On December 2nd the Nintendo Wii launched in Japan. Nintendo was able to sell 371,936 consoles over the weekend out of 400,000 units shipped. Wii Sports, which wasn’t packaged with Japanese Wiis was the number one selling game in Japan with 176,880 copies sold. Nearly fifty percent of people who bought a Wii picked up Wii Sports. Wii Play was another big seller, 171,888 copies were sold, which means about 45% of people getting a Wii got Wii Play. Since Wii Sports comes bundled with an extra remote it isn’t a big surprise. Zelda came in at number three with 145,068 copies sold. Not nearly as high as the 75% retention rate in North America, but still strong numbers.
Here are the top ten Wii games in Japan with sales numbers:
1.) Wii Sports – 176,880
2.) Wii Play – 171,888
3.) The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – 145,068
4.) Wario Ware: Smooth Moves – 63,086
5.) Swing Golf Pangya – 12,673
6.) Ennichi no Tatsujin (Master of Festivals) – 10,192
7.) SD Gundam: Scad Hammers – 9,801
8.) Red Steel – 8,823
9.) Tamagotchi: Sparkling President – 6,994
10.) Elebits – 6,505
Ubisoft should be proud, Red Steel got number eight and while Elebits was highly anticipated it barely made the top ten. None of Hudson’s launch titles, Wing Island or Kororinpa made the list and Trauma Center: Second Opinion didn’t make it either. Different regions have different tastes, but it looks like Wii Sports is universally accepted.
