When's the last time a mainline Zelda game outsold a mainline Mario game on the same console, if ever?
-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
Nintendo software and hardware sales data from 1983 to present
- Thread starter Celine
- Start date
Impressive thread, just going through it now.
But I feel it's lacking a vital comparison. We know the Mario Kart series over its franchise lifetime has been bought in huge numbers, and there's been a ton of video game systems being sold over the years since the SNES came out, including non-Nintendo platforms.
If only someone could compare these two totally related numbers. Perhaps using a pie chart.
But I feel it's lacking a vital comparison. We know the Mario Kart series over its franchise lifetime has been bought in huge numbers, and there's been a ton of video game systems being sold over the years since the SNES came out, including non-Nintendo platforms.
If only someone could compare these two totally related numbers. Perhaps using a pie chart.
Unless you want to be pedantic and count the lost levels on NES, this has never occurred before.
OP
OP
E3 2005: Reggie jokes about all the figures being spelt by the rivals by stating that for Nintendo only one number had to be remembered: "2", as in 2 billions games (total software) sold on Nintendo consoles.
Reggie jokes about console specs for 360 -- offers another number: "2." As in "2 billion games sold by Nintendo." Says it's just the beginning. "Nintendo is not an 'or' company. Nintendo is an 'and' company." Talks about how Nintendo is about "change" -- and how more change is on the way. "We exist for the love the game." Reggie promises a new dimension of gameplay on DS.
December 2020: Nintendo published (first-party) million sellers' total sales surpass 2 billion games.
To give you an idea of the road traveled in the last 15 years, as December 2003 Nintendo published million sellers' total sales were 694 million units.
Last edited:
so, the only franchises left to not have their best seller on switch (that are still alive) are:
- 2D Mario
- Pokemon
- Donkey Kong
- Metroid
- Yoshi
- Kirby
- Wario
- Mario RPG
i see these as fitting into three categories. those that just haven't had their big NEW mainline release yet & have a good chance (DK, Metroid, Wario); those whose franchise peak is too high to realistically reach (2D Mario, Pokemon); and those who've had a release already, and may either leg it there eventually with said release OR need a new, more modern take to reach the top (Yoshi, Kirby, Mario RPG).
in conclusion... we could honestly see a situation where its only pokemon and 2d mario that don't have their all-time peak on switch. metroid will easily get there, DK and wario surely have a shot, origami king might leg it out, and depending on their next entries yoshi and kirby have a fighting chance. at the very least all of them will have or already have a top 3 entry on switch, insane stuff.
- 2D Mario
- Pokemon
- Donkey Kong
- Metroid
- Yoshi
- Kirby
- Wario
- Mario RPG
i see these as fitting into three categories. those that just haven't had their big NEW mainline release yet & have a good chance (DK, Metroid, Wario); those whose franchise peak is too high to realistically reach (2D Mario, Pokemon); and those who've had a release already, and may either leg it there eventually with said release OR need a new, more modern take to reach the top (Yoshi, Kirby, Mario RPG).
in conclusion... we could honestly see a situation where its only pokemon and 2d mario that don't have their all-time peak on switch. metroid will easily get there, DK and wario surely have a shot, origami king might leg it out, and depending on their next entries yoshi and kirby have a fighting chance. at the very least all of them will have or already have a top 3 entry on switch, insane stuff.
I made a tweet thread with a list of all million-sellers. Basically, it's Celine's list in the OP but ordered by units sold.
OP
OP
NSW is just 30M units away from surpassing DS first-party software* sales.
While currently NSW has an install base similar in size to 3DS and GBA, it has already sold much more software (first-party software* and total software) than both.
Nintendo is the embodiment of the first-party driven model, it could be inferred that on average (including first-party games that sold less than 1 million units) more than 40% of the software sales on Nintendo platforms were from Nintendo published games**.
* What is referred as "First-party software" is actually an approximation calculated by summing every million-seller.
Since most Nintendo games sell at least 1 million units it should be a close enough approximation.
** Digital only games are excluded from the counting.
While currently NSW has an install base similar in size to 3DS and GBA, it has already sold much more software (first-party software* and total software) than both.
Nintendo is the embodiment of the first-party driven model, it could be inferred that on average (including first-party games that sold less than 1 million units) more than 40% of the software sales on Nintendo platforms were from Nintendo published games**.
* What is referred as "First-party software" is actually an approximation calculated by summing every million-seller.
Since most Nintendo games sell at least 1 million units it should be a close enough approximation.
** Digital only games are excluded from the counting.
Amazing thread.
Looks like Switch's first party game sales will fly past the Wii's. Already possible to happen by the end of calendar year 2021, because 2020 had first party sales of more than 100 million units.
Looks like Switch's first party game sales will fly past the Wii's. Already possible to happen by the end of calendar year 2021, because 2020 had first party sales of more than 100 million units.
OP
OP
Recently NSW surpassed the 3DS hardware sales launch aligned in Japan.
While 3DS total hardware sales are still quite higher than the current NSW install base the first-party software sales already looks notably stronger on NSW:
Nintendo (and TPC) million sellers total sales in Japan on 3DS: 37.95M
Nintendo (and TPC) million sellers total sales in Japan on NSW as December 2020 : 44.01M
Nintendo (and TPC) million sellers + other games that appeared on financial reports total sales in Japan on 3DS: 45.79M
Nintendo (and TPC) million sellers + other games that appeared on financial reports total sales in Japan on NSW as December 2020 : 52.77M
While 3DS total hardware sales are still quite higher than the current NSW install base the first-party software sales already looks notably stronger on NSW:
Nintendo (and TPC) million sellers total sales in Japan on 3DS: 37.95M
Nintendo (and TPC) million sellers total sales in Japan on NSW as December 2020 : 44.01M
Nintendo (and TPC) million sellers + other games that appeared on financial reports total sales in Japan on 3DS: 45.79M
Nintendo (and TPC) million sellers + other games that appeared on financial reports total sales in Japan on NSW as December 2020 : 52.77M
OP
OP
Nintendo sales data split by the broad platform usage category (as December 2020):
TV consoles total hardware sales: 280.87M
Handheld consoles total hardware sales: 430.16M
Tabletop consoles total hardware sales: 0.77M
Hybrid consoles total hardware sales: 79.87M
TV consoles total software sales: 2337.77M
Handheld consoles total software sales: 2213.10M
Tabletop consoles total software sales: ?
Hybrid consoles total software sales: 532.34M
TV consoles total first-party software* sales: 886.46M
Handheld consoles total first-party software* sales: 832.65M
Tabletop consoles total first-party software* sales: ?
Hybrid consoles total first-party software* sales: 281.07M
TV consoles: NES, SNES, N64, GC, Wii, WiiU
Handheld consoles: GB, GBA, DS, 3DS
Tabletop consoles: VB
Hybrid consoles: NSW
* What is referred as "First-party software" is actually an approximation calculated by summing every million-seller.
Since most Nintendo games sell at least 1 million units it should be a close enough approximation.
TV consoles total hardware sales: 280.87M
Handheld consoles total hardware sales: 430.16M
Tabletop consoles total hardware sales: 0.77M
Hybrid consoles total hardware sales: 79.87M
TV consoles total software sales: 2337.77M
Handheld consoles total software sales: 2213.10M
Tabletop consoles total software sales: ?
Hybrid consoles total software sales: 532.34M
TV consoles total first-party software* sales: 886.46M
Handheld consoles total first-party software* sales: 832.65M
Tabletop consoles total first-party software* sales: ?
Hybrid consoles total first-party software* sales: 281.07M
TV consoles: NES, SNES, N64, GC, Wii, WiiU
Handheld consoles: GB, GBA, DS, 3DS
Tabletop consoles: VB
Hybrid consoles: NSW
* What is referred as "First-party software" is actually an approximation calculated by summing every million-seller.
Since most Nintendo games sell at least 1 million units it should be a close enough approximation.
OP
OP
Total video game consoles sold by console manufacturer by March 2021 (in million units; only standalone consoles with interchangeable software).
In two/three quarters Nintendo should brake the 800M threshold.
Since the inception of the PlayStation brand of consoles Nintendo has sold around 95 million consoles more than Sony.
In two/three quarters Nintendo should brake the 800M threshold.
Since the inception of the PlayStation brand of consoles Nintendo has sold around 95 million consoles more than Sony.
Last edited:
The Xbox 360 being more successful than the entire history of Sega consoles is something I never considered.
Sega Genesis is more successful than the intere Atari history and PS2 pretty much the same of all XBOX history too.
OP
OP
I've updated the original post with th latest set of data as March 2021.
I've added a chart for R&D and Advertising expenses and a chart for Gross Profit Ratio, Operating Profit Ratio and Net Profit Ratio
A few random observation:
- Finally Super Mario 3D Land (3DS) has outsold Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) thus has become the second best selling Mario 3D game. It took forever!
- If memory serves me right it's the first time any Wii top sellers don't sell additional copies.
- 3DS new hardware shipment seems to have stopped so 75.94M is likely going to be the console definitive LTD.
- NSW first-party software total sales are on the verge to surpass the DS first-party software total sales.
- NSW now has the highest number of 10M+ seliing first-party games of any Nintendo consoles (11 and counting!).
I've added a chart for R&D and Advertising expenses and a chart for Gross Profit Ratio, Operating Profit Ratio and Net Profit Ratio
A few random observation:
- Finally Super Mario 3D Land (3DS) has outsold Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) thus has become the second best selling Mario 3D game. It took forever!
- If memory serves me right it's the first time any Wii top sellers don't sell additional copies.
- 3DS new hardware shipment seems to have stopped so 75.94M is likely going to be the console definitive LTD.
- NSW first-party software total sales are on the verge to surpass the DS first-party software total sales.
- NSW now has the highest number of 10M+ seliing first-party games of any Nintendo consoles (11 and counting!).
Last edited:
insane how BW is at the damn bottom lol, but it is the only one with direct sequels, and I think the only one that came out soooo late in a console life cycle
also has two of the more popular protagonists as well. wonder what that says
OP
OP
Donkey Kong Country had sold nearly 7.5 million units by March 1995.
Nintendo total hardware sales exceeded 141 million units by March 1995, to be exact 141.49M.
Above I've writtten how Nintendo announced at E3 that they had achieved total software sales of 2 billion games in 2005.
During 1995 Nintendo achieved total software sales of 1 billion games.
Nintendo total hardware sales exceeded 141 million units by March 1995, to be exact 141.49M.
Above I've writtten how Nintendo announced at E3 that they had achieved total software sales of 2 billion games in 2005.
During 1995 Nintendo achieved total software sales of 1 billion games.
OP
OP
Only PS2 and PS4.
PS3 is very close, at 999.4M.
It's not known if Xbox 360 has done it.
The peculiarity with Nintendo (aside the fact that they don't count digital-only games) is that it adopts a first-party driven strategy which means their business model put more emphasis on strong first-party software sales at the expenses of third-party software sales which "hurt" the total software sales (which, on PlayStation and Xbox, is composed in large part of third-party software) but have some other positive aspects (high profitability, lower dependency on external factors, capacity to popularize unprecedented concepts by relying only on in-house software).
Last edited:
Updated as of March 2020:
Quite late to the party, but I've update the charts and include a few other categories (Luigi's Mansion, Mario Sports and Zelda Remakes)
Top 3 Average Sales per Franchise
*Splatoon only includes 2 games
2D MARIO SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
3D MARIO SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
ANIMAL CROSSING SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console
DONKEY KONG SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
FIRE EMBLEM SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
Only includes Western released titles
F-ZERO SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
KIRBY SALES
Blue = Handheld Console; Yellow = Home Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
LUIGI'S MANSION SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
MARIO KART SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
MARIO PARTY SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
MARIO RPG SALES
Blue = Paper Mario ; Yellow = Mario & Luigi
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
MARIO TENNIS SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
MARIO SPORTS
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers[
METROID SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
PIKMIN SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
POKEMON SALES
Blue = Original Version ; Yellow = Third Version ; Green = Remake
SMASH BROS SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
SPLATOON & ARMS SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
STAR FOX SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
WARIO SALES
[
Blue = Wario Land ; Yellow = Wario Ware
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
YOSHI SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
ZELDA SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
Zelda Remake Sales
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
NINTENDO HARDWARE SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
TOP 3 GAMES PER CONSOLE
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Wii Sports had to be split in half since it was skewing the graph too much.
TOP 3 GAMES PER FRANCHISE
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
All graphs based on OP.
Quite late to the party, but I've update the charts and include a few other categories (Luigi's Mansion, Mario Sports and Zelda Remakes)
Top 3 Average Sales per Franchise
*Splatoon only includes 2 games
2D MARIO SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
3D MARIO SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
ANIMAL CROSSING SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console
DONKEY KONG SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
FIRE EMBLEM SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
Only includes Western released titles
F-ZERO SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
KIRBY SALES
Blue = Handheld Console; Yellow = Home Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
LUIGI'S MANSION SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
MARIO KART SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
MARIO PARTY SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
MARIO RPG SALES
Blue = Paper Mario ; Yellow = Mario & Luigi
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
MARIO TENNIS SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
MARIO SPORTS
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers[
METROID SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
PIKMIN SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
POKEMON SALES
Blue = Original Version ; Yellow = Third Version ; Green = Remake
SMASH BROS SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
SPLATOON & ARMS SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
STAR FOX SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
WARIO SALES
[
Blue = Wario Land ; Yellow = Wario Ware
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
YOSHI SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
ZELDA SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
Zelda Remake Sales
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
NINTENDO HARDWARE SALES
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
TOP 3 GAMES PER CONSOLE
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Wii Sports had to be split in half since it was skewing the graph too much.
TOP 3 GAMES PER FRANCHISE
Blue = Home Console ; Yellow = Handheld Console ; Green = Hybrid Console
Titles marked with * lack official sales numbers
All graphs based on OP.
Isn't there an issue in some numbers? You seem to differenciate between "no data (past)" that get 0.1 as default value and "no data (future)" that get 0 as default value.
See Mario Sports graph, Metroid graph, Wario graph.
Edit: Ah I see! I guess it's to indicate home/portable split. It feels a bit misleading when numbers get believably low. \o/
Erratum:
Metroid Zero Mission is lacking a *
Zelda Four Swords, AC Amiibo Festival don't have the 0.1 convention
F Zero GX has two **
Last edited:
OP
OP
I've updated OP with the latest batch of data as June 2021.
Random trivia:
- NSW first-party software sales* have surpassed DS first-party software sales*.
- Super Mario 3D World + Boswer's Fury has become a million seller in Japan whereas Ring Fit Adventure has crossed 3 million units and Mario Kart 8 DX has reached 5 million units in the land of the rising sun.
* What is referred as "First-party software" is actually an approximation calculated by summing every million-seller.
Since most Nintendo games sell at least 1 million units it should be a close enough approximation.
Random trivia:
- NSW first-party software sales* have surpassed DS first-party software sales*.
- Super Mario 3D World + Boswer's Fury has become a million seller in Japan whereas Ring Fit Adventure has crossed 3 million units and Mario Kart 8 DX has reached 5 million units in the land of the rising sun.
* What is referred as "First-party software" is actually an approximation calculated by summing every million-seller.
Since most Nintendo games sell at least 1 million units it should be a close enough approximation.
Oh wow, that is crazy. Thanks for giving me the heads up on that front.
OP
OP
I won't update the data in the OP anymore here.
It was made abundantly clear that this place [the staff or part of it] don't have regard for the efforts it takes to compile data nor understand that it's the aggregation of a small group of dedicated people that matter (after all it's a pretty niche subject!), not the platform which is just an empty host.
Good luck boys and girls.
It was made abundantly clear that this place [the staff or part of it] don't have regard for the efforts it takes to compile data nor understand that it's the aggregation of a small group of dedicated people that matter (after all it's a pretty niche subject!), not the platform which is just an empty host.
Good luck boys and girls.
Thank you very much for all you've done Celine. It was an absolute pleasure reading what you put together.big you ever start a news letter or a self published blog that posts this information. I would love to know as I would be more then happy to follow it.
Last edited:
Really appreciate all the work you put in, Celine! I'd reference this thread at least once or twice a month the entire time it's been up
Any chance you'll be continuing the work elsewhere, or at least keeping up an archive for your own purposes?
Thank you very much for the hard work and, if possible, please let us know if you have plans outside here.
This thread has been invaluable for me as a sales enthusiast. Really can't thank you enough for the hard work.