Wii U passes 1 million in Japan in roughly the same time frame it took PS3 to do so

The Wii U past the 1 million consoles sold mark in Japan recently. Not only that but it took about the same time that the PS3 took to cross 1 million units in the region too.

[mewhy32]

We shouldn't be counting the Wii U out yet.

[iamnsuperman]

That is true and at the same time it isn't true.

The difference is the PS3 was selling at a $600 price (or the equivalent in Japan). The Wii U is at a much cheaper price point and is struggling to beat the PS3 record even when the Wii U isn't facing the big problem of the global financial situation around 2006. I am not counting the Wii U out just yet as I am waiting for a response from Nintendo for the poor sales before the release of the other consoles

[PopRocks359]

The PS3 is cheaper than the Wii U, by about $50-$100 whether or not you get a bundle. Yeah, the Wii U is newer hardware but newer hardware has rather consistently been outsold by cheaper hardware (depending on the overall relevance). The DS and PS2 were outselling their successors for some time, for example.

Also the economy was in a different state when the PS3 was released. Since then the yen has weakened and the overall market has lost its stability.

Not saying this automatically makes the Wii U a hot seller, but if we're going to start making comparisons like those there are other factors to consider.

[Theyellowflash30]

The PS3 got a price cut in Japan before it was even released.

[darthv72]

believe it or not, the biggest competition for the wii-u is not the ps3. Its the 3ds. Granted they are different markets (console vs portable) but the game is still the same.

That is to sell your product to the consumers and support it with quality titles. Quality is the key word as there are boat loads of quality 3ds titles and not nearly as many on the wii-u.

Its easy to consider direct competition is being one platform vs another but we should take into account the immense popularity of the portable market in JP as well as the rest of the world. the sales of those units are in direct competition with other gaming platforms regardless of design.

Sony has been in competition with itself in regards to the vita, psp, ps3 and ps2 so the idea of nintendo competing with themselves isnt that unheard of.

[MegaLagann]

Sure the price point was different, but the main problem the PS3 had and the Wii U has right now was/is not enough games. It doesn't matter if it's 600, 300 or even 50 dollars. No one is buying a system with little to no games.

[Benjaminkno]

The financial problems didn't start until around 2008.

[kreate]

the ps3 got heavily criticized for its initial sales. more so than the wii-u.

so wii-u getting criticized is natural if it only sold as much as the ps3 in it's first 1 million mark.

[Thatguy-310]

Remember how expensive the ps3 was.

[xflo360]

Completely agree with you on that point, however, Wii U is going to sell by the truck load come christmas. The Wii U is already cheap in the uk (£149 for the 8gb) but come chritmas I expect Nintendo to put the basic model to somewhere between £99 and £129, think of the consequences of this for a second. A parent looking for a present for their child for example, are they going to spend £399+ on a ps4/xboxone or are they going to spend £129 max on a Wii U?! Its a no-brainer.

[N4g_null]

Remember how much a wii fit setup cost?

wii 250
wiifit 200 and up
4 controllers about 100
550 and this out sold the barely more expensive ps3.
on top of all of this it was not HD, had no hard drive, had no real 3rd party support, most big games had not been released, every body was hyping the ps3..... yet it still out sold the ps3.

Not putting down the ps3 but it had no game generate 30 million console purchases by it self. Those set of games have not come out yet. Any doom and gloom is only wishful thinking or a case of Internet induced depression which believes if its on the Internet it must be true...

Nintendo is not a tech company they live and die off of games... said games are not released yet. If you are buying the power argument then Samsung, apple, and various smart tv etc have become gaming platforms so they too should be considered in the fanboy fight also.

[GraveLord]

Well the PS3 was much much more expensive than the Wii U. This isn't good news here, its bad news. PS3 didn't exactly light the charts on fire in its early years.

[Anon1974]

It didn't do too badly though. If you go back and compare launch numbers, the PS3 was selling almost on par with the PS2's launch figures for almost two years until the market crash hit in 2008. About two years in, the PS2 received a price cut putting the console at $199 while the PS3 was faced with the worst economic conditions of a generation and that's really where the two charts start to diverge. I know people like to paint a picture of sluggish PS3 sales initially but when you look at the numbers you've got to wonder what they're being compared against.

I've pointed out before that Wii-U sales were at least keeping pace with Xbox 360 launch figures worldwide yet I don't remember people wringing their hands about the 360's launch numbers. But when you consider the Wii-U's price point relative to the 360/PS3's launch prices, that's where these numbers start looking less impressive comparatively. And the road for the Wii-U isn't going to get any easier when the Xbox One and the PS4 drop, especially considering the PS4 is only $50 more.

[dark-hollow]

Why we treat it like a complicated issue?
Simply the Wii u games right now sucks so bad. What good exclusives does it have right now? NSMBU? Pikmin 3? Zombie U?(lol).

You can't expect to move systems With these games only no matter how expensive or cheap the system is. People buy hardware for the games after all.

[jimmywolf]

well said statement, i enjoyed Nintendo growing up, even thought about buying wii u day 1. but i can count on one hand the amount of games worth playing.

an to me that not worth it. i bought 3dsxl instead an been happy, ill get wii U after the release 3-4 more good games an drop the price, or bundle a good game.

in till then i got plenty of things too occupy my time. Thu i do pity early adopters, who choose too show support.

[ibroman]

actually pikmin 3 is getting 8's 9's and 10's by reviewers and alot of people who dont own a wii u are looking forward to it pikmin 3 is an awesome game so dont just shun it off as nothing. pikmin is going to sell consoles imo. It did in japan so why not here?

[dark-hollow]

@ibroman

I know. Pikmin 3 is looking great but what I was talking about is that these games aren't enough to sell the hardware.

[N4g_null]

Seriously dont pity early adopters they all have good things to say and there are tons of them on miiverse. Actually there is plenty to play and beat and actually do on the system. Which is the main reason I dont post here as much.

right at this moment there is zero trolling on that platform just fans enjoying themselves. Cod is the onlyplace this happens but its mostlyyour normal fare...

What I pity are people that buy or lie about not liking the system.... why buy it to just put it down? I guess that is ansered by boredom I wonder how those story games are working out?

[jc48573]

I'm seeing a pattern

[yewles1]

"That’s right, the Wii U is so “doomed” that it sold just as many units in Japan as the PS3 did in the same time frame."

¥59,980/¥49,980 vs. ¥31,500/¥26,250...

[mrbojingles]

Yes, the price is a big difference. Its impressive PS3 sold so much at that price but it still shows that if the PS3 can be turned around and fare well with a high price tag so can the Wii U with an even lower price tag.

[Dan_scruggs]

Ah yes the great fanboy equalizer. Exchange rates. Or you could take into consideration that Sony was selling their system at a loss of about $250 per unit sold.

[yewles1]

More actually if you look at the 20GB model...

http://www.xbitlabs.com/new...

[GraveLord]

Company financials have nothing to do it. We're not buying any stocks in either Sony or Nintendo.

[TekoIie]

@GraveLord

So caring about sales is okay but whether those sales were made at a loss is not?

[Hicken]

The point, Dan, wasn't exchange rates. It was the difference in price between the two consoles over the same span of time.

Now, by no means is the sales rate an indicator that the Wii U is "doomed," but it MUST be taken into account that conditions are not the same for the two consoles being compared.

That said, I fail to see the relevance of Sony's loss per console. Of course, there IS none; but when has a fanboy ever been known to let a little thing like relevance stop him from saying something stupid?

[Dan_scruggs]

Hey Hicken... Educate yourself.

http://www.pcworld.com/arti...

[yewles1]

...so Nintendo can afford to scrap the Wii U and perform a do-over... hmmmm.

[N4g_null]

So it is impressive that sony was being raped on price with componets that ultimately ended up producing games multi platform wise that preformed virtually no better than the 360? It is impressive that blu ray was over priced? Its their tech and some how it was not an inflated price? When looking at all this we are suppose to be impressed by sony?

no we are impressed by brand loyalty... which is all this really was.

What saved the ps3? What got even me to put one in my home? Games not price... 5 workstations, 4 tablets, where bought along with other gadgets before I bought my ps3. Only a set of games got me to buy it not some fake powerful mythology that ended up in creating the ps3 great games delay cuased by the great unreal engine f up...

unfortunately I didnt want any of those games ethier... so basicly I buy sony to play only sony games now... every thing else is on pc.

[asiatico]

Wii U needs to be 50 to 100 bucks cheaper, and it needs a bigger variety of those great nintendo exclusives, after that ill probably buy one

[Campy da Camper]

I was holding out and ended up getting one in June for my bday. I gotta say I would have bought it knowing what I know now. Its a great system. Sure there isn't a ton of games this second but the Mario etc is lots of fun and good games coming out this fall. The real selling point is the gamepad. Holy smokes its sweet. Remember its also a tablet. So I can lay in bed and surf the net while watching TV. I can then hit a button and game on it. Or hit the button again and boom its on my plasma. Great, great idea the gamepad. People just dont see the real use yet because they just think games. I look at it as I got a new gaming system plus a good tablet for less than 400 bucks. (Albeit via gift)

[N4g_null]

Just got a galaxy s4 and a galaxy note. The note has every thing every one was complaining about these features yet that thing cost $400 and up. The s pen is great yet the wiiu pad is pretty frigging good.

I remember the ds having similar untapped issues in the eyes of gamers.

The experience at a kiosk is totally different thanbat home use. Its way beyond the 3ds though.

[ritsuka666]

I don’t think nintendo needs a price cut. price it fine with me.

[Darkfist]

they need to cut the price then i'll buy a wiiu

[WeAreLegion]

Pikmin 3 is a great push. I'm sure The Wonderful 101 will help, as well. However, at $349...the Wii U is going to flounder this holiday season.

[RicardJulianti]

If the Wii U is going to flounder in Japan this holiday at $349....what's the PS4 going to do without any games for the Japanese audience at $400 with the extra $50 for PS+ and then $60 for a game?

[WeAreLegion]

I'm talking overall sales. Even in Japan, I see the PS4 outselling the Wii U this holiday season. If The Last of Us can make it to number one, I'm sure a launch with some big western titles and a few smaller Japanese titles we won't hear about will do well.

[dcj0524]

Exactly. $50 more I can get a ps4. $299 would be good. That tablet must be the extra $50.

[BenRage3]

It's not fifty dollars more if you want to game online. If you do not want to game online you are 150% correct, but if you do game online and let's say own the system for five years that's three hundred dollars more. Maybe it's not all at once and PS plus is a good deal I guess, but let's not fool ourselves about which is cheaper.

[ritsuka666]

Even in Japan, I see the PS4 outselling the Wii U this holiday season.'

I didn't see anything that will have the masses rushing out to pick PS4 day 1. The core will be there but it is here now and the the economy is in bad shape right now.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Ok while the WiiU sold roughly the same amount as did the PS3 in the same time frame...key differences.

1) That is only in Japan, it is woefully behind in all other territories from my understanding.

2) The price point of the PS3 was far greater than that of the WiiU... So seeing it sell about as well when it is much cheaper is not a good sign.

3) New console hardware hasn't launched...once both do... they will both cut into any kind of headstart/momentum the WiiU has. I say momentum loosely mind you. I don't really think this console has ever had momentum.

[Jay70sgamer]

@Dlacy13g I'm gonna have a rebuttal to all your points
1. 1,000,000 units is 1,000,000 units regardless whatever territory it sold (japan)and it shows that people who were saying its dead....its not dead ..when the same was said about sony ps3 which brings me to number 2....
2. the ps3 launched in Japan at 410$ so it wasn't far more expensive then the 350$ wii u so it was not far greater than the wii u as far as price ..... For nintendo to move the same amount of units in a worse economy than in 2006 is a feat in itself
3.when have people become psychic... we don't know how well the new systems are gonna sell ..you have to remember the economy isn't what it was in 2006 ..people may wait to get the ps4 since the majority of the new titles will be on both ps3 and ps4 .....it's not a definite they gonna cut into the lead remember by time the new consoles come out nintendo may have at least a 4 to 5 million console lead .........just saying and who knows by that time nintendo will have Zelda WW out ,Sonic ,wonderful 101,and Mario out at that time so who knows they may have that momentum...as far as nintendo momentum .Pikmin3 is off to a great start over 92,000 games sold in two days and first party games every month through the fall and winter ...never count Nintendo out

[D-riders]

its a great system

[WeAreLegion]

I have one. No, it's not. What would make you think that? The 3DS is a great system. It has many games. The Wii U is not. It practically blurs the line between opinion and fact. It's horrible.

[TripC50]

Hey you are the same guy who commented on my post criticizing my reasons for owning/liking the Wii U.

Your opinion is yours and yours alone. So is mine.

I'm glad for every troll there is a gamer who appreciates new ideas from creative companies. Go back under your bridge.

[Klad]

Both my relatives have a Wii U, they love it & i love it too!! Still getting a PS4 aswell, as i have a feeling i'm going to love that too!!

[truechainz]

I don't think you have one. You say it isn't good because it doesn't have any games, but then why would you get one? If you have that much of a problem finding why someone would think it is a good system then you are an idiot for buying one yourself. I love mine however, but I can still recognize there are not many games. Good thing more are coming.

[assdan]

So? Good job you are on the same track as the PS3 was when everyone thought that it was going to fail, and it's only on the same track in the smallest market. When will people stop making crap like this? I've looked it up, the PS3 was selling better than the wiiU in at this time in its life. Also, people are failing to remember 2008, which was dubbed the year of the PS3. Does anyone remember that? The PS3 had a ton of games come out, and it finally started selling a lot. Unless the wiiU has something like that, it's hosed.

[zpoc]

yeah, "everyone thought that it was going to fail" but it didn't. that's the point. the ps3 has surpassed the 360 in sales despite coming out a year later. "2008... the year of the PS3" - yeah dude, that's 2 years after the system came out. this shit takes a while sometimes - you just pointed it out yourself.

i don't understand why the gaming media/community is so obsessed with predicting the failure of new systems. the ps3 was 'doomed', the 3ds was 'doomed' and now the wii u is 'doomed' too. people just need to stop talking out of their asses.

[assdan]

The ps3 was FAILING in it's first few years. that isn't an indication that the wiiU is doing well. (See! the wiiU is selling the same as the ps3 was when it was failing! That means the wiiu will stop failing too!) Everything about the two consoles is different. The sales could turn around, but there is nothing indicative of that happening.
@tripc50. It wasn't as easy as looking it up. I went on to N4g charts and added up the numbers, month to month until I arrived at the same week the wiiU was on. And you can say vgchartz isn't accurate, but they are always pretty dang close.

[TripC50]

assdan-"I've looked it up"

Provide Source

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

different circumstances PS3 and wiiU will not have the same result.

[MegaLagann]

I see a lot of people saying "Well the PS3 was more expensive than the Wii U" as their excuse. But really, it doesn't matter if it's 600, 300 or 50 dollars, if it doesn't have enough games, people won't buy it. This is what happened to the PS3 at launch, same goes for the Wii U right now. Hell, remember before the launch of the Vita when we were all saying how 250 dollars for the system is such a good deal. Yeah, look what happened. Or the 3DS for that matter, even after the price drop sales didn't really start to pick until Super Mario 3D Land came out. Basically what i'm getting at is, price is not an issue, content is. If the Wii U had exclusives and multiplats out the wazzu, people wouldn't mind forking over 350 dollars. So please, can we stop this scapegoat?

[WeAreLegion]

At this point in the PS3's life cycle, it had plenty of games to play though.

[MegaLagann]

Did I not say "at launch"?

[RicardJulianti]

The Wii U has plenty of games as well. Do you need me to list every single one of them?

Because I will.

[Benjaminkno]

The WiiU "PASSED"!!

Seriously, could we have a bit more effort in our English!!

[Inception]

I knew the world economic aren't as good as 2006. But shouldn't WiiU sales must above PS3 in the same time frame? I mean:

1) WiiU had cheaper prize $300-350 from PS3 who had $600.

2) WiiU got a lot of very high profile / AAA games when it's launch, such as Monster Hunter 3: Ultimate, Mass Effect 3, New Super Mario Bros U, CoD Black Ops 2, Batman Arkham City, Tekken Tag 2, and AC III.

Even WiiU already got some of it system seller like Dragon Quest X, Pikmin 3, and Super Luigi U, with Super Mario 3D World, Wind Waker HD, Wii FitU, Wii PartyU, Yarn Yoshi, and Wonderfull 101 also will release on this 1st year.

Now, compare to PS3 launch & 1st year that the majority of it's game are new IP's, such as Resistance FoM, Heavenly Sword, Uncharted DF, Motorstorm, Folklore, Lair, and Haze. PS3 not even got it system seller like MGS 4 and Uncharted 2 in 2nd / 3rd year after the system released on the market.

[thomasmiller]

the wii u is doomed!! HOG WASH, WITH STOCKS RISING, SYSTEMS AND GAMES SELLING, THE WII U IS NOT DOOMED GET OVER IT TROLLS!! IT'S TIME TO MOVE ON!! YOU ARE MORE WORSE THAN THE BIRTHER'S ABOUT OBAMA!! FOR PETE SAKE GET A LIFE AND GIVE IT A REST!!!

[HalfNerdHalfAmazing]

The Wii U haven't been out for even a year and everybody wanna be like the Wii U will fail once Mario kart and Smash Bros comes out I wouldn't be surprised if the Wii U is the best selling system behind the 3DS.

[zpoc]

stop talking common sense! the gaming media needs to generate clicks by decrying the system as a failure. can't wait for the ps4 and/or xb1 to "undersell" so the doom-shreiking can continue...

[truechainz]

Seriously gaming media is some of the most dramatic bull crap coming second only to political media. It seems consoles can either destroy other consoles, or fail. That's pretty cut and dry from a business system that, at least for these 3 companies, has been in place over the last 2 decades. These consoles may not be as successful or whatever you want to call it, but they will be just fine.

[TripC50]

Future is as follows.

.Nintendo will soon release nintendo account connectivity between 3DS and Wii U, spurring Wii U sales.
.China will soon lift console gaming ban, spurring Wii U sales along with other current consoles.
.PS4 and XB1 will have similar beginning struggles but eventually sell well.

[Dunban67]

It does not matter who or what the Wii U sales to date ARE compared to- The Sales are horrible- heck even Nintendo execs have acknowledged poor sales- they missed their sales targets then missed the sales targets again after a huge reduction in the target- they have acknowledged the #1 reason for lack of 3rd party support IS LACK OF HARDWARE SALES! Even Nintendo execs are not digging as deep as some of the defenders are for excuses or the attempt to tell someone that it is really chicken salad when we all know it is chicken sh-t.

AND most of the sales to date came in the 1st 3 months of the launch BEFORE Nintendo decided to let us know that most of the key 1st and 2nd party games would be delayed by many months

Does any of this mean the Wii U is doomed- no, I hope not as I bought one at launch and I very much want to see it be successful- there are some good games coming soon which is a huge and welcome relief- but I did not buy the Wii U just for Nintendo games- I want access to many of the 3rd party games too- as much as I like Nintendo games, many of them are/will be platformers (not my favorite genre) so far we have missed out on quite a few but not all good 3rd party games- If sales do not pick up by a very big margin by Jan 2014 then the Wii U will become primarily a 1st party console based on even the most supportive 3rd party Dev co s.

So please Nintendo fans/defenders quit trying to defend the indefensible or accept that the Wii U is only for 1st party games anyway... etc.... The Wii U still has a chance but the remainder of 2013 is going to be a strong indicator of its future

[Kamuymintar]

PS3
2006 13 titles / 0.46M console units sold
2007 52 titles / 0.50M console units sold (1H 2007)

Wii U
2012 15 titles / 0.63M console units sold
2013 26 titles (including upcoming ones) / 0.31M (1H 2013)

Upcoming titles by Japanese Third parties for Wii U:

- Yakuza 1&2 HD for Wii U (Remaster and already on PS3)
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms 12 with PowerUp kit (Expansion Pack Bundle)
- Sonic: Lost World

That's all.
Japanese publishers have no interest for Wii U except SEGA.

[awesomeabe1998]

How about Atlus? The only reason Japanese publishers have no interest is because Nintendo are pushing them away.

Nintendo Network ID: awesomeabe1998
Playstation Network: awesomeabe1998
YouTube: WUPSgames

[Kamuymintar]

> How about Atlus?

Index Corporation (owns Atlus brand) is bankrupt.
And they had nothing to be announced for Wii U.

> The only reason Japanese publishers have no interest is because Nintendo are pushing them away.

Even if so, it wouldn't save Wii U.
Because total software sales for the platform would remain too low.

[BosSSyndrome]

Uh... SMT x FE? Dues Ex? All those Indies?

[awesomeabe1998]

Those are great games. I just do not see the purpose of @Kamuymintar's post.

[Kamuymintar]

Sorry, I mistook Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem for 1st party title.

As for Deus Ex, nobody will buy it in Japan. (Even on PS3, only 15k sold.)
As for indies games, the Japanese doesn't have much interest in them.

Here is Wii U software sales list in Japan.

> 1. New Super Mario Bros. U ------ 525,968
> 2. Nintendo Land ---------------- 340,339
> 3. Monster Hunter 3G HD Ver. ---- 195,213
> 4. Pikmin 3 --------------------- 133,185
> 5. Dragon Quest X --------------- 68,063
> 6. Game and Wario --------------- 60,283
> 7. New Super Luigi U ------------ 41,009
> 8. Resident Evil Revelations Unveiled Edition --- 11,973
> 9. Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 --- 11,301
> 10. Zombi U --------------------- 11,226
> 11. Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper ----- 6,184
> 12. TANK! TANK! TANK! ----------- 5,513

(Other titles are uncountable because of too low sales.)
If I were an executive of some publisher, I would never turn green light on to publish on Wii U.

[jameson12345]

This can be taken two ways. It can be seen that the Wii U will rebound back like the PS3 because of the similar sales situation. Or because of the differences between the Wii U and PS3's situations the Wii U could end up like the Gamecube, beloved by people who owned them but third in its console generation. However, due to the way Nintendo makes its games and hardware either way Nintendo will still probably make a profit. Heck, they still made a profit even with the Gamecube sales. ALOT of things would have to go wrong for this to be a Dreamcast situation.

[awesomeabe1998]

So let me get this straight. You people are saying the Wii U needs a price cut by $50? No it does not! A Wii U is $350 with Nintendo Land and a bunch of other accessories included. Are you kidding me?!

Nintendo Land is an amazing game that helps you get used to the tablet. Imagine how sucky it would look to lay your gamepad on or next to your console face up or face down. It would look cheap.

I am not going to buy a PS4 nor Xbox One. I have a PS3 for my third parties until the Wii U stands on its feet and gets third parties.

Nintendo has amazing first parties coming soon to the Wii U. I want to but almost all of its games but sadly, I can't as soon as possible. Why? It takes me at least a month to lose interest in a new game or older games. Nintendo will release 1 or 2 great games a month for the Wii U this fall.

Wii U is not doomed, nor is it a guaranteed success, but it will do better. Share your comments to me by replying.

Nintendo Network ID: awesomeabe1998
Playstation Network: awesomeabe1998
YouTube: WUPSgames

[yugovega]

wow someone with sense.

i've yet to see why people are saying the p4 is only $50 more.
ps4 with no game= $400
wiiu with no game= $300

ps4 with online multiplayer and a game =$500+
wiiu with online multiplayer and a game =$350

bigger price difference then $50 is what i see.

[o-Sunny-o]

As for PS4 you can play f2p games for free online. Warframe, Backlight R, Planetside 2, and Daylight. Wii U 350$ vs 400$ PS4 because I thought basic model was gone most places. So I guess its 410$ with an game for the Wii U. ^~^ I own Wii U but prices are prices no lies.