Nintendo has sent out an official notice about Switch’s performance in Europe. During the system’s launch weekend, it sold more than any other Nintendo hardware in history.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild also performed well. It’s the biggest-selling Nintendo launch title ever in Europe, outselling Wii Sports in first weekend sales.
Source: Nintendo PR
Update (3/7): Famitsu now has an article up on its actual website. Between March 3 and March 5, Zelda: Breath of the Wild sold 193,060 units at retail with a 58 percent attach rate. Also, Famitsu’s website reports a figure of 330,637, so we’ll be using that one instead of the previously-reported 313,700.
Original (3/6): Data from Famitsu reveals that first week sales of Switch came in at 313,700 units in Japan. To compare, other notable console launches include the Wii at 371,900 units, Wii U at 308,600 units, and PlayStation 4 at 322,100 units.
By first week, that should mean Switch’s first three days on the market. Famitsu’s next reporting period is between February 27 and March 5, and Switch came out on March 3 – so that would account for sales from Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Earlier today, it was reported that Switch doubled up on Wii U in the UK by selling 80,000 units in its opening weekend. No numbers are out for North America, but the system had a record-breaking launch for Nintendo.
Shakedown Hawaii got a lot of attention at the Switch Nindies event last week, but what perhaps some people don’t know is that there is a 3DS version of the game as well which has been in the works for a while. The 3DS version wasn’t scrapped in favor of the Switch version – it’s still being worked on by developer Vblank Entertainment. NintendoLife have reached out to them and got an update on the 3DS version.
First of all, the 3DS version is still slated to be released this year. While a bit more vague than the Switch version’s “Q2 2017”, it’s still reassuring. Unlike some recent indie games which have been exclusive to the New Nintendo 3DS, Shakedown Hawaii will work on all 3DS models – and the developers say they are working hard to ensure a steady 60 FPS even on older models. New Nintendo 3DS owners still get some additional benefits though as the C-Stick will be fully compatible with Shakedown Hawaii.
This week’s Famitsu review scores are as follows:
- Accel World VS. Sword Art Online (PS4) – 7/8/8/7
- Accel World VS. Sword Art Online (PS Vita) – 7/8/8/7
- Damascus Gear: Operation Tokyo HD Edition (PS4) – 7/7/7/7
- Future Card Buddyfight Mezase! Buddy Champion! (3DS) – 8/8/8/8
- Ghost Recon: Wildlands (PS4) – 9/9/8/8
- Ghost Recon: Wildlands (XBO) – 9/9/8/8
- Halo Wars 2 (XBO) – 9/8/8/9
- Headbutt Factory (PSVR) – 7/6/6/6
- Holoball (PSVR) – 7/7/5/6
- Kromaia Omega (PS4) – 7/7/7/7
- Manga-ka Debut Monogatari: Suteki-na Manga wo Egakou (3DS) – 7/7/7/7
- Parascientific Escape: Saihate no Cross Eyes (3DS) – 7/7/7/6
- Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash (PS4) – 8/8/8/8
- Soldam: Blooming Declaration (Switch) – 7/7/7/7
Fire Emblem Heroes’ Voting Gauntlet event is now live. You can read the details on participating in the event here.
To coincide with the event, two new Summoning Focuses are now live. The first, Princes, gives a higher chance to summon five-star versions of Chrom, Leo, and Ephraim, while the other, Princesses, gives a higher chance to summon Eirika, Lucina, and Elise. Both of these will run until March 13.
There is also a new series of maps available in the Paralogues. These maps are titled Xenologue 1: Detached Princess, and feature Princess Veronica from the game’s main story.
Finally, the Arena Duels have updated with new bonus heroes: Eldigan, Sanaki, Olwen, Reinhardt, Klein, Lachesis, Robin (female), Jagen, and Sully.
This update will require a 7.6 MB download.
Pokémon Shuffle’s weekly update has arrived, bringing a few new challenges and some repeats. A new Amoonguss stage has begun, and repeat stages for Greninja and Palkia are available as well. There is also a safari stage, which is a repeat for the most part, featuring Staryu, Starmie, Gible, Gabite, Garchomp, Phione, and Furfrou. It also features a rare chance to get Manaphy (Winking), which is a new addition for this run.
The Greninja stage will run until March 14, while the other stages will all run until the 21st.
Blaster Master Zero is getting a patch to add Switch Pro Controller support, and it should be out very soon. Inti Creates told one fan on Twitter that the company is doing everything it can to have the update ready for the North American and European release on Thursday.
The tweet reads:
@Incisive_D The Japanese version currently doesn't have it. Doing everything we can to have a Day 1 patch ready for the NA/EU release
— Inti Creates (@IntiCreatesEN) March 4, 2017
While the release date for Blaster Master Zero’s update isn’t confirmed, we should be finding out when it will be available soon.
HullBreach Studios has been hard at work on version 2.0 of SDK Spriter. Work is almost complete, and the indie developer has shared a complete listing about what to expect from the new update
HullBreach recently posted on Miiverse:
Polygon has shared several minutes of footage from Shantae: Half-Genie Hero’s new Hard Core Mode. Get a look at the gameplay below.
In a recent Twitter post by Matt Bozon, the creative director of WayForward, it was confirmed that the 1.01 update for Wii U version of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero has been delayed to Thursday in North America.
As the new hard core mode that was announced a few days ago was a part of this update, this means that North American Wii U owners will have to wait a few extra days to try their hand at it. Other platforms and regions are not affected, including Wii U owners in other regions. You can find the original Twitter post below.
This just in – Wii U (North America) update 1.01 arrives Thursday. All other versions & regions should be live now. Sorry to make you wait! pic.twitter.com/YbDHn56dxC
— Matt Bozon (@MrBozon) March 7, 2017
