Pokémon Sun and Moon, Along With 3DS, Led 2016 Sales in Japan

The Wii U sold 2,589 units lol

With these numbers, surely Ninty will want to support the 3DS with new software for a while yet.

Less than 9,000 units for Xbox One... lol.

Gosh...!!
Miitopia is not underrated Quirky RPG games.
See... still so many peoples interested by Unusual Turn Based RPG like that.

People say Yokai Watch 3 was a flop --- yet it's the 2nd most selling game LMAO
(great game btw!)

The Wii U is on life support. It irks me to see Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS selling well.

Splatoon is a beast. I've been really digging the thought of Ninty having the Switch version as the pack in game, I can't imagine it wouldn't move a ton of units in Japan.

For a dead system the Vita did well in Japan. Not amazing but a lot more than the WiiU did.

Just think, someone yesterday was telling me that mobile games were "destroying" the 3DS even in Japan. The 3DS as a platform is a good couple of years older than the PS4 & is still competing in sales. Good on you!

@SLIGEACH_EIRE why? Not everyone has a Wii U and Mario Maker on the 3ds is actually pretty fun. No need to be so salty.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Mr Grumpy. Nintendo Devs worked really hard to produce a quality title like that and you slate them indirectly. . .. Bah humbug!

@cfgk24 Worked really hard? LOL It's a lazy cash grab. Super Mario Maker on Wii U is fantastic, possibly its best game. The 3DS version is not and is gimped.

The fact that the wii U version is better doesn't detract from the fact that Super Mario Maker on 3DS is actually quite good. I'm pleased to see it selling well.

A good way to experience an unpresedent number of Mario levels on the go.

It is surprising to see 3DS leading sales after 6 years. That should prove that a console doesn't have to be the latest on technology to be a success as long as it has good games.

Glad to see Miitopia's actually doing well. I was afraid is was going to flop badly after Week 1 sales.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE I'd say they worked hard. The highlight of Super Mario Maker 3DS is the 100 lovingly-crafted levels in the Super Mario Challenge, all filled with secrets and reasons to replay levels.

@DanteSolablood I assume they meant this generation compared to the DS which through around massive weight, but I agree the 3DS is holding its own. Even as someone who owns a PS4 Pro XBox1 S, Vita in addition to current Nintendo portfolio I hope the Switch has that 3DS like appeal and catches fire quickly. I want it to enjoy the success of the 3DS so the software can follow and we can have a golden age of software output in HD. Besides Nintendo needs to rule this middle ground where we can get those unique and creative AA titles from them and developers where they don't have to put it all on the line like a triple AAA budget would require.

@Tru80zGamer Ah, but the DS had a successful launch & didn't have the Vita on the horizon (the PSP had been out for over 2 years & not doing well by the DS launch). But I agree with you, Nintendo can rule the middle ground if they do things correctly. Pokémon main game sales are comparable to the CoD's but don't cost anywhere near the same to produce. AA games have their place.

@DanteSolablood Ah, but the DS had a successful launch & didn't have the Vita on the horizon (the PSP had been out for over 2 years & not doing well by the DS launch).

Umm, the DS launched in 2004. Well before the PSP in 2005.

Japan is a dead market, as sad as it is to see as someone that was gaming in the era that Japanese games seemed to blow away the Western ones. No hardware sells enough for Japanese devs to make games just for Japan, and when they try and incorporate Western ideas, it usually falls flat. Only 2 games selling over a million all year! 17 million PS4s sold in 2016, and less than 2 million of them in Japan. Barely 10% They've all gone mobile and I don't see them coming back.

@electrolite77 Good point, I did do some research but must say it was rushed & probably got some dates mixed up. However, the Vita was definitely looming over the 3DS more than the PSP over the DS... plus the 3DS launch was a big failure not too long before the Vita was on it's way.

In other news, water is wet, fire is hot, and the sun is bright. Reports on rocks being hard and tides going in and out soon to follow.

On a more serious note, I have no idea why Microsoft bothered to continue in Japan after the original Xbox. They got a foothold using Windows CE to run the Dreamcast system software, and subsequently brought some of it's games and franchises to the original Xbox, but after that, it was almost a total waste of effort. Just shockingly low sales numbers, year after year. Even the Virtual Boy sold better than the Xboned in Japan... Even stewed cow tongue is more popular than the Xboned in Japan.

http://kotaku.com/japans-xbox-one-launch-as-sad-as-youd-expect-1630411606

The one guy near this particular... "line" for an Xboned launch event was busy playing his Vita. He had no interest in the Xboned. Talk about adding insult to injury.

It probably doesn't help that the "X" symbol in in Japan means something bad, wrong, or to be avoided...

@Peach64 The Nintendo Sandwitch might whet the appetite of enough JP's to bring them back from the mobile market abyss.

@manu0 The version names are a flop! It can be implied that one version is uncooked (unfinished), andother is fried (put together quickly), and the final one is the only good one (full course done right).

@Peach64 Japan is a gaming society. Period.

Two million PS4 sold on a shrinking population of 125 million (from which 35 million are over 60 years old) compared to US, Europe and Latin America's (booming) combined population of over 1,200 million people is nothing to sneeze at.

3DS had a great holiday thanks to the success of Pokémon Sun/Moon and Super Mario Maker, but it kinda struggled in the middle of the year due to underperforming software sales from some key titles.

In particular, Puzzle & Dragons X has sold less than 300,000 copies by the end of 2016, compared to Puzzle & Dragons Z, which sold over 1 million copies by the end of 2013.
Yokai Watch 3 (all versions) has sold less than 2 million by the end of 2016, compared to Yokai Watch 2 (all versions), which sold over 5 million copies by the end of 2014.

@electrolite77 Haha, to be fair I usually do a minimum amount of research before I post anything here. It's only fair the first time I'm in a rush to get out of the door people pick me up on it.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE It irks me that you think Nintendo software Dev don't work hard. . .

@PlywoodStick um okay? But all of them are essentially the same game. So what you're saying doesn't make sense.

@manu0 That's the point, it doesn't make sense. That's what happens when they start naming their versions after food.