Sponsored By

New Super Mario Bros. Wii Sees Biggest Wii Debut Ever In Japan

Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros. Wii has sold 936,734 units in its first week in Japan -- the biggest debut to date for a Wii title some analysts predict could ultimately beat Modern Warfare 2 in its lifetime.

Leigh Alexander, Contributor

December 7, 2009

1 Min Read
Game Developer logo in a gray background | Game Developer

Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros. Wii has sold 936,734 units in its first week in Japan -- the biggest debut to date for a Wii title in that country. The figures come courtesy of Famitsu, translated by consumer weblog Kotaku. This release performance means NSMB Wii has outdone Nintendo's previous chart-crusher, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which sold 816,000 units in its debut week. In its release week, NSMB Wii led sales on Nintendo's platform in the U.S. and UK as well as Japan. Along with Activision's Modern Warfare 2, it appears likely to lead holiday sales for the balance of 2009. Some analysts have predicted the game can actually beat the record-breaking Modern Warfare 2 in terms of worldwide lifetime sales -- especially due to Mario's advantage in Japan, where MW2 is not a particularly popular franchise. EEDAR's Jesse Divnich points to the longer legs a rare franchise successor like NSMB Wii can have as opposed to one that receives regular installments, and suggests Miyamoto's latest full project could sell 15 million units in its lifetime.

Read more about:

2009

About the Author

Leigh Alexander

Contributor

Leigh Alexander is Editor At Large for Gamasutra and the site's former News Director. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Variety, Slate, Paste, Kill Screen, GamePro and numerous other publications. She also blogs regularly about gaming and internet culture at her Sexy Videogameland site. [NOTE: Edited 10/02/2014, this feature-linked bio was outdated.]

Daily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inbox

You May Also Like