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One third of Japanese Wii owners have Wii Fit
Every week, sales charts show us that Wii Fit is popular among Japanese gamers. To give you a sense of just how well it's doing, though, Enterbrain recently reported that two million copies of the fitness title have been sold in Japan. Matched with recent reports of six million Wii consoles being sold in the region, that means every one in three Japanese Wii owners bought a copy of Wii Fit.It hasn't yet caught up to its Nintendo cousin, Wii Sports, which has almost reached the three million mark. Yet, keep in mind that 1) Wii Fit was released a year after Wii Sports and 2) Wii Fit is a lot more expensive; it costs more than a usual Wii game, while Wii Sports costs less than the standard. To throw in another interesting comparison, Media Create sales indicate that there are almost as many Wii Fit owners in Japan as PS3 owners (with the PS3 currently having a 50,000 unit edge).While we find it unlikely that Wii Fit will hit the same one-in-three ownership ratio in Europe and North America, we have little doubt that the exercise software will do well in those regions, too. Let it be said that Nintendo definitely understands the casual market. Gallery: Wii Fit [Via NeoGAF]
Famitsu publisher backtracks on E3 DS prediction
We weren't that surprised when Nintendo denied any knowledge of the existence of a new DS model hinted at by Famitsu publisher Hirokazu Hamamura last week. We were a little more surprised when Hamamura himself denied ever making the prediction.IGN is reporting on a statement released by Enterbrain (Famitsu's parent company) explaining that reports of the original prediction were inaccurate and that Hamamura actually "believes it unlikely that Nintendo would release a new form factor or a successor model" for the DS. So was it simply a mistaken quote/translation, or did the powers-that-be at Nintendo put the screws to Enterbrain in order to tone back the speculation? We may never know the truth, but that won't stop us from wildly speculating ourselves ...
Enterbrain denies 'redesigned DS' claims
That redesign of the redesigned Nintendo DS? Not happening. Or at least, not yet. It's not just Nintendo that says so, either. Now the source of the original rumor, Japanese publisher Enterbrain, has released a statement denying that president Hirokazu Hamamura ever suggested a new DS would show up at E3 in July, as originally reported by Bloomberg. "No such statement or announcement was made by the president," read the statement, adding that "He did not [...] make a comment about the possibility of an announcement by Nintendo concerning a new model or successor to the Nintendo DS due to its current scarce product availability caused by its worldwide popularity."Looks like another case of mistranslation, then. As for Hirokazu Hamamura himself, he was last spotted being hurriedly bundled into a black car with tinted windows by several burly men in suits and shades. Probably.%Gallery-20355%
Enterbrain boss: New DS may be unveiled at E3
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Enterbrain_boss_Nintendo_to_unveil_new_DS_at_E3'; To us, the DS Lite is perfick -- it's slim, stylish, and beautifully proportioned. Will that stop Nintendo from giving the whole thing a facelift and turning it into something even more desirable? Probably not. Ninty has a history of giving its handhelds a nip and a tuck, and the company will have noted the extra momentum enjoyed by the PSP in Japan since its redesign. Frankly, we'd be surprised if the Lite wasn't updated at some point in the future.As would Hirokazu Hamamura, boss of Famitsu publisher Enterbrain, who reckons that Nintendo may announce a new DS model at this year's E3. Hamamura's prediction appeared in the latest edition of Weekly Famitsu, and was greeted by a "No comment" from Nintendo. Let the wanton speculation begin!%Gallery-20355%[Via NeoGAF]
Brawl effect: Wii outsells PS3 4-to-1 in Japan
Wii outsold PlayStation 3 nearly 4-to-1 in Japan during the four weeks ending on February 24, reports Japanese magazine publisher Enterbrain. What else is new? Actually, it's a 'real' game, for once, that appears to be driving the ongoing sales surge. Super Smash Bros. Brawl has managed to move 1.33 million units since its January 31 release, no doubt contributing to sales of 331,627 Wii consoles during the period tracked. In comparison, PS3 conjured up a mere 89,131 units sold.Additionally, Nintendo managed to unload nearly as many Balance Boards as it did Wiis, with Wii Fit selling 309,311 units to become the (distant) second best-selling 'game' during the four-week period. As for Xbox 360...? Put it this way: Wii outsold the poor thing more than 23-to-1. Damn, yo.
Brawl tops one million sales, has already passed Galaxy
Super Smash Bros. Brawl unleashed the mother of all Final Smashes on the Japanese charts last week by selling 820,000 copies in four days. Now, Famitsu publisher Enterbrain says Nintendo's scrapper (released eleven days ago) has topped the one million sales mark, and passed another Wii flagship title in the process: Super Mario Galaxy (released almost three and a half months ago). That's crazy.To be fair to Galaxy, it's far from the only game to be left spluttering in Brawl's dust. Next-gen notes that Wii Fit took seven weeks to pass a million sales, that Wii Sports passed the landmark after eleven weeks, and that Wii Play and Mario Party 8 are the only other Wii titles to top a million units in Japan.
Wii outsold PS3 3-to-1 in Japan during '07; Xbox pens memoir on neglect
Citing Famitsu publisher Enterbrain, Bloomberg reports the Wii sold three times more units than the PlayStation 3 in 2007 in Japan. Supposedly the sales difference is almost exactly three-to-one, with the Wii selling 3.63 million units to the PS3's 1.21 million. The PS3 started to rally with the introduction of the 40GB model late in the year and finally outsold the Wii in early November, but lost momentum again later in the month and into December.The Japanese hardware sales have remained fairly consistent throughout the year, with the only true shocker happening in late October when the Xbox 360 outsold the PS3. Beyond that Twilight Zone moment, the Xbox 360 sat high atop Mt. Fuji and penned its memoirs on solitude with sales of a meager 257,841 units in '07. And, just in case it ever becomes a Trivial Pursuit question, that fateful week when the Xbox 360 beat the PS3 in Japan was seemingly fueled by Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation. [Via GameDaily]
Famitsu publisher says 67% of Wii owners aren't playing
Are you reading this on your Wii right now? Have you fired it up and played anything lately? According to Famitsu, almost seven out of ten Wii owners aren't using the system at all, which seems like a fairly high number. This came out in a report from Enterbrain President (and Famitsu publisher) Hirokazu Hamamura which was praising Nintendo and citing big things ahead, especially for the DS platform, which he predicts will have 30 million units in Japan in 2009. However, it makes it hard to understand how the Wii will continue to be a success if the majority of people who bought one aren't playing it. He goes on to say that part of the problem is that the Wii hasn't had a second hit that was as big as Wii Sports. In other words, he's calling the Wii a novelty. A fad that is starting to wear thin. Remember how big Tamagotchis were? If not, then we've just dated ourselves, but if so, then you'll probably also remember how quickly they vanished after they rolled in. While he cites the attention that Wii Fit is getting, and the coming (sometime) Monster Hunter 3, we'd like to know what sort of a polling system they're using to get these numbers. It seems like these figures are pure speculation at best. We'll start our own very unofficial Joystiq poll: Have you used your Wii recently? Yup! Wii Sports still isn't old Nope. Well, there was that one system update ... Wii is 4 old peeple n girls LOLZ!
Wii is officially best-selling next-generation console
That's the word from the Financial Times, who we'll choose to trust about the finances of the times. The publication aggregated Japanese sales data from Enterbrain, U.S. sales from the NPD group, and European sales data from GfK to determine that the Wii has sold about 9 million units worldwide, versus 8.9 million units sold of its (extremely) close competitor, the Xbox 360. The PlayStation 3 has sold 3.7 million units.Of course, for maximum gloat-effectiveness, we must point out that the Xbox 360 has been out for a year longer than the Wii. A little advice for Microsoft: try selling your consoles in Japan![Thanks, Michael McGuire!]
Wii crushing the competition in Japan
According to Japanese information giant Enterbrain, even with reduced sales in August, the Wii crushed the other consoles in that nation. And by crushed here, we mean humiliated. We're not usually one to rub it in, but when you're talking combined sales of the PS3 and Xbox 360 not totaling half of Wii sales, things are getting a little silly. In the weeks leading up to August 26, Wii sales outnumbered the PS3 at a ratio of 3:1, and sales of the 360, which has always struggled in Japan, were barely a blip on the radar.For a full chart tracking console sales in Japan since last December, stomp past the break, Godzilla-style.
Analyst predicts 80GB PS3 and price cut for Japan
The chief marketing analyst for Japanese analysts group Enterbrain, has stated that he believes Sony Japan will follow SCEA's lead and will introduce the 80GB PS3 in Japan as well as slash the price of the current 60GB model. He feels that Sony Japan is unlikely to go the Sony Europe route and merely introduce a new bundle, but will slash the price and bring out a new SKU in response to struggling PS3 sales. While Hot Shots Golf 5 has helped boost the sales of the PS3 by over 200% in the Land of the Rising Sun, the sales still pale in comparison to the Wii and it seems likely that Sony Japan will need to slash prices to help keep the sales spike going. Hopefully they'll take notice of the sales generated by titles like Hot Shots 5 and Ninja Gaiden: Sigma as well and realize that as important as the price of the console is, available and attractive games are really what sells a system.[Via N4G]
Formula One reaches 8,000 sold copies on day... one
Wow, Japan is surprisingly in the mood for racing games. When MotorStorm went up to the top of the sales charts, we should have known that Formula One, released on December 28th, would gobble up its fair share of yen. It did just that, selling around 8,000 copies on its first day -- it's probably crossed the 10,000 mark by now. Our question then becomes: will this translate to positive reviews and decent sales stateside and... Europe-side? Both are already fairly fervent racing fans, but there's been a lot of ho-hum press about the stale Japanese build of MotorStorm and I'm personally not aware of Formula One being a top-seller in recent history in the US. Perhaps it has, but it's not coming to mind. What do you guys think? Is the PS3 becoming the racing console?
Famitsu chief says: Wii on top, PS3 second... then on top
The most believable "he said, she said" article yet! Why? Because initially, PS3 isn't voted "on top". In fact, the 360 will dominate until 2007's end (which will probably be when they announce the XBox 720 or whatever they want to call it). This comes from Famitsu's chief and more prominantly, president of Enterbrain, Hirokazu Hamamura: "The PS3 will have a tough time globally at the initial stage. Its launch titles in Japan and exclusive software titles overseas are quite limited...But its overwhelmingly realistic graphics will give it a long life span. It will stay competitive even when a game console battle breaks out among a newer generation of machines in 2010. Sales should grow every time Sony cuts prices."As production yields improve, costs in manufacturing will decrease over time, so there's some semblance of thought to this prediction instead of the arbitrary number-snatching. Speaking of number-snatching, let's go over that part of this prediction. 4.13 million PS3 units sold by the end of the fiscal year in March 2007. Sony intends to ship 6 million units by this same time (hmm...). As for the Wii... there's an expected 5.47 million units sold by the same time. No mention of the 360 for some odd reason. Over time, though, the PS3 will dethrone its competitors and reach the top of the mountain, selling an estimated 34 million units by 2009. Sweet. Numbers. Since it's coming from a Famitsu head, it's a little easier to listen since, well, they're highly respected among game enthusiasts in Japan and otherwise.
DS, Wii set to dominate the holidays
Japanese media giant Enterbrain recently surveyed retailers, as reported by Gamefront.de, about their expectations for game system sales this holiday season. We know you're not surprised, but right now? The show is all Nintendo. Retailers were asked, "Which next generation console do you think will sell better this Christmas?" The results lean heavily toward Nintendo -- 88% thought the Wii would boast better sales, and 11% settled on the PS3. We're not sure if it's worse that Microsoft wasn't even listed (perhaps because the Xbox 360 was released last year) or that Sony only garnered 11% in the poll.The Wii loses, however, when it comes to all systems ... because 60% of retailers queried thought the Nintendo DS would be the top dog of all holiday console sales. Only 32.8% chose the Wii ... and a shocking 3.3% picked the PS3.
Publisher predicts Wii to double GC sales
Japanese publishing company Enterbrain has tossed their hat into the analyst ring with a new set of longterm predictions on the outcome of the console war in Japan. President Hirokazu Hamamura predicts that the Wii will sell for about 20,000 yen and $170 in the U.S., and that over the next five years, the Wii will move 10 million units in Japan. This far outstrips the 4 million GameCubes the article lists as having sold in Japan so far. Hamamura also puts the PS3 at similar numbers, predicting a draw between Sony and Nintendo in systems sold over the next five years. The Xbox 360, they said, doesn't really have a chance for success in Japan. Ouch. These predictions are far different from those made for the U.S., which reflects the vast difference in market -- at least so far as Japanese underdog Microsoft is concerned.
