The new 3DS game WarioWare Gold had just two days to make an impact in NPD's video game sales charts for the month of July. In the end, Wario wasn't even able to make it into the top 20 best-selling games of the month, and on the 3DS chart, placed third behind Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Like Switch sales, digital sales were not included in this case, but apparently physical sales still account for more than 50 percent of new game purchases.
Although The NPD Group doesn't provide exact figures, as Venture Beat points out, this is not a promising sign for Wario's latest entry in his micro-game franchise given the huge 3DS install base globally. Despite the aggressive marketing campaign from Wario himself - including hijacking Nintendo's Twitter account and sending out his own PR - it sounds as if at this rate he won't be raking in any money after all. In saying this, the game wasn't released until 2nd August in Japan and 3rd August in the US, so there's still hope. Otherwise, it could be time for Wario to make the Switch.
Tell us in the comments if you picked up WarioWare Gold on release, or if you would prefer to see the greedy and rude anti-hero make his way across to Nintendo's latest device.
[source venturebeat.com]
Comments 40
Still trying to figure out the point of this article...
Now who's laughing?
Mario. Mario is a-laughing.
Holy geez (Batman), with such a grouchy attitude like that Wario should be your favorite character.
Shame, as Gold is an excellent compilation that makes it the definitive single-player WarioWare experience. (The console games tend to have the best multiplayer, but this game's wealth of modes and content makes it my new favorite, even if much of it is reused.)
I'd also like to add a little tangent here. Everyone talks about the 3DS' "huge" install base, but 70 million 3DS systems sold does not equate to 70 million 3DS users. There are lots of collectors out there who buy every Zelda and Metroid and Pokémon themed 3DS system Nintendo releases, and most of us probably don't use the same original model but have upgraded to an XL or New version. Don't get me wrong, the 3DS is one of my favorite systems, but it has more variations than probably any Nintendo portable yet is still, as far as I know, the worst-selling. The numbers are still good, but I wouldn't say it's staggering. Regardless, I think most people have sat their 3DS's down for now in favor of Switch.
While I wish WarioWare sold better, I can't say I'm too terribly surprised. Hopefully Nintendo understands this and doesn't kill the franchise off again.
A brilliant game doesn't sell well, wow, what a shock. /s
... When did it release, again?
@TheVGMLover I don't think it came out till like August 3rd here in North America. Thanks for bringing that to my attention--if these are global figures, it might not be as bad as it seems, then.
Before released:
Wario = Wahahahaha....!! (Sinister laugh)
After released:
Wario = Ahahahahaha..... (Sad laugh + sob)
Guys !!
Cheer him !
@Not_Soos Took the words out of my mouth. Every single challenge mode is something I want to keep coming back to! Definitely my favorite WarioWare as far as single player is concerned.
I really hope the reason it seems to be doing so poorly is because most people are getting it digitally. It really is the perfect kind of game to have downloaded, and I'm really glad I decided to go that route.
I don't think anyone should have expected WarioWare Gold to sell anything meaningful in just 2 days on the 3DS.
The fact that it was even among the Top 5 best-selling 3DS games of July is good enough.
@mystman12 What are you doing here? You should be in a closet somewhere making Baldi!
I guess you're right, WarioWare is one of the best games to go with digitally, since you may only want to play it for short bursts and not necessarily keep it in your system for long periods of time, but I still prefer to go physical when it comes to full-priced releases. Not only because of storage issues, but I dislike the idea of having a game tied to only one system and not being able to sell it, say, when WarioWare Platinum comes out in 10 years.
Edit: It's funny, I was actually just playing WarioWare Gold yesterday when I was notified you were streaming, and I wondered if you had picked up the game. I still mean to watch your archive, haha. I tuned in just long enough to hear about the stabby kid at the dentist's office...
Warioware gold was fun but too short.
It was never going to be a massive seller but selling it only on a console which is all but dead, is just plain silly. Luigi's Mansion may fare better when it launches but there is still absolutely no reason for these games not to be releasing on the console which has succeeded it
What about put it on switch ?
@carlos82 how could they release this game on Switch? There is mini games that wouldn't even be possible on switch hardware. This game was right for the 3DS. Yes the switch should get a warioware game but this isn't the right one.
@SenseiDje and cut the mini games out that cannot be played on the switch? Switch will get it's own warioware title.
@kobashi100 it doesn't need to be one for one on the mini games but still no reason why a version couldn't be released. Not to mention how many games couldn't work on Switch? I haven't played it but have seen plenty of videos and have yet to see a single one which couldn't be done on Switch
@holygeez03 comment bait?
Which country is this article referring to, the UK? It's really unclear and the headline doesn't make sense.
@carlos82 and like I said, the switch will gets its own warioware title which is designed specifically for it's hardware. Warioware gold has heavily featured microgames from Touched that wouldn't really work on Switch plus the microphone microgames. some of the microgames on warioware gold would not be a great fit for the switch in docked mode. actually could you please tell me how you would even play warioware gold when the switch is docked?
As a longtime WarioWare fan with every game in the series except for the GameCube one, I was extremely disappointed that we've waited EIGHT years only to be served up the same content that we have been stuck with during that time.
If there had been a new WarioWare game followed by a compilation release a year or two after, then I would not have minded, but to have waited for all these years only to play (occasionally worse) versions of past microgames is a big misstep.
I still thoroughly enjoyed my time with it and spent my entire weekend playing it, but I can't see myself coming back to it once the novelty has worn off. Worse still, the game suffers from performance hiccoughs (laggy frame rates are common with 3D asset activities) and should have at least been remedied for New 3DS systems (what was the point of its more powerful CPU again?).
WarioWare Switch couldn't come soon enough. I would be over the moon with a Smooth Moves port in the meantime as that was a series highlight, and to be able to take that beauty anywhere would be amazing.
@kobashi100 : The only microgames that wouldn't work on Switch are the seven or so that use the microphone, which is isn't a loss as far as I'm concerned as the 3DS microphone is horribly unresponsive.
The Sneaky Gamer mode also wouldn't quite work either due to the lack of a second screen, but perhaps Intelligent Systems can repurpose it a little by having 9-Volt play the activities on an on-screen TV instead (which he will hastily turn off whilst "sleeping").
Every other activity would work on Switch, however touch-based activities would need to be repurposed for docked play, but many microgames that originated on Wii were repurposed as mash/touch/tilt activities, so the same can be done to ensure playability of touch-based in docked mode (without resorting to uninspired cursor-based controls).
Really good game, but not surprising.
In my opinion it did good enough for a compilation game and besides Wario it's not that popular or a system seller so it makes sense
We have to have a proper Wario game since 2001 in the GBA. The fact that it managed to get to the top of the sales chart even for just two days it's complete success.
@TheCurator I think you misread. It’s not even on the top 20 at all.
I wonder if it will come down in price soon or whether I should grab it before it's no longer available at retail and the price will go up.
It’s a shame because I really think the game has potential to be awesome. But personally I found myself playing it thinking “oh man I have to show somebody this, it’s so quirky and hilarious!” Which is why I think there should be no single player Wario Wares. The one on Wii was amazing and so much fun to play with people. The 3ds is good too but it’s not as fun when trying to watch others on the small screen. If this came out on switch I’d be all over it.
@imgrowinglegs Ah maybe. Well that's about it then.
It would have sold better if they had put Ashley in Smash.
Here is a key point: Correction: This story originally said that WarioWare gold launched July 27. It actually debuted in North America on August 3. That gave it two days of sales on the July NPD chart.
The writer had the NA release date wrong. So I wonder if he thought it didn't chart in 9 days — which would be a much larger story.
Just another proof that 3DS is dead. I hope that Nintendo will accept it this time.
If Nintendo didn't care about the release date, to begin with, why are you writing an article about something that didn't happen due to obvious reasons?
It was a barely advertised token release on a dying platform. Why should it have been in the top 20?
I will buy a physical copy. But I need a price break. They are asking a bit much for $39.99. This would be a easy purchase for $29.99.
As a die-hard fan of the series, of course I bought a Physical Copy right on release day. I still play through it to complete missions (and it is also good training for some of the earlier microgames I never got to complete). I do not regret buying it.
P.S. Please, everyone, enough with the negativity and the "3DS Must Die!" nonsense. If you have moved on to Switch, good for you. I just do not agree with why people have to be so hateful about it.
@holygeez03 To point out the fact that Nintendo needs to STOP putting games on 3DS and support Switch only or dual release games.
@holygeez03 I ask myself that quite a bit when I read on Nintendolife. Been happening for a while now lol.
Bought it. Love it. It's sad it didn't go over with 3DS owners. It's a great game.
1st its a 3ds game which just don't sell anymore.
2nd its warioware which many cant stand over warioland
@Natzore sadly, Nintendo seems to be just as ignorant about it as their blind fanboys are. Did you see the supplementary report they published in April? They said- true story, the main reason the 3DS game sales are dropping so rapidly is because of hackers. Like seriously, they think people hacking the device is preventing new games from selling millions and millions of copies. They've got to be the stupidest company if they really think that, because like it was pointed out earlier there's no chance they have a 70 million userbase, there are just too many variants of this thing with many, MANY, MANY people buying 2 (or 8 in the case of many youtubers). It's like why can't Nintendo understand when you're selling the same system to the same people over and over, unless those same people buy the same number of copies of a game, you're instead wasting money? For instance if I buy like 12 3DS systems, but only like 36 games, I've just lowered the attach rate to 3 game per system, when in reality I bought 36 total games! That's why the thing has a pathetic attach rate, and blind fanboys (especially on this site) say that it's really 72 million people, and they only buy like 5 or 6 games for it (mostly Pokemon)- yeah, like that's really the case, instead of really about 30 million users who bought 2 systems, and they bought about 12 games on average, but it then lowers to 6 when doing the math!
@GloryQuestor a couple things to point out here. First, if it sells low, then Nintendo won't put it at the top of a priority in the future on Switch, believing that the fans don't want it. Second, even if it's a cheap/quick development, for every dollar taken and for every second spent is just another dollar and another second that could be used on making Switch games. Don't forget too that Nintendo is also making mobile games (DeNA is handling the service portion- the updates and actually maintaining the servers), so they're splitting themselves incredibly thin right now with Switch, 3DS AND mobile. It's why we don't have Metroid Prime 4, it's why we don't have Yoshi, it's probably why we don't have Animal Crossing. As long as 3DS stays around, it continues to take away from Switch, and prevents Iwata's desire for Switch and mobile to be the future.
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