Wii Fit motivates other Wii titles into Japan’s top ten
Thursday, December 20th, 2007 at 9:21am by Jack
Are you one of the doubters? When you saw Wii Fit debut earlier this year, did you scoff and sneer like 95% of the “enthusiast press?”
News today from Japan goes a long way towards making people like you the left out in the cold variety, as Wii Fit has not only sold decently, it also boosted the sales of other Wii games that many people were ready to right off as disappointments in the land of the rising sun. Like Super Mario Galaxy, which had slipped out of the much ballyhooed top ten list picture until today. It was a shame, really, and this new trend, I hope, is indicative of a resurgence for the plucky plumber, whose latest effort is perhaps one of his best ever.
On a related note, Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime was peppered earlier this month about the “attach rate” of the Wii and how it was perceived to be poor, especially when compared to the Xbox 360 (here’s some free analysis: it is lower, but it’s not as bad as the press was reporting in 2007. Surprise). I bring that up because I’d like to know if there’s ever been reporting done on the attach rate of an accessory for any given console.
Anyway, here’s the list, which is very reminiscent of Nintendo-themed top ten lists from earlier this year…
01. [NDS] Mario Party DS (Nintendo) - 180,000 / 826,000
02. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 124,000 / 535,000
03. [PS3] Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (Sony) - 116,000 / NEW
04. [NDS] Prof. Layton and Pandora’s Box (Level 5) - 74,000 / 444,000
05. [WII] Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo) - 74,000 / 550,000
06. [NDS] Dragon Quest IV (Square-Enix) - 73,000 / 868,000
07. [WII] Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo) - 64,000 / 212,000
08. [WII] Wii Sports (Nintendo) - 55,000 / 2,341,000
09. [WII] Wii Play (Nintendo) - 55,000 / 1,921,000
10. [WII] Chocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon: the Labyrinth of Forgotten Time (Square-Enix) - 41,000 / NEW
I swear I see a pattern in that list. It’s good to see Nintendo is probably set to start off 2008 with a pretty big bang. Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros. Brawl all but guarantee Q1 is Nintendo’s to lose. If not, I suppose Wii Play could just carry the system for another year.
December 20th, 2007 at 9:41 am
Galaxy was in the top 10 last week.
Also:
Super Mario Galaxy sales in Japan since launch.
First Week: #1
Second Week: #3 (2 new releases)
Third Week: #6 (3 new releases)
Fourth Week: #11 (9 new releases)
Fifth Week: #11 (5 new releases + WiiFit)
Sixth Week: #9 (4 new releases)
This Week: #5 (1 new release)
It has been selling well, and consistently in/almost in the top 10.
December 20th, 2007 at 9:54 am
6 Wii games and 3 DS games in the top 10. And 2 of the Wii games are 3rd party. This is amazing. The Wii is absolutely doing insanely well over there. I can’t wait to try Wii-Fit.
December 20th, 2007 at 11:03 am
The lack of original titles in japanese sales lists always make me sad. And in this case different developers, almost the entire list is nintend/square-enix, with level 5 pretty much being square-enix too.
December 20th, 2007 at 11:04 am
I propose that the attachment rate has to do with the audience demographic buying the 360 vs. the Wii. The demographic population buying the 360 probably has more gaming hours to spend. Just a thought.
December 20th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
@chrisb,
Thats certainly part of it and that explains why there are more “Quick-play” games on the Wii as well, rather than a large amount of long epic experiences. Both are great and necessary though, in servicing a wide range of consumers. I think this also points to the 360 demographic generally skewing younger because late-teens/early twenties playing the 360 have a lot of available game time, which is why LIVE is so important to them, its a place to hang out with peers. I don’t know too many established adults looking to “hang out” online compared to teens/college kids.
December 21st, 2007 at 3:16 am
i scoffed. i still scoff. i also bought nintendo stock. course, you in the industry were no doubt way ahead of me there.
btw, that list of top games is hysterical. if you can’t join ‘em, make money off ‘em. i’m just glad people like mini games so much!!!
oh- and best of all- GREAT reporting there. I LOVE how chris kohler’s ‘near as i can tell’ remark passes for gospel with the church of nintendo. for SHAME.
here’s the inside scoop, kohler’s a video game journalist admittedly speculating. gee- why wasn’t that evident from this write-up?
December 22nd, 2007 at 9:00 am
@deepthought,
Actually, other sources attribute the surge of the week to Wii-Fit related inflation as well, not just Game|Life. And considering the chart, do you have a theory as to why games that had all dropped off the chart came back on with a vengeance? I would be curious to hear it if you do. If you don’t, then your criticism of the article rings pretty hollow.
And who cares if people like minigames, its no worse IMO than seeing a list chock full of mostly indistinguishable FPS titles, much like most US gamers “best of 2007″ lists. But yeah, I bought Nintendo stock ages ago, I’m up about $8000 so the “church of nintendo” is treating me pretty well.
December 22nd, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Hi used-
I didn’t see the other sources after a quick google search. Not denying them, just didn’t see them.
I’ve got theories, but even if I didn’t, it’s still OK to criticize someone else’s theory. Just b/c I can’t explain a light in the sky, and someone else postulates little green men, doesn’t mean I have to accept that explanation or risk sounding ‘hollow’.
But my criticism isn’t about the theory so much as the overstatement. When the source provides a disclaimer, and the write-up doesn’t, it doesn’t take 6th sense to suspect the typical Jack-bias. The guy has a distasteful agenda. Too many of his posts are propaganda.
And minigames… I think it’s a sign of who’s playing. But that’s a long discussion about demographics. Beyond that, I can quite easily tell the difference between orange box, cod, and bioshock. I really don’t think they’re indistinguishable or undistinguished. Try Portal- thank me later
Oh- and ‘church of nintendo’ referred to the nintendo zealots. Not so much everyone else.
December 22nd, 2007 at 10:59 pm
“I’ve got theories, but even if I didn’t, it’s still OK to criticize someone else’s theory. Just b/c I can’t explain a light in the sky, and someone else postulates little green men, doesn’t mean I have to accept that explanation or risk sounding ‘hollow’.”
Actually, you DO need to offer something. Your comment above is whats known as a “straw man”. Nobody is postulating “little green men”. Kohler is offering a pretty reasonable explanation and to discount it out of hand, with no alternative does ring hollow. And to equate his explanation to that of aliens in the sky is to oversimplify the idea such that its more easily discounted.
“But my criticism isn’t about the theory so much as the overstatement. When the source provides a disclaimer, and the write-up doesn’t, it doesn’t take 6th sense to suspect the typical Jack-bias.”
I’ll give you the overstatement, but keep in mind, Game|Life is not a Nintendo specific blog. This is. There is some leeway there. Jack is jack and thats that. I enjoy his posts even if I have to temper them with some good ol’ fashioned common sense. He links to the comments in question so its not like he’s hiding something.
December 23rd, 2007 at 12:54 am
Well- not really a straw man so much as an analogy: the logic doesn’t hold in one case, so the conclusion ‘of hollow criticism’ is suspect in another.
Mostly- Jack’s back on the ‘Wii-fit=god and you’re an ignorant hypocrite if you think otherwise’ theme and I found his characterization of the Kohler’s speculation to be misleading and self-serving and, again, propaganda.
December 23rd, 2007 at 9:10 am
“Well- not really a straw man so much as an analogy:”
Actually, its a perfect example of a straw man.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man
“5. Oversimplifying an opponent’s argument into a simple analogy, which can then be attacked.”
I’m still curious what your explanation is for the rise in sales.
December 23rd, 2007 at 7:29 pm
haha- ok maybe… if I had said you were promoting the idea of little green men. But I’m not. I’m saying your logic is flawed. And I provided an example in which it fails… and I’m still curious as to these other sources…..
gtg snowshowing and wine await… then a little ds before bed! happy holidays!
December 23rd, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Your analogy is too simple, makes it too easy to attack. Thats why its a straw man and likewise a logical fallacy.
Anyway, have fun snowshoeing. Go easy on the wine until you’re in for the night!
Some Vouvray sounds grand right about now. Happy Holidays!
And not that it matters:
http://www.vgchartz.com/news/news.php?id=688
“In line with the saying “all ships rise with the tide” Super Mario Galaxy sales increased”
http://newsfeedresearcher.com/data/articles_t51/idt2007.12.21.01.09.03.html
“Japan Sales: Wii Fit Bumps Other Wii Games Up”
http://www.gamegrep.com/industry_news/6454-media_create_120307_120907_japanese_sales_wii_fit_drives_wii_sales_strong_wii_ds_sales/
“As we see Wii Fit selling through its stock, we see the good effect of its sales: as it is pushing Wii units, it is also pushing/leading to the purchase of copies of other Wii games.”