You're right. I had not considered that. I was reading a November 2006 article where Iwata mentioned that Nintendo ran into production issues due to not starting manufacturing Wii units until that summer. Microsoft also suffered shortages during Xbox 360's launch with production apparently started just 69 days before launch. While Xbox outsold GameCube and Xbox 1 in November 2005 with 326k units , it was the worst selling platform in December with just 281k units.
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Wii U Japanese Launch: 308,570 systems sold, Mario leads with 170,563 copies
- Thread starter Coldnoodle
- Start date
You're right. I had not considered that. I was reading a November 2006 article where Iwata mentioned that Nintendo ran into production issues due to not starting manufacturing Wii units until that summer. Microsoft also suffered shortages during Xbox 360's launch with production apparently started just 69 days before launch. While Xbox outsold GameCube and Xbox 1 in November 2005 with 326k units , it was the worst selling platform in December with just 281k units.
LiveFromKyoto
Member
I would agree that Mario & Nintendo Land should qualify as killer apps - Mario certainly.
As for the Wii series - even if Wii Fit U only does 1/3 of what the original did, it will be a huge smash, on par with a Halo game. If it does 1/2 of the original, it will "only" be on par with an average COD game. If Nintendo can get the message out about that one again, they'll have a huge ace in their pocket that people shouldn't sleep on. Hopefully that's what they're saving their advertising war chest for.
I hope you guys are right and they do hit 2 million WW by the end of December. I haven't been rooting for a Nintendo system like this since the SNES (was not a big fan of N64 or GC). I think it's bad for Japanese gaming in particular and bad for gaming in general if they get elbowed out like Sega did.
mugurumakensei
Member
On the off topic discussion of SE, i'm still surprised the Enix side let Wada be president since Enix was only able to buy Square thanks to Square losing lots of money in the early 2000s.
I'm not sure your average consumer watches those though.
I must be missing these, not watching much TV because of finals :-(, but up to launch I didn't see any at all.
Skiesofwonder
Walruses, camels, bears, rabbits, tigers and badgers.
Considering the high-ish price and Japan being handheld country, those numbers can hardly be considered bad or even concerning. Outside of the PS2, it's pretty much in line with every other successful launch. But as the Vita showed, the first week (or even month) hardly matters in the grand scheme of things, so what happens at the start of January and beyond is really going to be a lot more telling.
Honestly though, none of the numbers we have seen so far are concerning outside of the UK report. I think Nintendo hits its 2 million mark before the end of this year, with close to another million alone coming for the US and Japan during December. The 5.5 million mark for April seems a bit hazy though, and I don't think they have the current Q1 software lineup to meet such sales numbers. But so far, all the gloom and doom on the numbers we currently have seem to be fueled more with personal taste or ignorance (IMO) then the actual "bomba" of the WiiU.
As for NintendoLand also being a "bomba" in Japan; it is hardly a title you can judge on first week sales numbers such as a Resident Evil 6. It shall be interesting to see what kind of legs it develops in the coming year.
Honestly though, none of the numbers we have seen so far are concerning outside of the UK report. I think Nintendo hits its 2 million mark before the end of this year, with close to another million alone coming for the US and Japan during December. The 5.5 million mark for April seems a bit hazy though, and I don't think they have the current Q1 software lineup to meet such sales numbers. But so far, all the gloom and doom on the numbers we currently have seem to be fueled more with personal taste or ignorance (IMO) then the actual "bomba" of the WiiU.
As for NintendoLand also being a "bomba" in Japan; it is hardly a title you can judge on first week sales numbers such as a Resident Evil 6. It shall be interesting to see what kind of legs it develops in the coming year.
WonkyPanda
Member
lol. The hate and bias is so strong with some of you.
US Launch: "Terrible" numbers, this console is necessarily doomed. Nintendo blew it.
JPN Launch: "OK" numbers, but it's just one week. Let's wait till next week to shit on Nintendo.
Keep on Gaf'n.
US Launch: "Terrible" numbers, this console is necessarily doomed. Nintendo blew it.
JPN Launch: "OK" numbers, but it's just one week. Let's wait till next week to shit on Nintendo.
Keep on Gaf'n.
Well, Nintendo are targeting the same audience, so if it does sell worse at this stage of its life than the Wii did despite the latter having massive supply issues, then I would be concerned. It's the software sales that are even more concerning though.
The chances of Nintendo hitting their targets are very slim, so that should tell us everything.
lol. The hate and bias is so strong with some of you.
US Launch: "Terrible" numbers, this console is necessarily doomed. Nintendo blew it.
JPN Launch: "OK" numbers, but it's just one week. Let's wait till next week to shit on Nintendo.
Keep on Gaf'n.
funny thing is that both launches are in line with the launch of the original wii
WonkyPanda
Member
Sorry, was it not clear?
It's an expectation issue. Supposed "bad" numbers were being spouted off as uncontroverted proof that Nintendo blew it and the Wii-U is a disaster. Now, you get strong numbers out of Japan, but instead of suggesting merely that the Wii-U isn't a disaster and these are great numbers for the region, it's seen by some as merely a speedbump in the inevitable doom of the console.
Yes, OF COURSE one good week doesn't mean a console is set for success. BUT neither does one bad or mediocre week set it up for disaster. That's the issue.
A heavily supply constrained console that was sold out everywhere.
No, it wasn't. But now I understand.
OldJadedGamer
Banned
LiveFromKyoto
Member
Take a deep breath and read the thread again.
1. The number of people who are saying "lol bomb" is vastly outnumbered by those with more reasonable responses.
2. Given that it's the 7th best launch on that list, by all accounts it's still widely available, and the attach rate is low it doesn't really qualify as "great" either. It's solid, respectable, some reason for optimism.
DragonSworne
Banned
I expect Wii U to sell 1 million units in December or close to it and in Japan to be at 1 million units by the end of December as well.
Sales are strong and I have not seen any signs of system shortages. We are going to see huge numbers.
Sales are strong and I have not seen any signs of system shortages. We are going to see huge numbers.
alfredofroylan
Member
I remember at the time there was a rumor about Monster Hunter Vita, in fact rumor said that the Vita MH'd be at the second quarter of 2012.
Skiesofwonder
Walruses, camels, bears, rabbits, tigers and badgers.
I imagine not even Nintendo expects the WiiU to be another Wii-like success, so I don't see why we should. Having similar launches to other successful hardware and barely landing under the Wii (for the first week) is hardly a bad thing.
Agreed. Software sales have been rather concerning so far.
Their 2012 "2 million sold" target is still very much in line. It's already at 800,000 units with FIRST WEEK numbers (only including UK numbers from Europe). Like I said, WiiU should hit a million alone from Japan + US in December. The 5.5 million mark from the get go has looked unlikely though, but admittedly it is too early to tell.
goldenpp72
Member
Wii Fit U is an interesting game to watch because the original game did over 20 million, but so did Nintendogs on the DS, which ended up doing.. Not good on the 3ds. Is Wii Fit a game people buy a system for, or a game they buy because they already have the system?
Smiles and Cries
Member
kinda worried that Monster Hunter is not digital on eShop in Japan yet. It better be in the US.
WonkyPanda
Member
No breath needed. If I let gaf get to me, I would've jumped off a building by now. It's just funny to me how blatantly hater some people are. Yes, there are some very reasonable responses in here, but they are overshadowed by some terrible hyperbole.
And, as a correction, the hardware numbers are great, the software numbers ok, which I think leads to a 'solid' launch. So, agreed.
People certainly bought Wiis for Wii Fit. However, I don't think many will want to do it again for Wii Fit U.
Lord_Byron28
Member
Wii fit was definitely a system seller. The real question is if people are really willing to spend 300 dollars to play a similar game. My vote would be no as I think most of the Wii fit phenomenon was because it was a new, exciting and fun thing. However the Wii u version doesn't seem to boast enough features, improvements and differences for it to be worth spending 300 for. I'm sure it will sell well but not nearly as well as the other iterations on Wii.
test_account
XP-39C²
True, that was for the 20GB. The 60GB was 20k yen more.
DragonSworne
Banned
People can workout and watch TV at the same time.
It will be the best selling game in America for this fact alone. lol
Uh, that "only 10,000 yen" is equivalent to about one hundred dollars. And that was also for the entry level SKU. The superior one was the equivalent of two hundred dollars more.
Giving the special promotion the Premium console has...how much do you think that would impact the retails sales of games? I would think most people that bought the premium would had gotten the games via eshop (Say NSMBU or any other eshop game) to be able to actually use the Premium bonus right?
If the unliklihood of the Wii U doing as well as the Wii is the only concern here, then it's really not much of a concern, but that's not the case. Wii U has not sold out, and its debut is below that of the Vita, that should ring alarm bells.
Spieler Eins
Member
Good start, but it will drop like a Vita with its non-existent lineup.
metalslimer
Member
Vita had a great first week in Japan, so I'm not sure what you're talking about. In the UK yes, Nintendo should be in panic mode.
No it won't. NSMBU has already outsold every single launch Vita game's LTD. That alone will keep it from being Vita status. It will drop hard though.
I dont know how many times this has to be said but the Vita Japanese launch numbers were very good.
I really think people are confused as the vita is doing so poorly now so the wii u selling less at launch looks bad when the reality the wii u japanese launch numbers for week 1 are fine.
You're missing the point completely.
As are you. Don't most consoles sell a lot at launch??
This is probably not terribly likely--the same idea is occasionally tossed around as a way that Vita software might not be tanking (since digital usually gets a few bucks off), but when we get numbers they tend to indicate that digital hasn't made much headway in Japan (Animal Crossing being a recent major exception due to shortages.) While some people may be purchasing games because of the promotion, unless/until Nintendo brags about it I'd be hesitant to believe digital purchases amount to a substantial sales boost.
metalslimer
Member
No, but you seem to be. Nintendo has nothing to worry about over these numbers.
Did you somehow miss the very first post in this thread? Do you follow Japanese sales at all? Like I said in the context of Japan these numbers only speak of a decent-good launch and comparing it to Vita as a negative is foolhardy unless you want to talk about potential dropoffs.
DragonSworne
Banned
People expecting the Wii U to do Vita numbers should be more worried about the market as a whole then.
If Wii U can't sell in Japan, what makes you think Xbox720 or PS4 will sell? Better graphics?
If Wii U can't sell in Japan, what makes you think Xbox720 or PS4 will sell? Better graphics?
Not sure... Personally, I only bought the premium to be safe with 32GB, but I don't intend to buy a lot of things from the store, and I'm all-disc now (games like Animal Crossing could be an exception).
8GB, especially when it's becoming 3GB out of the box is really small. Especially if you have to store game patches, and maybe large saves. I own a 20GB PS3, and after only my second game (Minna no Golf, 5GB installed, mandatory) I had already seen the problem.
On the main subject, I think we have to wait a bit to draw conclusions. The simple idea of a second screen in the living room may be bigger than some thinks. Even if I'm single, I love playing on the Upad with the TV displaying a TV show or something like this. Seing how many of my friends were "struggling" a bit for the TV, it's truly a convenient feature to have.
Frankfurter
Member
You might wanna elaborate a bit on what the point is, then.
Edit: Just btw. do we know if software sales include bundled software (MH is the only bundled game, I guess?) or not?
No, the point is that it sold less than the Vita over its first two days, and has not sold out.
well some sell more than others and hence why so many people keep repeating dont just look at week 1.
The Wii U could of done 400k and it still wouldnt mean sales couldnt drop dramatically or go on to be very healthy for weeks.
I dont quite understand why people look at this number against the vita number and come to the conclusion that alarm bells must now start ringing?
metalslimer
Member
So? Vita had a great launch week in terms of hardware sales. You obviously haven't looked much into how things actually played out when Vita launched.
It's my fault people couldn't read my post (#431) carefully enough?
Do you expect the PS4 to do any better?
Frankfurter
Member
I still don't know where you are heading. Yes, Vita had a better launch than Wii U. So what? Vita had a great launch (actually the only few days where it had good sales). Why not just accept that it's not impossible for a console to sell less than Vita at launch and still be considered successful?
Now if Wii U drops to 50 or 60k in the next MC charts, you'd have a point.
metalslimer
Member
But post 431 is also wrong because debuting less than Vita and not selling out has nothing to do with anything. Vita had a good launch week. Wii U had a good launch week.
Especially in Japan. The Vita comparison in the UK makes the Wii U looking fuckign horrendous there, but saying it sold less in Japan means nothing. Also selling out has nothing to do with it.
Am I just looking at week one? Or rather, what is going to come after week one? Why do you think I brought up the Vita?
You're misunderstanding.
On the contrary.
SolarPowered
Member
Only 60k for Nintendoland with no bundles? I thought it was bundled which made the numbers okay, but 60k with no bundles is not good...
Sold out or not, these sales figures aren't in need of alarm bells. Handheld systems are far more popular in Japan and a console with a debut ranging in the handheld launch numbers is very good in Japan. Especialy is this day and age.
metalslimer
Member
And Wii U is not going to drop as hard because it actually has software people are in interested in. Vita's launch software sold like shit. In your opinion how much did the Wii U have to sell to not have to set off alarm bells?
Their bodies were ready, but now their bodies are done.
But I agree. It's not the kind of thing people want 2 of. Do we have P90X vs P90X2 sales numbers? Because just looking at buzz and review numbers, I don't think P90X2 sold nearly as well.