Last month, the Wii saw the release of a significant game, Monster Hunter Tri. The title has received heavy marketing from Capcom with television commercials and online promotion. However, there have been a number of questions regarding how well Tri would do overseas as the series has not reached the same popularity in Europe and North America as it has in Japan.
Well, the game apparently sold about 126,000 units in the United States. This is, of course, based on data from NPD. Monster Hunter Tri launched on April 20, so that data includes less than two weeks from sales. Tri didn’t set the sales charts on fire, but Capcom is most likely relatively pleased with how it’s performing so far.
– Time trial races
– Platform challenges: Finish a jump, don’t total your vehicle
– Puzzle modes: Need to find the right track pieces to finish
– Multiplayer options
– Can send tracks via Wi-Fi
– Stadium, island, desert, snow, rally, coast themes
– Environments change how your vehicle drives, handles
– Ghost data appears for first/seconds/third while you race
– Can restart a time trial race by pressing a button
– Your best times will show up as ghost data
– Can save ghost data to Wii (one for each track)
– Earn coppers by winning races
– Use coppers to customize your vehicle, track creator
– Download tracks made in the creator through Wi-Fi
– 60 FPS
– Releasing in July
PSP – 35,233
Wii – 31,399
DSi LL – 26,733
PS3 – 26,185
DSi – 15,739
Xbox 360 – 4,278
DS Lite – 3,921
PS2 – 1,491
PSP go – 1,464
For comparison’s sake, here are the numbers from last week.
PSP – 59,315
PS3 – 32,874
Wii – 30,757
DSi LL – 25,569
DSi – 15,628
Xbox 360 – 4,943
DS Lite – 4,068
PSP go – 1,890
PS2 – 1,577
Nintendo Tops U.S. Video Game Hardware Sales in April
According to the independent NPD Group, Nintendo’s Wii™ system and Nintendo DS™ family of systems outsold all other gaming hardware in the United States during the month of April. Even before the announcement of the new Wii hardware package, U.S. sales of the Wii console topped 277,000 for the month. Meanwhile, the Nintendo DS family of hand-held systems sold more than 440,000 units nationwide. Together, Nintendo video game system sales represented 60 percent of all hardware sold in the United States in April.
“Consumers recognize the unprecedented combination of value and fun offered by Nintendo game systems,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “But including even more hardware and software with every Wii system should drive consumer interest even higher.”
PlayStation 3 180.8K
PSP 65.5K
Xbox 360 185.4K
Wii 277.2K
Nintendo DS 440.8K
Title Platform Publisher Release Date Units Rank
TOM CLANCY’S SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION* 360 UBISOFT Apr-10 486.1K 1
POKEMON SOULSILVER VERSION NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA Mar-10 242.9K 2
NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Nov-09 200.3K 3
POKEMON HEARTGOLD VERSION NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA Mar-10 192.6K 4
GOD OF WAR III* PS3 SONY Mar-10 180.3K 5
WII SPORTS RESORT W/ WII MOTION PLUS* WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Jul-09 6
BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2 360 ELECTRONIC ARTS Mar-10 7
WII FIT PLUS W/ BALANCE BOARD* WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Oct-09 8
JUST DANCE WII UBISOFT Nov-09 9
SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV PS3 CAPCOM USA Apr-10 10
Legal Action Reflects Global Efforts to Combat Video Game Piracy
REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– In the ongoing fight against video game piracy worldwide, Nintendo of America Inc. has filed a civil lawsuit against the owner of multiple websites that sell illegal video game copiers. Nintendo filed suit on May 11 in the Western District of Washington against the owner of NXPGAME of Queens, New York.
Nintendo investigated a website owned by NXPGAME and found that it was selling illegal video game copiers that enable the user to download, play and distribute illegal copies of Nintendo DS™ and Nintendo DSi™ video game software. After multiple letters and telephone calls from Nintendo’s legal counsel, the owner agreed to cease selling game copiers and closed his website. Shortly thereafter, the owner launched an identical business at a different website address, and redirected people who visited his old site to the new one to purchase illegal game copiers.
