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Nintendo Sales Panic: February 2018 US NPD Group Results

by Donald Theriault - March 20, 2018, 3:59 pm EDT
Total comments: 6 Source: NPD Group

Apparently the key to Bayonetta charting is to be on a system people like.

The US sales survey from the NPD Group is out, and it's another record breaking month for Nintendo.

In the hardware race, the Switch trailed behind the Monster Hunter World-fueled PlayStation 4 in February, but did sell enough to have the largest first-year sales of any system in the history of the NPD tracking. No sales numbers were given for individual consoles.

In software, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was the best selling Switch exclusive in the revenue top 20, ending a four month winning streak for Super Mario Odyssey. NBA 2K18 was the highest ranking game with a Switch release, coming in 3rd for the month. Kart and Odyssey were 8th and 9th, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was 11th, debutant Bayonetta 2 was 14th, and FIFA 18 was 17th for the month. The other new Nintendo physical software, Dragon Quest Builders and Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology, finished 10th and 3rd on their respective system top 10s.

The full top 10s for Switch and 3DS are below:

Switch

  1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
  2. Super Mario Odyssey
  3. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  4. Bayonetta 2
  5. Splatoon 2
  6. Pokkén Tournament DX
  7. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft)
  8. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda)
  9. ARMS
  10. Dragon Quest Builders (Square Enix)

3DS

  1. Pokémon Ultra Sun
  2. Pokémon Ultra Moon
  3. Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology (Atlus)
  4. Mario Kart 7
  5. Minecraft (Microsoft)
  6. Super Smash Bros.
  7. Mario Party: The Top 100
  8. Super Mario Maker
  9. Kirby: Battle Royale
  10. Super Mario 3D Land

Talkback

ShyGuyMarch 20, 2018

I wish DQ Builders was higher, good game people!

LemonadeMarch 20, 2018

I wonder if Minecraft sold more on 3DS than on Switch overall

jarodeaMarch 20, 2018

We'll see how things go but I have to wonder with 20 games there are 15 1st party, 1 main brand collaboration, and the best selling game of all time how long will the 3rd party lovefest last?  It's been a year, the install base is decent as are 3rd party offerings.

Quote from: ShyGuy

I wish DQ Builders was higher, good game people!

I loved the demo, I like the idea of Minecraft but would like some reason to do stuff which DQ Builders provides so I will be picking it up.

RPG_FAN128March 21, 2018

Radiant Historia number 3?  That's insane, even more insane it's higher than a 1st-party game like Mario Kart.  If there was a top 100 list of "Best Games No One Knows About" Radiant Historia would definitely be pretty high on it.  But after sales like this it may not qualify to be on that list any more! 


That is unless the sale numbers are actually:
(1)  Pokemon Ultra Sun.  1 million plus
(2)  Pokemon Ultra Moon.  1 million plus
(3) Radiant Historia.  50,000
(4) Mario Kart 7.  Less than 50,000.
etc

^_^

MythtendoMarch 21, 2018

Quote from: jarodea

We'll see how things go but I have to wonder with 20 games there are 15 1st party, 1 main brand collaboration, and the best selling game of all time how long will the 3rd party lovefest last?  It's been a year, the install base is decent as are 3rd party offerings.

Quote from: ShyGuy

I wish DQ Builders was higher, good game people!

I loved the demo, I like the idea of Minecraft but would like some reason to do stuff which DQ Builders provides so I will be picking it up.

Even though most third party games are not appearing in the top 10, my understanding is that the majority of third party games are selling well enough that they are profitable and making the publishers happy. When they put the effort in, fans will reward them (the only Switch purchase I regret is WWE 2K18, it's a terrible port of a game already riddled with bugs).

jarodeaMarch 21, 2018

Quote from: Mythtendo

Quote from: jarodea

We'll see how things go but I have to wonder with 20 games there are 15 1st party, 1 main brand collaboration, and the best selling game of all time how long will the 3rd party lovefest last?  It's been a year, the install base is decent as are 3rd party offerings.

Quote from: ShyGuy

I wish DQ Builders was higher, good game people!

I loved the demo, I like the idea of Minecraft but would like some reason to do stuff which DQ Builders provides so I will be picking it up.

Even though most third party games are not appearing in the top 10, my understanding is that the majority of third party games are selling well enough that they are profitable and making the publishers happy. When they put the effort in, fans will reward them (the only Switch purchase I regret is WWE 2K18, it's a terrible port of a game already riddled with bugs).

I hope so, but going forward it will become ever more difficult and expensive to port games to the Switch so the outside of the top 10 sales might not be enough.

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