Almost every day we hear news about how Nintendo’s Wii U sales are low or how a game makes disappointing sales. With such rumors going about almost every day, one would think that Nintendo would be in the red by now. However, according to Nintendo’s latest fiscal report the company is still as healthy as ever as their first party software and accessories are selling as well as they possibly can on limited hardware sales.
The Inklings cover the most turf in software sales
According to Nintendo’s report, the highest selling video game in their lineup so far has been Splatoon. Over 4.06 million sales have been made (with 1.37 million in Japan alone) making it one of the strongest titles on the Wii U to date, despite being a completely new IP for Nintendo. In fact, the game has sold so many copies that it has overshadowed Pokemon completely, Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire selling a combined total of only 1.52 million copies.
9 Nintendo games that have sold over a million units include:
- Splatoon – 4.06 million sales
- Super Mario Maker – 3.34 million
- Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer – 2.93 million
- Mario Kart 8 – 2.13 million
- Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire – 1.52 million
- Mario Kart 7 – 1.33 million
- Yoshi’s Wooly World – 1.31 million
- Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS – 1.16 million
- The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes – 1.08 million
Surprisingly, the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U did not make it into the million units sold category of the report. This was likely due to the 3DS version arriving earlier than the Wii U version, as well as the portability of the 3DS version over the Wii U one. According to the report, Nintendo is expecting Super Mario Maker and Splatoon to continue selling at a steady rate and hope that new titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD will see similar success.
Amiibos are Nintendo’s best friend
If the software sales aren’t enough, then perhaps the amiibo sales will grab your attention. According to the report, over 20.5 million units of figure-type amiibo and 21.5 million units of the card-based amiibo were sold in the last financial year. The best news, according to the report, is that sales show no signs of slowing.
Nintendo intends to continue releasing amiibo lines in the future, so if you are a fan of the little plastic figures then you can rest assured that they won’t be going away anytime soon. Well, other than off store shelves, that is.
Not winning, but certainly not losing
While these sales numbers may seem large, they are by no means extraordinary. The Witcher 3 sold over 4 million copies in its first week alone, and certainly puts Nintendo’s sales into perspective. However, all things considered, Nintendo seems to be doing just fine for the time being. It’s certainly nothing to be overly proud of per se, but it’s enough to safely say that the company won’t have to worry about any financial issues for the time being.
Published: Feb 2, 2016 12:18 pm