The UK chart results for last week have emerged, and in the absence of any knockout new releases for Nintendo - though next week will include Pokkén Tournament - the focus has been on momentum for key titles.
Namely, we're referring to The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, which had an impressive debut week in the UK. Following that launch in second spot for the all-format results it's fallen down to 9th this week, with a drop of 84% in sales. The size of that drop - while remaining in the top 10 - shows that launch sales were pleasingly high, while also reinforcing the trend that Wii U fans often dive in early with major new releases on the system.
Further down the charts we have Pokemon titles holding the fort for 3DS. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are in 33rd and 37th place respectively, with Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon splitting them up in 35th place.
One new release that struggled to have a notable impact in the UK is Stella Glow; it was only able to secure 12th place in the 3DS-only chart following its launch.
Some relatively predictable results, in terms of Twilight Princess HD losing a high percentage of sales, but in holding a top 10 place despite that drop it's shown that its launch results were not to be sniffed at.
[source chart-track.co.uk]
Comments (26)
86% drop is pretty standard for week 2, in any market. I saw people slating SFV last week for a similar decrease, but pretty much every game gets it. It's the same in Japan.
congrats nintendo! considering this game is a remake, two whole generations out, and almost full price, that's some good work.
@Jamotello It also means that there is little else on Wii U to buy.
@Peach64 that would be me. There's kinda a big difference between a cheap remaster on a 'dead' console where there is "little else to buy" and a big new entry in a longstanding 'AAA' series. I'm sure that stern questions are being asked at Capcom about SFV performance whereas TPHD was a success in its first week alone.
Apparently the biggest selling title is The Division which is unsurprising since they're HUGE fans of shooters and overhyped games over there. I watched it on Twitch and in my opinion it looks boring. It's sort of like Destiny and Rainbow Six mashed together.
Gamers are keeping their cash for the discounted Wii U games in April.
I don't know about anyone else, but I tend to buy Nintendo games day 1 for three reasons. First, they tend to be excellent (the ones I decide to get anyway). Second, they don't tend to drop in price, and there's no guarantee of if/when they'll make it to the Selects range. Third, many titles become very hard to find at retail after 6-12 months (try finding new copies of Pikmin 3, Lego City Undercover, Wii Fit U or Mario 3D World).
@VanillaLake
Actually that's not entirely true.
British market is hell bent on M-rated and AAA blockbuster titles.
Everything else does horrible bad in the UK to the point of making the U.S. market looking diverse.
The only reason why TPHD is charting in the UK, is frankly due to it's dark gritty nature.
@JohnnyC All mostly true, but now that Pikmin 3, and 3d World are selects (in NA) and Lego City is a Selects in Europe, they will be easier to find. but Lego City is still tough to find in NA.
Day one is never a guarantee for me, but it's true that Nintendo seems to make fewer copies of its games these days, and I should eventually get Xenoblade for that reason (I also missed out of the Bayonetta double pack).
I did reserve Star Fox, but it was a no brainer since I love the series, and because it comes packed in with project guard (as a physical game ) I want pokken tournament, but the price is high here in Canada ($75) and I don't see the card being worth jumping in right away (also, I want to see what other cards might be released, and how they will work.)
@JohnnyC
To Nintendo's defense retailers do not order more copies of their games if sales/demand drops below a certain weekly point.
This also bodes true for all other games.
I mean ever try to buy last year's yearly game in summer? You'd be hard press to find a copy.
Games have to sell well week on week in order to convince retailers to reorder them.
So many RPGs out and releasing soon, it's not hard to see why some might struggle. Plus, Stella Glow has had competition from TPHD too. Release calendar isn't going to be all that favourable if it includes a deluge of similar game types. There isn't time to play them all. I'm still on FFE - cannot complete Strong-Armed Shoot whatever I do.
@Xenocity I said Wii U games.
@VanillaLake
I know what you said.
Pokken will probably bomb in the UK this week and next for being too family friendly as well.
@Xenocity I don't think the average gamer would care about Pokken, that will be bought by Pokemon fans.
I love Twilight Princess. I bought the special edition day one, even though I had played it on Wii.
@VanillaLake
It's still very unusual for anything family friendly or below PEGI-16 rating to chart in the UK.
Nintendo games rarely chart in the UK dating back to the NES.
I think Pokken will do better than expected due to it being a solid fighting game in NA, Japan and France/Germany.
@VanillaLake Well put. Nintendo got some extra money from TPHD, now it's going to plummet when the few people who were interested in this downgraded port have bought theirs.
@zool Yeah, in a way. TPHD is just a bad deal, most people have no reason to buy it.
People aren't buying TP because it's not a Wii U game. They are tired of the remakes, give us new Metroid, F-Zero, and Zelda U now. (and when I say 'new' i do not mean 'spin-off.)
@Mahe Well, I bought it because I love the game, but I know it's expensive and it's not a great remaster effort like Halo 1 or the Uncharted games. The upcoming Wii U games don't interest me except for Zelda and who knows when that is going to be released. The reason why Twilight Princess is doing well it's because it's a good game (not a great remaster) and because there's little else available on Wii U.
It's doing well because there's nothing else to buy for the Wii U. Not a problem if you've got other consoles or a PC, but this is the only game in town where Wii U is concerned.
Glad to see Stella Glow get a mention, such a fantastic and beautiful game.
I was fortunate enough to get my copy two days before release, soo worth its price tag & the long wait over here.
Hitman Collector's Edition landed at 29th.
So with one episode out and at a premium (over 140$ US) I think that's pretty decent for a limited edition release.
@VanillaLake Yeah. I was interested in this and would have bought it before I learned it didn't have motion controls. No point in playing this now, I'll stick to the Wii version.
@TheLastLugia If the console was dead, TPHD wouldn't be on the list at all.
@Mahe I know, it is dumb to not include the Wii Remote option. I'm playing with the pro controller as the GamePad does not improve the experience at all. Surprising, isn't it?
@electrolite77 Yeah, there's this guy* that always quotes me (and everybody else) and says something not related to my message.
You are right. The plain truth is that there are no impressive new games for Wii U now and Zelda is taking forever, that's why people are buying a GameCube HD port.
*EDIT: not you, you are right.
@Xenocity Very true. I just recently picked up a ps4 and was trying to get hold of the Tomb Raider remaster. No joy at all in the shops. Fingers crossed for a double pack when the second is out. Chart titles aside, it can often be strange which games you find in game shops. As you say though, it's largely dictated by the masses.
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