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The established Nintendo narrative amongst European journalists seems to be quite negative at the moment, but the story in Japan could hardly be better.
The latest Media Create numbers for the region show that Nintendo’s 3DS was once again the best selling hardware of last week, shifting 111,857 units. This takes the device past 7m unit sales in the country.
And for all the 3DS naysayers, the handheld continues to better the sales pace laid out by the extremely successful DS.
Furthermore, the Wii remained the third best selling console in the country, albeit with weekly unit sales of just 15,640. PS3 was second (16,277) while PSP (13,285) once again outsold Sony’s Vita (11,298).
Nintendo’s dominance was even more apparent in the software market, where games for Nintendo platforms claimed the entire top ten. In fact, only two games in the Top 20 are for non-Nintendo platforms.
New Super Mario Bros 2 for 3DS remains No.1 and is nearing 1m unit sales. Second place was claimed by Pokemon Black/White 2, lifetime sales of which stand at 2.64m units.
The Wii U’s reception at the hands of Japanese consumers will be crucial in deciding both the console and the company’s future.
Success in Western markets is far from certain. 3DS is just about delivering the goods in Europe and the US, but Nintendo will certainly hope that Christmas will give it a much needed boost.
It’s impossible to predict how Wii U will perform in Q4, although much of its fate will be decided by how quickly Nintendo manages to get hardware on the High Street.
If reports of a December launch are accurate, it could yet be a tough Western baptism for Wii’s successor.
