Nintendo fans are absolutely giddy with excitement about the company’s upcoming Switch console, but we shouldn’t forget about the Wii U and 3DS. Earlier this week, the consolemaker updated investors on their best-selling titles for the Wii U and 3DS, as of September 30, 2016.
As the biggest-selling Nintendo-published game on the Wii U, Mario Kart 8 recently tallied total sales of eight million copies. The game’s success was measured using worldwide numbers for retail sales and digital downloads. While Mario Kart 8 is far and away the most popular game for the Wii U, Splatoon’s sales (4.57 million copies) are pretty impressive for a new franchise. Here’s the full top ten:
Best-Selling Nintendo-Published Games on the Wii U
- 1. Mario Kart 8 — 8 Million
- 2. New Super Mario Bros. U — 5.45 Million
- 3. Super Mario 3D World — 5.19 Million
- 4. Nintendo Land — 5.13 Million
- 5. Super Smash Bros. For Wii U — 4.99 Million
- 6. Splatoon — 4.57 Million
- 7. Super Mario Maker — 3.73 Million
- 8. New Super Luigi U — 2.74 Million
- 9. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD — 1.98 Million
- 10. Mario Party 10 — 1.94 Million
Over on the 3DS, Pokemon X/Y proved that the RPG franchise is still first in the minds of Nintendo fans, with total sales of 15.64 million copies. Once again measured using worldwide numbers for retail sales and digital downloads, it finished slightly ahead of Mario Kart 7, which almost lapped its console-based big brother with total sales of nearly 14 million copies. Here’s the full top ten:
Best-Selling Nintendo-Published Games on the 3DS
- 1. Pokemon X/Y — 15.64 Million
- 2. Mario Kart 7 — 13.94 Million
- 3. Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire — 13.18 Million
- 4. Super Mario 3D Land — 10.98 Million
- 5. New Super Mario Bros. 2 — 10.6 Million
- 6. Animal Crossing: New Leaf — 10.34 Million
- 7. Super Smash Bros. For 3DS — 8.35 Million
- 8. Tomodachi Life — 5.3 Million
- 9. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon — 5.03 Million
- 10. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D — 4.52 Million
The Wii U has struggled on store shelves since it was released in late 2012. The console currently has an install base of just 13.36 million, which is just a shade over 10% of the Wii’s final sales total. Meanwhile, the 3DS can claim an install base of 61.57 million, which is impressive, but still a far cry from the record-breaking sales of 154.02 million units for the DS.
