September 2014 NPD: Nintendo’s response – Smash sells 705,000 copies in 2 days

Today’s NPD day, and Nintendo has once again provided its regular response to the latest US sales data.

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS managed to sell over 705,000 copies in its first two days, making the game the fourth best-selling software SKU for the month. 135,000 of those sales came from eShop downloads.

3DS sales came in at 140,000 for September – up 55 percent compared to August. Wii U sales also increased by nearly 50 percent over sales in August thanks to Hyrule Warriors (190,000 units sold) and Mario Kart 8 (60,000 units sold).

Look for Nintendo’s full response to this month’s NPD report below.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS launched on Oct. 3 in the U.S., and even with only two days of data included in NPD’s September report, the game still managed to finish as the No. 4 best-selling software SKU for the month with more than 705,000 total units sold. Of that total, more than 135,000 units were sold digitally through the Nintendo eShop. The game’s biggest impact however may be on hardware sales. More than 140,000 units of the Nintendo 3DS family of systems were sold in September, an increase of 55 percent over sales in August.

Sales of Wii U hardware also saw double-digit increases in September, increasing by nearly 50 percent over sales in August. These gains were driven in particular by two software titles: Hyrule Warriors and Mario Kart 8. Hyrule Warriors launched on Sept. 26 and has already sold more than 190,000 combined units in the U.S. alone. Mario Kart 8 sold nearly 60,000 combined units in its fifth month on the market, bringing its lifetime total in the U.S. to nearly 1.2 million total units.

A great lineup of games for Wii U begins on Oct. 26 with Bayonetta 2, the Wii U exclusive that currently holds a 91 score on Metacritic. That continues with Super Smash Bros. for Wii U on Nov. 21 and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker on Dec. 5. Also launching on Nov. 21 is amiibo, Nintendo’s foray into the toys-to-life category. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U will be the first game to launch with amiibo integration. Other games that will support amiibo include Mario Kart 8, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Mario Party 10 and Yoshi’s Woolly World, with more to come. More details about compatibility and functionality of amiibo may be found at http://amiibo.com.

The Nintendo 3DS library will soon be bolstered by two of the most anticipated games of 2014: Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire (Nov. 21).

*Data regarding physical sales of games in September are from the NPD Group. Data regarding digital downloads of games and combined physical/digital life-to-date numbers are from Nintendo’s internal sales figures. All numbers, unless otherwise stated, are specific to the United States only.

For more information about Nintendo, visit http://www.nintendo.com.