The Wii U has had a tough time after over a year on the market, with the PS4 and Xbox One garnering strong sales and extensive third-party support in less than a year. Nintendo is hoping to turn things around with the recently released Mario Kart 8 and upcoming heavy-hitting exclusives like Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, Bayonetta 2, and Hyrule Warriors later this year. While Mario Kart 8 launched with 1.2 million units sold on its opening weekend and over 2 million in its first month, many have wondered if this has helped sell more Wii U consoles. The answer is a resounding yes!
According to sales information gathered from VGChartz, the Wii U was selling about 29,000 units a week before the release of Mario Kart 8. In the first week of the kart racer’s release, the Wii U sold 133,353 units. The Wii U continued steady with 91,817 units the following week and 68,608 units the week after that for a total sales boost of 206,517 units. What’s even more interesting is how this matches up with console sales in March with Xbox One exclusive Titanfall and PlayStation 4 exclusive inFAMOUS: Second Son. In a three-week period, Titanfall was able to sell about 94,000 additional Xbox One systems on top of its average of 79,000, while Second Son managed to move an additional 106,000 PS4 consoles on top of its average of 150,000.
All told, this puts the total PS4 units sold at 8.4 million, the Wii U at 6.4 million, and the Xbox One at 4.6 million, according to VGChartz. This bodes really well for Nintendo’s first HD console. Not only was Mario Kart 8 able to boost Wii U system sales, the effect was more than just a blip on the radar. With several games on the horizon this fall and holiday season, as well as the upcoming Amiibo toys-to-life line, the Wii U is in a great position for a comeback. While it’s not out of the woods yet, things are finally looking up for the House of Mario.
