Warp Zoned Presents
Most Recent: Wii
Wii U suffers miserable sales during the last three months, can Pikmin 3 turn the tide?
Nintendo has released their second quarter sales figures for 2013, and they do not make for pleasant reading. Their new flagship console, the Wii U, sold just 160,000 units worldwide from the start of April through the end of June. Compare that to its predecessor, the Wii, which managed to sell 210,000 units and push its worldwide sales total past the 100 million mark.
Needless to say, this was reported across the board as disastrous news for the company, however solvent they are. Yet taken in a different perspective, it does not immediately spell doom and gloom for the Wii U. First of all, the console has sold 3.61 million units globally in the eight months since it was released. Also, Q2 saw a vast drought of games for the console. The only first party games released were Game & Wario and New Super Luigi U, and the latter is just a downloadable expansion for New Super Mario Bros. U. Worthwhile third party games were also in scant supply, though multiplatform games such as Injustice: Gods Among Us and Resident Evil Revelations did make it to the Wii U.
The pessimistic view is that games are not the issue, yet as GamesIndustry International reports, the July release of the long-awaited Pikmin 3 pushed the Wii U to sell 22,000 units in a single week in Japan. Given that only 90,000 units sold in that country in the previous three months, it would be safe to assume the raft of new games set to release this year, including The Wonderful 101, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and Super Mario 3D World will see the Wii U steadily climb in sales before its next generation siblings are released.
However, Pikmin 3 also illustrates how Nintendo is learning from their past mistakes. A advertising big push for the game in Europe prior to its launch propelled it to number two in the most recent Chart-Track list of bestsellers.
New Releases: The Smurfs 2
Welcome to the Smurfiest week of new releases ever. And why is that… because The Smurfs 2 is this week’s only retail release. The game will be released for the DS (but curiously, not the 3DS), PS3, Wii, Wii U, and the Xbox 360.
If the lack of new releases has left you feeling blue, don’t worry, the game industry’s many digital download services will surely have an additional batch of new games this week.
The Last of Us is first among June 2013’s best-selling games
Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us cashed in on years of hype and some of the best reviews for a PS3 game ever (including a 7/7 from our own Andrew Rainnie) to emerge as the best-selling game of June 2013. Last month’s report from The NPD Group featured plenty of other new faces including Animal Crossing: New Leaf (#2), Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition (#3, the first time its been available for retail sale), and Deadpool (#8).
Call of Duty: Black Ops II, NBA 2K13, and Battlefield 3 continue their lengthy runs as they sold enough copies to land at, respectively, #4, #5, and #9. The complete list of June 2013’s top ten best-selling games can be found after the break.
According to the NPD’s monthly report (via Game Informer), total retail sales of games, consoles, and accessories amounted to $593.3 million, a 15% decline from June 2012’s $700.6 million total. (more…)
Angry Birds Star Wars flies onto consoles, handhelds this October
Activision and Rovio are teaming up again to bring Angry Birds Star Wars to consoles and handhelds this Fall (hmm… which one is the Emperor and which one is Darth Vader?). The “saga” of birds batting pigs continues on the 3DS, PS3, Vita, Wii, Wii U, and Xbox 360 this October.
In addition to high definition graphics, the console/handheld version of Angry Birds Star Wars will add 20 new levels to the game as well as new new competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes.
Angry Birds Star Wars will be released for consoles and handhelds on October 29.
New Releases: Shin Megami Tensei IV, Dynasty Warriors 8, Time and Eternity, More
It’s a “grab bag” week of new releases as there’s a little something for everyone.
Atlus is bringing their popular Shin Megami Tensei series (known as MegaTen to fans and well wishers) back to the 3DS with the fourth numbered entry in the series, Shin Megami Tensei IV. It will be joined by Time and Eternity, a hand-drawn PS3 RPG from NIS America, that other Japanese RPG powerhouse.
Fans of action games will be happy to know that another Dynasty Warriors game will be available in stores this week. Dynasty Warriors 8 will be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360. In other action news, somebody packaged all of the Serious Sam games together for the Xbox 360-exclusive The Serious Sam Collection.
Finally this week, Turbo: Super Stunt Squad, from DreamWorks and D3 Publisher, will be released on nearly every system known to man: 3DS, DS, PS3, Wii, Wii U, and Xbox 360.
Angry Birds Trilogy comes to Wii U, Wii on August 13
After releasing the game on the 3DS, PS3, and Xbox 360 last year, Activision plans to fling Angry Brids Trilogy onto the Wii U and Wii this August 13.
The Trilogy includes Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons, and Angry Birds Rio, along with 40 hours of “bonus gameplay,” and 19 exclusive episodes. The Wii U version also includes high definition graphics, GamePad touchscreen controls, and Off-TV play.
Angry Birds Trilogy will be available for the Wii U and Wii on August 13.
Posted in News, Wii, Wii U
Tagged Angry Birds Trilogy
Pandora’s Tower Review: An Exquisite Passage
Pandora’s Tower is the third game published by Nintendo in Japan that has made it to North America thanks to the activist efforts of Operation Rainfall. It is also the one I was most excited for of the three. The strange, beautiful trailers filtering here from Japan intrigued me, and the combat system looked refreshing and different. While the graphics are limited on the Wii, the strength of both the gameplay and the narrative drew me in. When I finally played the game, it was even weirder than I’d expected, but even with the weaknesses, I felt my 25 hours were well spent. (more…)
Posted in Reviews, Top Story, Wii
Tagged Pandora's Tower
Injustice: Gods Among Us scores another sales knockout in the May 2013 NPD report
Yup, you can definitely tell we’re in a console transition period. Just a single new release was able to crack the list of the top ten best-selling games of May 2013.
Deep Silver’s Metro: Last Light was that game and the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 shooter was able to claim the sixth spot for the mutants of post-apocalyptic Russia. A pair of sorta-new releases helped push the profile of two titles that were originally released in years past. The 3DS version of Donkey Kong Country Returns lifted the game to #3 and the Wii U re-release of Lego Batman 2 helped the Brick Knight squeeze into the #10 slot.
According to Game Informer, sales of retail games are down 31% from May 2012 and retail sales are going to continue to drop as Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony move towards an all-digital future. Althugh, to be fair, May 2012 did include the release of Diablo III, which sold a ton of copies at retail.
The NPD Group’s complete report on the top ten best-selling games from May 2013 can be found after the break. (more…)