Topic: Wii U Experiences Large Sales Increase in Japan

[Steel Diver]

A new bundle and a new game help the system get back on its feet.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/35903

Last week in Japan, the Wii U managed to sell 38,802 units, placing it at no. 2 on the sales charts.

While the best selling system in Japan remains the Nintendo 3DS and its various models, with 88,376 units sold, the bump in Wii U sales was an increase of about 1393%. This dramatic rise is due to the release of Wii Party U, and a system bundle with the game. Wii Party U was the 6th best selling game at around 37 thousand units sold.

[KITT 10K]

That's good to hear. Hopefully they'll have similar results over here as well.

[Enner]

New bundles! They are pretty generous too.
Hopefully, the momentum will keep.

[Khushrenada]

They're too generous! What do us early adopters get?! Screwed over, that's what.

And the worst part is, I fell for it again! No one to blame but myself.


I guess I can't be too upset though. I bought a Black Deluxe Wii U because a store had it on sale for $297.99 and that's basically what the Wii U costs now. However, if I waited 3 or 4 months, I could have chosen to get the Zelda bundle or, more appealing, the Mario bundle which comes with NSMBWU and Luigi levels instead of Nintendoland.

C'est la vie.

[MetalMario2]

They're too generous! What do us early adopters get?! Screwed over, that's what.

And the worst part is, I fell for it again! No one to blame but myself.

Exactly. If you didn't know this was going to happen, then you haven't been paying attention for the past 15-20 years. I bought a Wii U on day one because I wanted it so bad I could taste it. Sure, I knew there'd be price drops, redesigns, and whatnot further down the line, but I needed to own a Wii U like a baby needs to suck boob. So I got it, and I haven't regretted it for an instant.

[Mop it up]

I like when they use percentages for things like this, because 1,393% makes it sound like the number is a lot more than what it really is. Still, it's nice to see sales starting to pick up, and I think this is more than it has sold in Japan for a long time, but hopefully this is an upward swing and not just a spike. The system needs to sell like this at the minimum over the next few months.

[the asylum]

"Did you hear? The Wii U sold DOUBLE the number it did last month!"

"For real?"

"Yeah! They sold two!"

[ShyGuy]

Where are Broodwars and Ian Sane?

[broodwars]

Where are Broodwars and Ian Sane?

Playing consoles that actually matter. There, you happy? I've already given my view on this inevitably-temporary sales bump elsewhere. I don't see the point in repeating myself on this, not when time will tell on this.

[Khushrenada]

Where are Broodwars and Ian Sane?

Surprisingly, he hasn't been around since Oct. 22. I just happened to notice that today myself. Last time he was around, he was talking about his experiences with Pokémon X/Y and I like to imagine he's still happily playing them somewhere and re-embracing his love of Nintendo. As much as everyone thinks he should leave this site or quit Nintendo because he criticises it, there's a reason he sticks around and it is because he does still like their games.

Unsurprisingly, with him gone, it hasn't stopped the negative threads about the Wii U or people talking about it. The latest one in console discussion is where Broodwars has made his post on the matter and you can find it there. It's the thread with the Deku Tree in its title.

This has been Khushrenada: Forum Private Eye aka Busybody.

[Adrock]

It's not terribly surprising that sales would increase when Nintendo actually releases new software. We all knew that was the solution to their problem. "Sales increased by X%" doesn't say as much as Nintendo wants it to. If Nintendo just had a steady stream of decent titles, these would just be "the sales" instead of an obscene-but-not-really sales increase.

[Mop it up]

Last time [Ian Sane] was around, he was talking about his experiences with Pokémon X/Y and I like to imagine he's still happily playing them somewhere and re-embracing his love of Nintendo.

Would you say that his heart grew three sizes that day?

[Kytim89]

It's not terribly surprising that sales would increase when Nintendo actually releases new software. We all knew that was the solution to their problem. "Sales increased by X%" doesn't say as much as Nintendo wants it to. If Nintendo just had a steady stream of decent titles, these would just be "the sales" instead of an obscene-but-not-really sales increase.

This is why Nintendo needs to strike deals with third parties like Konami to bring Metal Gear Solid V to the Wii U.

[the asylum]

you know that MGS V is being developed primarily for the PS4/Xbone, right? It'd be like putting MGS4 on the Wii.

[broodwars]

you know that MGS V is being developed primarily for the PS4/Xbone, right? It'd be like putting MGS4 on the Wii.

Yeah, Nintendo pretty much made their bed with third parties when they put out a machine pretty much on par with 2005/2006 technology in 2012. Well, that and just about 3/4 of its flimsy lineup being a flop. You're not going to get many 3rd party titles on Wii U designed for the Xbone/PS4. #DealWithIt

[JTurner82]

you know that MGS V is being developed primarily for the PS4/Xbone, right? It'd be like putting MGS4 on the Wii.

Except MGSV is coming out to PS3/XBox 360 as well.  So that doesn't really count.  But unlike broodwars, I don't think it's too late for third party support to come back to WiiU.  Especially if XBox One and PS4 suffer a similarly slow start.  There actually WAS a leak, interestingly, for METAL GEAR SOLID when Miiverse was first leaked, and Konami WAS approached by Nintendo to create a MGS for WiiU, so.... there's still time.

[broodwars]

you know that MGS V is being developed primarily for the PS4/Xbone, right? It'd be like putting MGS4 on the Wii.

Except MGSV is coming out to PS3/XBox 360 as well.  So that doesn't really count.  But unlike broodwars, I don't think it's too late for third party support to come back to WiiU.  Especially if XBox One and PS4 suffer a similarly slow start.  There actually WAS a leak, interestingly, for METAL GEAR SOLID when Miiverse was first leaked, and Konami WAS approached by Nintendo to create a MGS for WiiU, so.... there's still time.

True, but the PS3 and 360 have something the Wii U does not: a fanbase, and one that buys games.

[JTurner82]

WiiU WILL get that fanbase eventually.  It's already on its way to recovery.  You can think otherwise if you wish, but I prefer to be optimistic.

[Kytim89]

Honestly, there might still be a very good chance that XBone pushes a lot of developers to the PS4, and the weaker ones to the Wii U. That console seems to be issue ridden constantly before launch.

[JTurner82]

It's also important to remember, too, that neither PS4 nor XBox One will be launching in Japan this year, and aside from the two SE titles (one of which still has a chance of coming to WiiU, as it hasn't been ruled out yet), I honestly don't see much compelling software to attract Japanese gamers for PS4.  If anything, that console may sell less than PS3 and for all we know, WiiU could very well be miles above it.  Of course this is speculation, but honestly, I see WiiU recovering and PS4 having trouble in Japan, even with FFXV and KH3.

[broodwars]

It's also important to remember, too, that neither PS4 nor XBox One will be launching in Japan this year, and aside from the two SE titles (one of which still has a chance of coming to WiiU, as it hasn't been ruled out yet), I honestly don't see much compelling software to attract Japanese gamers for PS4.  If anything, that console may sell less than PS3 and for all we know, WiiU could very well be miles above it.  Of course this is speculation, but honestly, I see WiiU recovering and PS4 having trouble in Japan, even with FFXV and KH3.

See, where you went wrong there is assuming that if the PS4 and Xbone fail, the Japanese developers will flock to the Wii U.  Consoles are pretty much done in Japan right now. Japanese developers are largely flocking to handhelds and iOS as the next big trend, especially Square-Enix.  They spent most of this last generation running to handhelds because they couldn't handle making console games that could measure up to those from Western developers. Even Sony's recognized this, as evidenced by pretty much every other country in the world (even China) getting the PS4 before Japan. If the PS4 fails, console gaming is done in Japan.

[JTurner82]

But what if WiiU manages to come out of its rut in Japan and become the only successful console during this gen?  Then what?  Not an attacking question, just speculation.

[Stratos]

Then it will still get ignored because in a Japanese world of Vita, 3DS, Wii U, iOS and Android there will be plenty of room for devs to just ignore consoles.

[JTurner82]

That's not how I see it happening.

[JTurner82]

It seems to me that some of you have completely given up on WiiU ever getting support from Japanese third parties, and that's fine.  I, however, will not.  I still believe there's a chance.