
Nintendo's total domination in its home turf of Japan continues with the latest physical sales information (thanks, Gematsu).
In the final weeks of 2024, the top 30 games almost exclusively comprise Switch software, with just a couple of exceptions. In the week ending 5th January 2025, Astro Bot appeared in 20th and Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake was at number 30, while the previous week (ending 29th December 2024) only featured the latter in 25th.
Every other game across the top 30 in both weeks was a Switch title, and while some of them are multiplatform releases, many are Nintendo's first-party efforts.
Par for the course, then — and it's a similar story for hardware. The Switch family of systems sold best during these two weeks with a total of 186,277 unit sales, while PS5 consoles are a distant second, totalling 73,810 units (including PS5 Pro).
Software Sales (Week Ending 29th December, 2024)
- [NSW] Super Mario Party Jamboree (Nintendo, 10/17/24) – 119,176 (954,261)
- [NSW] Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake (Square Enix, 11/14/24) – 35,834 (930,505)
- [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 04/28/17) – 21,439 (6,167,617)
- [NSW] Minecraft (Microsoft, 06/21/18) – 17,915 (3,762,586)
- [NSW] Mario & Luigi: Brothership (Nintendo, 11/07/24) – 16,680 (165,060)
- [NSW] The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Nintendo, 09/26/24) – 16,290 (372,903)
- [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo, 12/07/18) – 15,526 (5,684,019)
- [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo, 03/20/20) – 14,092 (8,022,435)
- [NSW] Pokemon Scarlet / Pokemon Violet (The Pokemon Company, 11/18/22) – 13,206 (5,491,026)
- [NSW] Nintendo Switch Sports (Nintendo, 04/29/22) – 11,383 (1,514,786)
Software Sales (Week Ending 5th January, 2025)
- [NSW] Super Mario Party Jamboree (Nintendo, 10/17/24) – 117,307 (1,071,568)
- [NSW] Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake (Square Enix, 11/14/24) – 32,402 (962,907)
- [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 04/28/17) – 29,937 (6,197,554)
- [NSW] Minecraft (Microsoft, 06/21/18) – 16,895 (3,779,481)
- [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo, 03/20/20) – 15,777 (8,038,212)
- [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo, 12/07/18) – 15,055 (5,699,074)
- [NSW] Mario & Luigi: Brothership (Nintendo, 11/07/24) – 14,855 (179,915)
- [NSW] Nintendo Switch Sports (Nintendo, 04/29/22) – 13,813 (1,528,599)
- [NSW] The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Nintendo, 09/26/24) – 12,490 (385,393)
- [NSW] Pokemon Scarlet / Pokemon Violet (The Pokemon Company, 11/18/22) – 12,289 (5,503,315)
Hardware Sales (December 23, 2024 to January 5, 2025)
- Switch OLED Model – 106,641 (8,583,772)
- Switch Lite – 56,487 (6,391,361)
- PlayStation 5 – 55,648 (5,427,355)
- Switch – 23,149 (20,003,355)
- PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 9,235 (905,711)
- PlayStation 5 Pro – 8,927 (132,620)
- Xbox Series X Digital Edition – 1,386 (16,610)
- Xbox Series S – 679 (327,995)
- Xbox Series X – 209 (314,209)
- PlayStation 4 – 72 (7,929,099)
[source famitsu.com, via gematsu.com]
Comments 49
Not surprising, wasn't a great quality in terms of games but 2025 looks like it's gonna be great especially if gta6 comes out
Astro Bot >>>>> all nintendo games
I like that 72 people just said ***** it all, and bought a brand new PS4
@bankenrepublik
Astro Bot is a very well-made and entertaining game. It may also be the best 3D platformer to come out last year. However, it is not better than Super Mario Odyssey/Galaxy/Sunshine/64, not by at least 28 years of excellence.
Damn those Xbox sales are..... poor, so much for Phil trying to get into the Japanese market.
@bankenrepublik LOL bait used to feel real.
But I see that you joined 5 days ago and already half of your comments were removed and were banned. So you are obviously just trolling around.
@MikeOrator he is just triggering people. See his profile.
I too think that Odyssey did the same but better 7 years ago, but I really really liked Astro Bot too and understand people that liked either one more. But saying it is >>>>> all nintendo games... yep, nonsense.
@bankenrepublik Facts.
I know that Nintendo can be hardly beaten In Japan's Charts, but winning by this much when their current console is almost 8 years old? Wow.
@Oram77 Even back in the 360 era when they had a huge push for exclusive JRPGs, Xbox just can’t get into that market well at all.
@Diowine I honestly think it’s very impressive. Like Nintendo or not, one has to admit just how strong they are right now.
@LavenderShroud @Diowine
Mario Kart 8 is still selling 20 to 30k a month. That game has more legs than the last 60 years of the Rockettes.
Looks like PS5 will at least pass the PS4 total units sold.
@bankenrepublik definitely my favorite 3d platformer of all time.
@Anthony_Daniels same thing could said for all these people buying a switch when the switch 2 is about to be announced. People save your money, the switch 2 is literally around the corner lol.
@MikeOrator Those copies of Mario kart are just from Switch bundles.
The switch is on the way out and still outselling PS5 cumulative unit sales 2.5 to 1? On Sony's home turf! Yikes...
@MrMagic Those copies of Mario kart are just from Switch bundles.
So are most of God of War and Spider-Man 2 sales. Horizon as well. Bundles make a difference.
Sony should bring some of its PS4 games to Switch 2. They would print Sony money in Japan and elsewhere. Nintendo OWNS Japan. I mean like in ways i never thought it would get too. Switch 2 is going to print money all over again for them as time goes on into the Switch 2 life. Good to see, even tho i only use my Switch for Nintendo exclusives, it’s still a great time!
Japan always been more of a handheld market and Switch has big price advantage over PS4/5.
But this is the reason why Sony and many Japanese devs focus more on the market outside Japan.
Japan PS Store chart(2024.Dec)
No 1
Palworld (PS5)
Monster Hunter World (PS4)
https://blog.ja.playstation.com/2025/01/10/20250110-downloadranking/
It's never good to see a monopoly but it's Nintendo. After putting up with endless forum posts stating 'Nintendoomed' during the GameCube years it's bloody good to not only see them on top again but doing so with a steady release of pay-once titles that emphasise offline fun instead of online moneygrabs.
It's a shame Astrobot is the outlier for Sony because it used to be so easy to recommend a PS3 then 4 for all the family games that were available, from Littlebigplanet to Singstar. Instead they write off $200m on an online game nobody wanted. Imagine how much it would have cost to make a new Buzz title or a Sackboy 2 instead.
@HonestHick Nope, you can't even buy those bundles anymore. Playstation bundles are limited time, limited stock and constantly changing and it always has been that way. Like how at the moment there's just a Fortnite bundle.
Nintendo has bundled Mario kart with the switch for as long as I can remember. It's smart really but look at the amount of switches still being sold and the fact that the Mario kart bundle is only about $20/£20 more these days or about ¥3k and it's obvious that the majority of Mario kart sales nowadays are mainly from bundles.
With each passing year hardware sales charts becoming less and less relevant.
Removed - trolling/baiting
@Diowine handhelds always sell a lot in japan, they play a lot of mobile and at arcades so the switch is right at home as a handheld
@RadioHedgeFund so nintendo wasn’t on top with the wii? they’ve had more successful generations than any other brand…the nintendo bias reigns supreme
@MrMagic the Mario Kart bundle is limited, heck i just went to 3 websites right now and they don’t even have a Mario kart bundle. Nintendo has bundled a lot of things with switch, Animal crossing, Mario Odyssey etc etc. they don’t last forever and Mario kart has been selling gangbusters since it came out. Same with the PS5, they had GOW, the Spider-Man 2 of course horizon for a little while. It’s all the same limted time. Now one game that was forever bundled was Wii Sports. That one doesn’t count. But thats not the case with Mario kart. Sony has to bundle those games tho due to cost of development and how little single player games sell after a short while. Nintendo don’t have that issue due to low cost and their games sell in the 10’s of millions. You should know this. I feel like i am telling you something you already know. This ain’t your first rodeo around here haha
Japan is just a finicky country with Nintendo bias.😜 I kid...I kid!
@HonestHick Not sure what you're lying for. I just checked Walmart and Best Buy and they have the Mario kart bundle so I think you're talking out your ass also every single store in the UK that sells switches have a mario kart bundle. They may go out of stock until a restock but the bundle is now a permanent fixture on their websites.
@MrMagic i went to GameStop and target. But i do know the bundle exists. I seen them during the holiday, my point was, they aren’t; 100% of the time a thing. For a long while in the switches life they didn’t bundle anything cause it was selling out as fast as they hit the shelves. Holiday bundles aside. Mario Kart 9 has been selling huge along with everything else they made and ported to switch for years. Let’s do non bundled sales of Mario kart vs anything you want to pick of Sony’s non bundled sales. Would that make it a little more digestible for you? The end results is the same, Nintendo ran Sony out of Japan and to California to make action adventure titles.
@HonestHick @HonestHick Yeah but you've completely misunderstood my comment. I'm not saying it didn't sell well on its own originally. I'm talking about now and thought that was pretty clear. Those bundles have been a permanent fixture for a couple of years now and sure they sell out but just until a restock.
Removed - trolling/baiting; user is banned
Removed - trolling/baiting; user is banned
@MrMagic i would check that before saying for sure. I know Mario kart 8 get’s bundled with the non Oled. But it’s not year round from what I’ve seen. Maybe in this last year clearing out inventory? That could be. But again i went to GameStop and target and they don’t have it is my point. That don’t make me a lair by the way, link included for proof. Overall Nintendo is the only first party that drives these kind of sales for individual software titles. There are countless on here that think Sony’s first party drives that type of sales and attractions. But most games Sony and to a lesser extent MS have only reach 10% of the player base at best. Astro Bot is way too fun and well made of a game to be under 2 million sales. Case in point.
https://www.target.com/s/switch
@HonestHick Yeah I'm not sure exactly when it started but a kart bundle has been a permanent option for a while now. It's smart because it has definitely has already sold millions of copies on its own and made plenty of profit so now they're just using it mainly to sell as many switches as possible leading up to switch 2.
@MrMagic certainly a wise decision. I am hoping we get the official reveal of the Switch 2 here soon. I am looking forward to it even if the rumors are true it won’t launch with a Oled screen. Which i get, keep the cost down and get us all to sell ours in a few years and buy the Oled model.
Oh, wow!
55K sales of PS5. 😊
Good job!
I wonder whether the demographics in Japan are simlar to Europe and the US, and whether it is just different taste. I don't really have much idea of any of these Nintendo titles, but they seem to be all very casual, colourful, less serious.
And again xbox can celebrate another big success in Japan. It is clearly ahead of playstation
4
@HonestHick Lol, no they shouldn't.
Removed - trolling/baiting; user is banned
Removed - trolling/baiting; user is banned
@TruthClaire1 it’s easy money and they don’t even need to bring the heavy hitters at first. Bring over some cheap ports from PSP and PS Vita. Then some older PS4 titles. They could make enough off those to produce a new AAA game or continue to push for live service without having heavy investment. They are already on PC, so they are already a 3rd party publisher.
Wow, Playstation in 3rd. Kinda sad to see
@gaston less serious? Just means people like fun games lol
@gaston "I don't really have much idea of any of these Nintendo titles" REALLLY? Like among those are titles such as ZELDA, Dragon Quest, Mario Party, Mario Kart, Super Smash, Pokemon!?
I don't say that you have to like or play them at all. I don't have an Xbox but know their games. But if you really don't know these games then you live under a rock.
Now I can agree with what you intended to say with the "less serious" games.
Nintendo is usually on the family friendly side, other than maybe Metroid and a few other IPs. Not that they are not good games, just usually don't have/focus on the storytelling that PS singleplayer games are usually superb at imo.
@Diowine I never had a nintendo system, and only started with ps4 which I choose, because I wanted to play uncharted and journey. Even so I miss out, I don't want to have another device lying around. I know about the existence of some nintendo titles, but I haven't played them. I played 1080 on n64. Which was very cool at that time. I did not enjoy steep or rider's republic as much (but also only tried these two once or twice).
@Skynet04 People have fun with different things. Some people have a lot of "fun" playing terrifying horror games.
I wanted to say that in Western countries (EU, USA, etc.), the biggest sellers are COD, fifa, rather than mario kart and I was wondering whether this is because in western countries its mostly people with income who play games, and in Japan people buy games for kids rather than for themselves, or whether Japanese just don't like more mature games (e.g. the last of us) all that much in general.
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