Thanks for putting the numbers in context & perspective. Too bad most of the drive-by posters that mock the 3DS and Wii U numbers won't consider this. It would be like calling the PS4 console & software sales a disaster compared to PS3 (but something tells me they'd suddenly realize "time" is a thing that exists).
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Nintendo software and hardware sales data from 1983 to present
- Thread starter Celine
- Start date
Thanks for putting the numbers in context & perspective. Too bad most of the drive-by posters that mock the 3DS and Wii U numbers won't consider this. It would be like calling the PS4 console & software sales a disaster compared to PS3 (but something tells me they'd suddenly realize "time" is a thing that exists).
Gonzo The Great
Banned
I wish they would release a new Wario Land for 3DS. History has shown that the series performs in line with Kirby and better than Metroid, yet you don't hear anybody clamoring for a Shake It sequel.
A 2D platform game released in 1998, when everybody was ditching 2D games for (bad looking) 3D games, which still sold almost 3M is quite frankly a miracle!
balgajo
Member
Why not?
Twilight Princess sold 8.5 M.
Ocarina of Time sold 7.6 M.
Ocarina of Time + Ocarina of Time 3D - 10,95 M
TP HD needs to sell about 2.5 M. Considering that WW HD managed to sell 1.22 M I don't think that's impossible.
Shhh, Nintendo might get the wrong idea.
And I wonder if it killed M&L sales a little. Another Mario RPG coming out like 6 months later on the same console? I still don't understand tbh.
Anyway, if the numbers are from March 2014, Why is MK8 there? Unless I misread...
Jawmuncher
Member
Whoa. Kid Icarus was way higher than I expected.
Spirit Icana
Member
*Looks at GBA list. See's Golden Sun at 1.67 million and it's sequel at over a million as well*
Hey Sakurai. Why no Golden Sun love in Super Smash Bros. 4. T_T
Hey Sakurai. Why no Golden Sun love in Super Smash Bros. 4. T_T
Mario Kart 8 will probably sell way more units than there are Wii U's.
Jawmuncher
Member
To be fair I don't see anyone clamoring for Kirby games either. They just kinda get made.
Indeed, a ratio of 54% (first party/total software) for a mainstream console is insane even by Nintendo standard.
Nintendo must have made lots of money from selling software on N64.
Definitely very skewed toward the american market (thus third-party support was mostly by american publishers), I think that while it was geared toward kids (as per usual for Nintendo) it also had a considerable "older" audience (teens).
For example N64 was the reference console for first person shooter games.
I believe Microsoft stole part of that audience with Xbox.
EDIT:
It's an exception I made while I was compiling my datasheet in the middle of the past year.
You are right in thinking it makes little sense (I agree with you).
Spirit Icana
Member
Oh yeah, thanks for this data, Celine! Much appreciated.
ladyluthien
Member
It's so nice seeing both Golden Sun's in the GBA list. They were my first GBA games.
Refreshment.01
Member
The data agrees with me right there. You did all the calculations but are not making the correct interpretation.
Entering it's 3rd year right now, the only Wii U titles that are putting numbers over the 2.5 million mark are Mario Kart and Smash Bros. The others above that are the ones that have been heavily pack ins in bundles. That's why you have NIntendo Land as the 2nd best seller.
So you are basically expecting an HD Zelda remake to put numbers that are typical of Nintendo top tier home console franchises. If i had to bet money on Twlight Princess HD not selling over 2.5 million units on a Wii U i would feel very confident.
Also of those 1.22 WW HD sales some of them came out of the bundle. We are not sure if TP HD would also get that threatment as Nintendo has now enough software they could chose to bundle instead.
Another interesting thing. Nintendo keeps pushing Balloon Fight. You know what game's not one of the 41 NES million sellers? Balloon Fight. WTF, Nintendo, just drop it. I guess you could throw in Wrecking Crew & Urban Champion to that list. What I'm saying is, stop with the lame stuff and serve up the Kung Fu.
I was interested to see how the 41 stacked up to the current Wii U VC offerings (checked on the Nintendo website). Actually, Nintendo seems to have pretty good coverage - the missing one's either lack required accessories, have a licensing issue, or iirc were mostly on the Wii VC, so it's a matter of time? Anyway, here's the full list:
Super Mario Bros - check
Duck Hunt - check
Super Mario Bros 3 - check
Super Mario 2 USA - check
Zelda - check
Tetris - nope
Dr. Mario - check
Zelda 2 - check
Excitebike - check
Golf - check
Kung Fu - nope
Baseball - check
World Class Track Meet - n/a
Punch Out - check
Metroid - check
Super Mario Bros 2 Japan - check
Ice Hockey - check
Pro Wrestling - nope
Mario Bros. - check
Tennis - Check
Volleyball - check
Maj Jong - nope
RC Pro Am - nope
Rad Racer - nope
Soccer - check
Pinball - check
Kid Icarus - check
Yoshi - check
Kirby's Adventure - check
Donkey Kong Classics - nope but a compilation of two games that are
F1 Race - nope
Ice Climber - check
Nintendo World Cup - nope, but glorious Japan has the original non-localized Famicom version released
4 Player Mah Jong - nope
Gromite - N/A
Hogan's Alley - nope
Donkey Kong - check
Yoshi's Cookie - nope
Donkey Kong Jr - check
Popeye - nope
NES Open Tournament Golf - check
Edited to fix a couple mistakes
I was interested to see how the 41 stacked up to the current Wii U VC offerings (checked on the Nintendo website). Actually, Nintendo seems to have pretty good coverage - the missing one's either lack required accessories, have a licensing issue, or iirc were mostly on the Wii VC, so it's a matter of time? Anyway, here's the full list:
Super Mario Bros - check
Duck Hunt - check
Super Mario Bros 3 - check
Super Mario 2 USA - check
Zelda - check
Tetris - nope
Dr. Mario - check
Zelda 2 - check
Excitebike - check
Golf - check
Kung Fu - nope
Baseball - check
World Class Track Meet - n/a
Punch Out - check
Metroid - check
Super Mario Bros 2 Japan - check
Ice Hockey - check
Pro Wrestling - nope
Mario Bros. - check
Tennis - Check
Volleyball - check
Maj Jong - nope
RC Pro Am - nope
Rad Racer - nope
Soccer - check
Pinball - check
Kid Icarus - check
Yoshi - check
Kirby's Adventure - check
Donkey Kong Classics - nope but a compilation of two games that are
F1 Race - nope
Ice Climber - check
Nintendo World Cup - nope, but glorious Japan has the original non-localized Famicom version released
4 Player Mah Jong - nope
Gromite - N/A
Hogan's Alley - nope
Donkey Kong - check
Yoshi's Cookie - nope
Donkey Kong Jr - check
Popeye - nope
NES Open Tournament Golf - check
Edited to fix a couple mistakes
nintendork666
Member
Golden Sun U confirmed.
Honestly thought 3DS was doing A LOT better.
Gonzo The Great
Banned
Our beloved Satoru Iwata programmed Balloon Fight, so he's going to keep shoehorning it into everything until he resigns. Please understand.
Also, your list is wrong. Kirby's Adventure and Ice Climber are both available.
balgajo
Member
Sorry for not explaining my thougths very well. I was considering them to release some TP remaster in their next gen platform. It would be a great game choice to be ready at launch. But in the end it is pure speculation and I agree that 2.5 M on Wii U seem unlikely. To be honest I think that even Zelda Wii U won't reach this number.
Wow, great data! Thanks for gathering this.
Putting the Wii U in this perspective makes its failure look even sadder. It's almost ridiculous how big of a mistake naming it the 'Wii U' was since I think that is certainly one of its biggest problems, if not the issue holding it back. We will never know, but it's not hard to imagine how calling it 'Wii 2' or something similar might have tripled or quadrupled sales without changing anything else. You've fucked up big time as a console manufacturer when nearly all marketing money goes to screaming 'THIS IS A NEW CONSOLE' at consumers.
Nintendo is far from doomed (Wii/DS era money ain't no laughing matter) and they did a great job saving the 3DS and trying to save the Wii U once they realised their mistakes with both, but I sincerly hope their screwups this generation act as a wake-up call for them in how they approach their next systems.
Here's why I don't think it is.
Putting the Wii U in this perspective makes its failure look even sadder. It's almost ridiculous how big of a mistake naming it the 'Wii U' was since I think that is certainly one of its biggest problems, if not the issue holding it back. We will never know, but it's not hard to imagine how calling it 'Wii 2' or something similar might have tripled or quadrupled sales without changing anything else. You've fucked up big time as a console manufacturer when nearly all marketing money goes to screaming 'THIS IS A NEW CONSOLE' at consumers.
Nintendo is far from doomed (Wii/DS era money ain't no laughing matter) and they did a great job saving the 3DS and trying to save the Wii U once they realised their mistakes with both, but I sincerly hope their screwups this generation act as a wake-up call for them in how they approach their next systems.
Here's why I don't think it is.
Wii was their first home console with a gimmick focus, had a lot of support, was budget priced, and had more than niche games. So...
That is some of the craziest shit i ever read on gaf.
TreasureHunterG
Banned
Wow, SNES software sold less than N64?
Nope. SNES had tons of third-party support. You may take a wrong conclusion if you judge solely by Nintendo first-party titles only, but, by that time, Nintendo had major support from pretty much every single third-party. People nowadays have the conception that Nintendo platforms are for Nintendo software only, but wasn't the case on the NES/SNES days when those platforms were third-party dominated.
First party software sales on SNES seems weaker than expected if we compare them to NES (which equally had strong third-party support, even more actually).
Alex_Mexico
Member
Those and the DS are crazy.
I mean the only single console game that rivals the Mario Kart Wii numbers is freaking GTAV! Call of Duty, FIFA and Assassin's Creed wish they could sell what MKWii did. And the rest of that list is no slouch.
I don't intend for this post to become "Nintendo must go third party" but this list does show how fucking amazing Nintendo games do when NOT limited by the success or failure of Nintendo hardware. If MKWii and NSMBWii did those kinds of numbers on one console only just imagine what they could've pulled off if on PS3, 360, PC. I'd imagine at least double than that.
Nintendo is untouchable and a juggernaut when it comes to software but are limited by their own mediocre efforts at hardware making and will continue to struggle to get another lightning in a bottle like with the Wii.
Alex_Mexico
Member
It also shows what a phenomenon Goldeneye was by selling more worldwide than Ocarina of Time! Think about it:
N64 was only moderately successful in NA. Japan was a tiny spec and in Europe was nearly nonexistent. Zelda had a WW audience, fame and hype, including Japan while Goldeneye I'd go on a limb and say 95% of those 8 million sales were made in the USA.
Many of those were the ones who helped Microsoft make Halo the success story it was. Console users were hungry for more and a faint Perfect Dark Zero on GC promise wasn't going to cut it. (I was heartbroken with the Rare/MS buyout!).
Why the fuck did Nintendo not continue to go for that audience with the GC boggles my mind.
The perfect Dark
Banned
And that's exactly the reason why they will never go third party. It would help Sony or MS but Nintendo won't get anything out of that.
Alex_Mexico
Member
Ugh. Just saw that Wii Music stinker with nearly 3 million sales and above many good games.
This proves that during those days you could slap the Wii Something name to any game and it would sell gangbusters. No amount of press panning and fan condemnation made that abortion of a videogame fail.
No wonder NoA was refusing to bring Xenoblade here. It would take five times the effort and probably sold 3 times less.
This proves that during those days you could slap the Wii Something name to any game and it would sell gangbusters. No amount of press panning and fan condemnation made that abortion of a videogame fail.
No wonder NoA was refusing to bring Xenoblade here. It would take five times the effort and probably sold 3 times less.
At least 55-70M? Are you kidding me?
How many 30M games have you seen on PS2/Xbox/PC or PS3/360/PC?
N64 sold more or less like Genesis in US (not bad for the time although PS1 outsold it in the end).
Of course your stat is off (based on NPD).
More like 60-65%.
1. Having a gimmick was the thing that attracted the audience, so it's baffling that your use of the word has a negative connotation.
2. The Wii also saw next to zero third party support with the exception of shovelware. The big publishers gave it scraps, even though it was far and away the largest install base.
3. $249.99 isn't "budget priced", especially considering the hardware.
4. Your use of niche is very weird. Like, the Wii U so far has mostly core IPs, there hasn't been that much experimentation yet. It was something they could afford to take an early risk with the Wii and DS, hence why their libraries had more variety in the same period.
So...
Alex_Mexico
Member
And how many times have you seen any game sell 30M copies? Besides GTAV if there's any company that proves they can do it is Nintendo.
I'm not saying every Nintendo game has the potential for 70M copies sold if they went multiplatform. I'm saying that if MKWii sold 35m on Wii alone then that game would've sold way way more that that if it were on other consoles.
Hell, Mario Kart 8 would be giving any AC Unity and CoD AW a run for their money if it was multiplatform.
I'm not saying Nintendo should do it. Im realizing how much Nintendo software success I tied to Nintendo's often inability to make a home console a mainstream success.
Alex_Mexico
Member
That's why I called the N64 in NA a moderate success. It was profitable, it sold almost the same the SNES did in NA (but much less worldwide) but it was laughable compared to the PS1.
Sony's out of left field runaway explosion and crushing defeat of long time videogame makers Sega and Nintendo and on their very first try is a case worth studying.
Care to share what were the actual Goldeneye NA sales numbers?
TreasureHunterG
Banned
That's why selling Rare (especially if you look how well their titles sold on N64), shutting down NoA's authonomy and their entire western development division and dismissal of their western second parties were huge mistakes by Iwata's managament and Nintendo paid a big price for it.
Goldeneye and Perfect Dark were the offspring of FPS gaming on home consoles. Nintendo had this audience on the N64 and they decided to abandon it on the GCN. By doing it so, Microsoft grabbed these audience and we know the rest of the story.
combined known sales including remakes:
pokemon gen i (gb, gba): 58.02m
super mario bros. (nes, gbc, gba): 47.57m
pokemon gen ii (gb, gbc, ds): 42.21m
pokemon gen iii (gba, 3ds): 31.89m
super mario world (snes, gba): 26.52m
pokemon gen iv (ds): 25.23m
pokemon gen v (ds): 24.1m
super mario 64 (n64, ds): 22.94m
super mario bros. 3 (nes, gba): 22.4m
pokemon gen vi (3ds): 13.70m
donkey kong country (snes, gbc, gba): 13.31m
super mario all-stars (snes, wii): 12.79m
super mario bros. usa (nes, gba): 12.71m
ocarina of time (n64, 3ds): 10.95m
twilight princess (wii, gc): 8.58m
donkey kong country returns (wii, 3ds): 8.05m
a link to the past (snes, gba): 7.33m
diddy kong racing (n64, ds): 6.47m
link's awakening (gb, gbc): 6.05m
yoshi's island (snes, gba): 5.88m
the wind waker (gc, wii u): 5.65m
kirby super star (snes, ds): 4.43m
kirby's adventure (nes, gba): 3.85m
mario power tennis (gc, wii): 2.95m
super mario 64 has been selling over a million units a year since 1996 on average.
pokemon gen i (gb, gba): 58.02m
super mario bros. (nes, gbc, gba): 47.57m
pokemon gen ii (gb, gbc, ds): 42.21m
pokemon gen iii (gba, 3ds): 31.89m
super mario world (snes, gba): 26.52m
pokemon gen iv (ds): 25.23m
pokemon gen v (ds): 24.1m
super mario 64 (n64, ds): 22.94m
super mario bros. 3 (nes, gba): 22.4m
pokemon gen vi (3ds): 13.70m
donkey kong country (snes, gbc, gba): 13.31m
super mario all-stars (snes, wii): 12.79m
super mario bros. usa (nes, gba): 12.71m
ocarina of time (n64, 3ds): 10.95m
twilight princess (wii, gc): 8.58m
donkey kong country returns (wii, 3ds): 8.05m
a link to the past (snes, gba): 7.33m
diddy kong racing (n64, ds): 6.47m
link's awakening (gb, gbc): 6.05m
yoshi's island (snes, gba): 5.88m
the wind waker (gc, wii u): 5.65m
kirby super star (snes, ds): 4.43m
kirby's adventure (nes, gba): 3.85m
mario power tennis (gc, wii): 2.95m
super mario 64 has been selling over a million units a year since 1996 on average.
Alex_Mexico
Member
I'm not saying Nintendo should but what? Are you high? You think their games sellinng more copies wouldn't translate to more money for the company?
The Wii u gimmick is used negatively since it never proved itself and actually affects the console negatively. Again, the Wii had decent support. Call of Duty had special versions made just for it and other next gen games got Wii versions made which is better than the Wii U has now. $249.99 is budget priced compared to its competition at $400 and $600...
Aaron Strife
Banned
TP + TP HD might not be able to beat OOT + OOT 3D
But maybe TP + TP n3DS
But maybe TP + TP n3DS
Team Top Hat
Banned
If I recall, someone made a detailed post [year ago?] about how much profit Nintendo makes from hardware and licensing. However; one could now argue that they aren't anymore with Wii U / 3DS.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
The Wii sold 500 million units of 3rd party software. It had a lot of 3rd party support, just the kind that was crowed about on message boards.
aonuma: (exasperated sigh) after lessons learned from zelda wii u, we understand that fans really just want lots of focus on dungeons and puzzles. so we are going back to the twilight princess method. we thought we'd revisit it to refresh our memories. or something. i don't care anymore.
and to put 500 million units of software into perspective, that's as much software as was sold on the nes or the game boy. their entire libraries.
The perfect Dark
Banned
umm yes? They would help MS and Sony to sell more consoles. How do you think they fund their game developements? By selling consoles and software. They won't sell any handhelds or consoles by going third party and that means they will produce fewer games (= sales decrease). It's a downward spiral.