Japan Sales: Nintendo Switch Leads a Soft Golden Week

Still suffering from insufficient stock, Nintendo Switch lead console sales in one of the most important holidays in Japan, according to the numbers posted by MediaCreate. Known as “Golden Week,” this is the longest holiday period of the year for Japanese workers, which results in higher than normal sales for consoles and videogames. However, for some years now the boost in sales from the Golden Week is becoming softer, and 2017 was no exception.

Nintendo Switch lead the hardware chart with 47.911 units, down from the 76.679 it sold the previous week. Nintendo obviously had reserved some extra shipments for the week of release of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and after that the console has returned to its regular numbers. PlayStation 4, on the other hand, improved its numbers by a few thousands to reach 27.954. That is very similar to the amount of Nintendo 3DS sold: 26.981, which also slightly improved its numbers. PlayStation Vita stayed fourth in the rank with 7.158, and below there are only the testimonial numbers of Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and Wii U, with the three of them selling under 1.000 units.

On the software chart, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe kept the top position, dropping a 68% in sales in its second week. The rest of the list had either soft drops like the ones for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for Nintendo Switch (-13%) and Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (-35%) or big boost in sales like Mario Sports Superstars (+66%), or Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS (+96%). On the PlayStation side of the things, Nier: Automata revalidated its position as the PS4 surprise hit, increasing its sales a 17% and getting closer to the 350.000 mark. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands also increased its sales a 14%, Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition returned to the top 20.

The Golden Week is usually followed by one of the worst weeks in sales in the year, so don’t be too scared if next week’s numbers look much lower.

Software List

01. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 90.652 / 375.475 (-68%)
02. [3DS] Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission X – 31.271 / 128.365 (-68%)
03. [3DS] Monster Hunter Double Cross – 30.338 / 1.451.544 (+9%)
04. [NSW] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 21.926 / 442.867 (-13%)
05. [3DS] Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia – 14.765 / 169.154 (-35%)
06. [3DS] Mario Sports Superstars – 10.975 / 86.477 (+66%)
07. [3DS] Pro Baseball Famista Climax – 10.632 / 69.723 (-3%)
08. [NSW] 1-2-Switch  – 9.488 / 205.446 (-3%)
09. [3DS] Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS  – 8.134 / 1.035.534 (+96%)
10. [PS4] NieR: Automata  – 7.245 / 320.497 (+17%)
11. [WIU] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 7.121 / 116.313 (+58%)
12. [3DS] Pokemon Sun / Moon  – 6.940 / 3.256.775 (+64%)
13. [PS4] Dark Souls III: The Fire Fades Edition  – 6.560 / 48.662 (-27%)
14. [PS4] Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands – 5.413 / 174.865 (+14%)
15. [3DS] Yo-Kai Watch 3: Sukiyaki – 5.363 / 716.405 (+68%)
16. [3DS] Mario Kart 7 – 5.314 / 2.768.991
17. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf – Welcome amiibo – 5.120 / 173.009
18. [PSV] Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition – 4.051 / 1.149.824
19. [3DS] Kirby: Planet Robobot – 4.005 / 560.524
20. [PSV] Dungeon Travelers 2-2: The Maiden Who Fell into Darkness and the Book of Beginnings – 3.851 / 37.891 (-42%)

Hardware List

01. Nintendo Switch – 47.911
02. PlayStation 4 – 27.954
03. Nintendo 3DS – 26.981
04. PlayStation Vita – 7.158
05. Xbox One – 677
06. PlayStation 3 – 407
07. Wii U – 397