Of course it failed. Kirby isn't a mass market draw. It's an entry level game that only has appeal with Nintendo fans. Nothing about Kirby will make people stop and say oooo I need a wii u.
Nintendo keep repeatedly pushing the wrong franchises to attract new consumers
Kirby has never really sold well in the UK, and this game was disappointing in that it was almost focused all on gamepad - which is a turn off to me because I would have preferred being more split between gamepad and TV play. It's such a waste to not have a game like this on the HD TV.
Agreed im not buying a Wii U game if i can only play it on the Gamepad i as i suspect most people buy Wii U games so they can mainly play them on a HDTV also ive never been a fan of the poor screen quality/resolution i mean the Gamepad doesn't even display the native resolution of Wii U games which is ridiculous, when it came out it uses a resolution less than 720p and alot of other portable devices at this time were using 720p-1080p screens.
@Starwolf_UK "European titles (especially of Kirby games) tend to be more literal and dry. I feel the reason is because some customers won't have an excellent knowledge of English."
You are aware that other European countries don't even use the English title right? In Germany for example it's "Kirby und der Regenbogenpinsel".
@XyVoX
1. The game can be played on the TV. You just have to use the multiplayer mode.
2. I suspect most people buy good games so they can play good games. I can imagine that's different in the UK though, since only FIFA seems to sell up there.
@DESS-M-8
It failed in the UK. Why would Nintendo consider the UK market, when they start developing a game? Even high profile Nintendo releases don't sell there. I'm surprised NoE didn't pull the plug on the UK market yet.
@scamander Ignoring the fact most Nintendo games debut in the top 5 in the UK? They'll never pull the plug on a market as big as the UK.
@furryfoxman I didn't realise there were ads. Even more shame about the sales then.
Nintendo really should just abandon the UK market...
@Peach64 Yeah, I was exaggerating. The UK is still by far the smallest market for Nintendo within Western Europe.
@Link41x they would do better to isolate European market, develop all hardware as region free and just distribute American NTSC. That would save them millions of development and production and would ultimately better serve the consumers in UK
@readyletsgo this is true.
Considering the game is basically played on the GamePad I don't see why this is a Wii U game.
Would have been more successful on the 3DS. Bad move by Nintendo.
@kobashi100 thank you!
Everybody else, God, calm your tits, it's just my opinion.
Edit, that is for the weekly download topic but couldn't be arsed posting again lol
No surprise there, barely anyone in the UK even buys Nintendo games. I haven't picked Kirby up yet as I'm more interested in Splatoon, but I'll buy it eventually.
I picked up Kirby day one - its a good game. Honestly can't fathom how anyone expected to play it on the TV when it fundamentally requires the touchscreen for input. Seriously, if you buy a game like this without even doing basic research, or choosing to ignore the picture of the stylus printed on the front of frickin box then I honestly don't know what to say...
Yeah, the state of gaming in the UK is beyond tragic. All the mainstream are interested in nowadays are formulaic FPS, realistic racing and annual FIFA iterations. However, completely abandoning the market is NOT the solution.
It's a painting game, of course it is played on the GamePad. I liked the first game, but the bigger touch screen is a big improvement for the painting aspect as well as view distance.
And I just f****ng love the CO-OP in it! It's great fun and there is nothing like that in the whole wide world.
Its not surprising with some of the games that have been releasing lately on other formats, and all you'll see in the charts next-week is The Witcher 3. It's good to see Super Smash Bros doing well with Monster Hunter, also the delay didn't help.
GamePad controls, no marketing or the delay have nothing to do with these sales, Kirby has always sold terrible in Europe.
Yeah, its an image problem. Not with Kirby mind you, its the social insecurity of the players themselves which prevents them from even considering a game starring a pink marshmallow.
@BLPs Very true, I feel the same. Prefer digital download or online, it's not like the stores give shelf space to Nintendo.
I'm not surprised. I saw more advertising from it's US release. Months later I'd imagine much of the hype has long gone. Plus they hyped up the Splatoon test fire the weekend of Kirby's release, everyone was focused on that.
Really terrible scheduling. NoE needed to get this out to is last month before the MK8 DLC hit. I hope Code Name Steam fares better.
Shame. Kirby and the Rainbow Curse really is a great game. Truly fun and nothing else out there like it, except the old DS game Canvas Curse.
I think I'm gonna play Rainbow Curse when I get home today actually. I'm just in the mood...
@Octane It does significantly better in France and Germany than in the UK. Don't know about the rest of Europe.
@scamander UK market has been massive for nintebdo over last 30 years. The European market is the pain in the backside that causes them a load of problems.
The nintendo market worldwide right now is poor and tiny. The only successful territory is Japan.
I'm hardly surprised at this. Both games were released to zero fanfare and haven't really been advertised.
I did my bit though, Rainbow Curse is pretty good so far. I haven't opened Puzzle and Dragons Z yet.
Not surprised. But then again it's not a game for a top list tbh. Im sure it's a fun game, but that's it
Not really surprised. Both titles are unappealing...Kirby should be a £3.50 budget release on eShop. What's the other game? puzzle what? Kirby did well to come in at 21.
@DESS-M-8 That's rubbish. Nintendo is doing WAAAY better in France, Germany and even Spain and Italy than in the UK. That's also nothing new. The UK is the only country of those in which Sega was way more popular than Nintendo in the early 90s. Sega was basically non-existent in Germany. "To play Nintendo games" has been a synonym for playing video games in general until the PS2 became popular. Even now the Wii U has about half the shelf space of PS3 and PS4 combined and way more than Xbox here. Combined with the DS, 3DS and Wii Nintendo still got the biggest shelf space where I live, while I didn't even find any Nintendo games OR consoles in stores in the UK. Nintendo is basically non-existent there.
@liveswired obvious troll is obvious.
Not surprising, it is a boring Kirby game.
From my own experience, and that of a number of friends who belong to HG on Wii U, probably the biggest Wii U group at the moment, most of us buy digital downloads. Where I live, in a small village, and with an injury I have, it is hard for me to get to a large town, so it is far easier to download from the e-shop. I wonder how many digital copies of either game has shifted?
@scamander Absolutely, and from his name, keeps one hand pushed into a plug socked.....brilliant!!!!! You are always going to get Trolls on Nintendo sites, fact of life. I was going to ask him how Project C.A.R.S. is doing on the Xbox ONE, but from a few friends I have, I already know. It drops as low as 15FPS in parts of the game. That is TRUE "Next-Gen" stuff. lol
I really hate claymation so as much as I love Kirby I just couldn't get this game. I know gameplay always comes first but this isn't about graphics it's about style. I can't wait for wooly world and splatton is pre ordered.
@akaDv8R In my group of friends noone does. Most of the Nintendo fans I know are pretty conservative when it comes to video games and completely ignore digital releases. In my Streetpass Group (and that's like 15 people with a Wii U) hardly anyone has touched Shovel Knight because it's download only.
Also I just think people don't like the game concept. Look at my Avatar! I love the DS one but I don't understand why I'm supposed to buy a Wii U game with awesome graphics that I then CANNOT play on my TV...
P&D is disappointing. I dig the game. But here I'm supposed to pay for a free2play game????" is what I heard everywhere. :/
@Monsti Don't know about Puzzle and Dragon, it is not a game that interests me. On digital downloads, Nintendo reported some time ago, they have gone up over 400% since the Wii U launched.
Like I said, there are a LOT of people who cannot get t game stores, or don't like ordering on line, so digital downloads are perfect for them, and me. Plus, you never loose or scratch your game.
I played the demo at Eurogamer and was really underwhelmed. We're huge Kirby fans in my household but have no interest in this. A kirby game should be about Suck and Copy - not roll about. HAL should have used their Lolo IP for this series or something else that needs a reboot.
Also the decision not to release this soon after Capt.Toad during that long gap in the schedule over Feb and March was foolish - especially so close to Splatoon.
@scamander you looked in the wrong stores then
@scamander You know when you're trolling you aren't meant to make it so obvious...You are a bad troll.
@liveswired I wasn't trolling; sorry you can't handle the facts.
EDIT: Just noticed who you are. The one guy who thinks Kirby is only worth 3,50 pounds. Yeah, but I'm the troll, lol.
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