Nintendo released the stats for what Amiibo are selling best in each region. We go through the lists to see what’s fresh these days.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/editorial/41392/drawing-conclusions-from-popular-amiibo
At the new Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima’s first investor presentation, he touched on Amiibo and the best-selling ones in each region. With more than 20 million Amiibo sold worldwide, the sales rankings for each region have quite the sample size, so let’s dive in and see what these lists say about each region and character.
United States
At the top of America’s list is Link, which isn’t a huge shock. Newsflash: Americans love the hell out of collecting things from the Zelda series. Regular old Link is #1, Zelda is #4, and Toon Link is #7. The Mario series is also well represented on this list as Mario comes in at #2, Luigi at #6, Bowser at #8, and Peach at #10. What’s curious is that no Yoshi appears on this list. While Yarn Yoshi likely came out too late to have a chance of cracking the top 10, Yoshi has two Amiibo already. Maybe this is the secret reason why Yoshi’s Woolly World came out in North America last? Is there an anti-Yoshi agenda in the States? Are we all monsters?
With seven of the 10 from two of Nintendo’s biggest series, the other three aren’t that surprising either. Pikachu reps the Pokémon brand with aplomb, coming in at #3, which is the highest on all three lists that a Pokémon appeared. Sonic comes in at #9, which is the only appearance of Sega’s befuddled hero on any list. Lastly, the Animal Crossing cards are at #5, which was likely fueled by paranoid players buying multiple packs because they were worried they’d be impossible to find (like this writer here). Though, more likely, the cards probably hint at the fact that Happy Home Designer is doing reasonably well in America.
America is the only list that doesn’t have the 30th Anniversary Mario in some capacity on it. My gut tells me that likely means nothing other than “that damn thing sold out in the States,” but it’s weird that the figure is absent after the fanfare around it.
Europe
Link also tops the European list, but he is the only Zelda Amiibo on the list. The second and third spots are populated by Mario variants, with Smash Bros. Mario notching in at #2 and the Classic Color 30th Anniversary Mario landing at #3. Pikachu is the lone Pokémon at #4, followed by vanilla Smash Bros. Yoshi at #5. Yoshi appears again, in Green Yarn Yoshi form, at #10.
In what surely must hint at a Retro Studios Metroid/Donkey Kong crossover exclusive to Europe, Samus and Donkey Kong make their only appearances on all three lists at #6 and #7 respectively. Fox (#8) and Kirby (#9) round out the European list.
Europe’s top 10 list hints at a wider series expanse. Whereas America’s list had Mario and Zelda take up 70% of the spots, Europe’s assortment featured seven different series (or six if you count DK as part of Mario).
Japan
Surprise: Animal Crossing is big in Japan. Topping their list is the sold-out Animal Crossing cards, which makes the Animal Crossing Amiibo push seem savvy. The rest of Japan’s list has the usual suspects, with Kirby appearing at #3 (highest for Kirby in any region) and Link at #4 (lowest appearance for Link in any region). Mario has four spots on Japan’s list, with the Super Mario series figure coming in at #2, the Smash variant at #5, and the pair of 30th Anniversary Amiibo at #9 and #10. Green Yarn Yoshi cracks the top 10 as well at #7.
Splatoon is well loved by Amiibo fans in Japan, as Inkling Girl hits at #6 and Boy hits at #8. It’s the only appearance by Splatoon in any region, and highlights how freaking popular the series is in Japan. The reasonable expectation from that, I’d guess, is that we’ll have two Splatoon spin-offs coming to 3DS and Wii U next year, with one focusing on designing inkling clothes on 3DS using Amiibo cards and the other transforming Splatoon into a turn-based strategy game using figures.
Topic: Drawing Conclusions From Popular Amiibo (Read 2200 times)
