Super Mario Galaxy sells 250K first week in Japan

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 8th 2007 at 9:47AM }

Super Mario Galaxy, also known as the game Wii owners have been waiting for, is #1 on the Japanese sales charts. Galaxy sold a quarter million units its first week of release. But, but, but "Teh Haloz" sold much more than that the fanboys will scream. Yes, but that's a launch in the US and we're talking about one island in the Pacific currently. A quarter million units in the first week is a good start.

The Galaxy sales were equal to the rest of the top ten selling games combined. The full top ten list by Media Create can be found after the break. November will certainly be an interesting month to see the NPD numbers in the States ... oh right, that might not happen.

1. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
2. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (360) -- *gasp* We know, right?
3. Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)
4. Super Robot Wars Scramble Commander the 2nd (PS2)
5. DS Literature Collection (DS)
6. DS Nishimura Kyotarou Suspense Detective Series: Deadly Intent (DS)
7. Wii Sports (Wii)
8. Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day (DS)
9. World Soccer Winning Eleven DS: Goal to Goal (DS)
10. Pokemon Mysterious Dungeon: Time Expedition Party (DS)

Tags: galaxy, mario, mariogalaxy, nintendo, supermariogalaxy, wii

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Balla360 @ Nov 8th 2007 9:52AM

I believe those numbers represent only the first 3 days of Super Mario Galaxy's release.

F. Rocker or Fernando R.? @ Nov 8th 2007 9:52AM

500,000 Preorders on gamestop, plus all the thousands of people who will read the Toys r Us add in the newspaper about the $25 gift card...

It's going to be a good day for Mario.

samfish @ Nov 8th 2007 10:03AM

I know I'm buying it at Toy's R Us. I had a chance to get it at Best Buy early yesterday (probably gone now), but decided to hold out for that $25 dollar gift card.

SoulBlade @ Nov 8th 2007 10:29AM

wtf.. you had a chance to get it early and you didn't?! dude...

samfish @ Nov 8th 2007 10:47AM

I clutched it tightly and wandered about the store with it for a bit, a great debate raging in my head and loins.
...but ultimately that gift card kept calling my name...
"sssssaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmfffiiiiiiiisssssssssshhhhh..... you knoooooow yooooooouuuu waaaaaaannnnttt mmmmmeeeeeeeeeeee......"

colin @ Nov 8th 2007 8:24PM

halo killer! wait ... nevermind

F. Rocker or Fernando R.? @ Nov 8th 2007 9:55AM

Anyone here read the comments in N4G? They are the most uninformed, biased, annoying fanboys in the history of the internet.

And I saw someone complaining about the Mario Galaxy sales, and say that he expect that Uncharted will sell between 1.5 million and 2 million in the first week (and he mean it, it was not sarcasm)

They are crazy out there.

Night Elve @ Nov 8th 2007 10:56AM

You know not everything is about Mario and not all the gamers cares about a Mario game.

I don't.

Shagittarius @ Nov 8th 2007 11:07AM

After playing the SMG demo I'm having second thoughts about picking it up and it use to be a definite buy.

samfish @ Nov 8th 2007 11:19AM

I'm sure that the 8 seconds you spent with it was all the time you needed to be convinced, Shag.

megaStryke @ Nov 8th 2007 11:23AM

Shag is just a negative nancy. Everyone here knew that he wasn't going to be crazy about the Wii's biggest game of the year. Hell, we all know that he'll NEVER have anything more than slight interest in the best games that will be released for the machine.

dan stabbingworth @ Nov 8th 2007 11:51AM

Fernando complaining about fanboys? Seriously?

B1gC72 @ Nov 9th 2007 2:53AM

lol. negative nancy.

and frocker complaining about fanboys is definitely a sign of the apocalypse.....or the new standard in hypocrisies.

flameofdoom666 @ Nov 8th 2007 9:58AM

Japan isnt a HUGE country compared to the US, and EURO market- so that is a great start

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 8th 2007 9:58AM

Oh something you may have forgotten that you should have put in this post:

On the same week: The 360 managed to sell more than the ps3. I am not joking.

Donald @ Nov 8th 2007 3:23PM

I think my brain exploded.

RC @ Nov 8th 2007 9:59AM

Tough start for Mario. Looks like the game is gonna be a disappointment sales wise. Wii fad is starting to die.

samfish @ Nov 8th 2007 10:02AM

6 posts before a Nintendtroll came out from his bridge and feast on billy goats!
Pretty quick...but hardly the record!

F. Rocker or Fernando R.? @ Nov 8th 2007 10:03AM

If the Wii is a fad, whats the PS3? Ratchet sold just 40,000 last week. And the Eye of Judgement just 18,000.

And it was here, in USA, with more gamers than in Japan.

http://www.vgchartz.com/aweekly.php

velocitystrike @ Nov 8th 2007 10:07AM

Nice try...

megaStryke @ Nov 8th 2007 10:25AM

Hmmmm... "velocitystrike"....

I'm not sure if that name is a trademark violation, but I'm gonna let it slide because you spell "strike" with an "i" and not a "y". But I'm watching you! Dun dun duuuun!

McWeen @ Nov 8th 2007 10:00AM

DS Literature Collection? Is that a bunch books put onto a DS cartridge for $30?

LAZoftheTamarinds @ Nov 8th 2007 10:03AM

Congrats Nintendo. Congrats.

Can't wait till to get my copy on my Birthday and be further contributing to the sales numbers. :)

Brent @ Nov 8th 2007 10:21AM

So from what I can tell:

Super Mario Galaxy = Ratchet & Clank Future - weapons + waggle - graphics

I'll keep playing R&C, thanks.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 8th 2007 10:24AM

OOOOOOOH man.

I don't know what's more hilarious, the fact that you're completely wrong, or the fact that the NDF is going to murder you in your sleep because of that statement.

F. Rocker or Fernando R.? @ Nov 8th 2007 10:26AM

Keep dreaming noob.

Ratched already bombed, in just two weeks.

Brandon @ Nov 8th 2007 10:32AM

Ahh, Fernando. You are so reliable. You are always there to lick nintendo's nutsack. But all is fair in fanboyism.

arrrgh @ Nov 8th 2007 10:35AM

BRENT WINS TEH N00B OF THE WEEK AWARD!!!!!

HERE'S YOUR CROWN

8======D

Are you clinically retarded, or just a gamer who happens to be both blind and deaf yet still posting

Brandon @ Nov 8th 2007 10:35AM

Oh and another thing, I love how you used "Noob" without a sense of irony. It takes courage to be that willingly lame and outdated.

Back on topic. These are good numbers for Mario. And it seems like one of the few games that makes the Wii seem like more than a shrunken white gamecube. I actually looks graphically good, one of the first to actually do so. Even metroid looked like it was something a PS2 could handle.

samfish @ Nov 8th 2007 10:52AM

Mario: Coke
Ratchet & Clank: Diet Coke

arrrgh @ Nov 8th 2007 10:56AM

I like how you got voted down like a bitch brandon. No irony there either...just down like a bitch

Slaziman @ Nov 8th 2007 2:22PM

Thanks for the heads up Brent, I'm sure everyone wanted to know what you would be playing!

Sieged Eagle @ Nov 8th 2007 3:19PM

You know Brent, after seeing that amazing comment of yours, I've come to the conclusion that...

U R MR GAY

Brent @ Nov 8th 2007 4:09PM

Wow, it's just my opinion...do you really have to flip out and say that I'm
1. A noob.
2. Mentally retarded.
3. Gay.
4. Blind and deaf.

I think there was even a (joking) death threat in there! Yeah, I'm a horrible person for not liking a plumber that jumps on turtles.

SoulBlade @ Nov 8th 2007 10:32AM

17 comments in... my morning started out shitty... but thanks to people like Brent and RC... I can easily say:

Thank you stupid people for making me feel better about myself. You guys rock!

dan stabbingworth @ Nov 8th 2007 11:53AM

Not to wreck your high, but it's a pretty low bar to be stepping over.

SoulBlade @ Nov 8th 2007 2:34PM

This morning was craptacular, so I took what I could get. My only hope is that reading their comments doesn't make me dumber.

plyx @ Nov 8th 2007 10:38AM

Japan has a population of about 127,000,000. The United States has a population of about 301,000,000. According to this post, SMG sold 250,000 units in the first week in Japan. According to Microsoft Halo 3 sold 2,833,333 units in the first week in the U.S. alone (that's if you assume every copy sold for $60).
That means one out every 106 people in the United States bought a copy of Halo 3 during the first week of its release, and one out of every 508 people in Japan bought Super Mario Galaxy in its first week.

Hell, Crisis Core on the PSP sold 480,000 units in its first week.
The friggin PSP.

megaStryke @ Nov 8th 2007 10:42AM

1. These Mario sales were only over three days.
2. Halo 3 sales in Japan were garbage. Ace Combat 6 outsold Halo 3's first week sales and it's only at number two. Japan's sales trends, therefore, are not perfectly analogous to US sales trends.

megaStryke @ Nov 8th 2007 10:44AM

OH YEAH!

3. Crisis Core launched the same week as the PSP Slim. Tie-in software sales with new hardware typically tend to be a lot higher compared to software sales for pre-existing hardware. Of course, there are exceptions like Halo 3.

DBX00 @ Nov 8th 2007 10:49AM

Monster Hunter - 700,000 in sales during its first week. Rationalize that...

arrrgh @ Nov 8th 2007 10:53AM

well it seems people bought the game

samfish @ Nov 8th 2007 10:54AM

It's Monster Hunter. What's there to rationalize?

The only way these numbers look bad is when you compare them against NSMB's 900,000 first week sales.
And the DS has a considerably larger install base in Japan, as well as portables being more popular in general that consoles.

FidliousWong @ Nov 8th 2007 10:55AM

megastryke,

You're not completely correct on 3. Crisis Core's debut week was with the first slim PSP bundle. But that was limited to 77,777 units. The lighter PSPs outside this bundle would release until the next week.

But in general, yeah. It's not the instant smash hit of some previous launches but let's face it, Mario has legs so it will be selling for a LOOOOONG time.

cc123 @ Nov 8th 2007 10:57AM

Comparing Halo sales to other game sales is pointless since very few games pull in those kinds of numbers.

If you want to do a fair comparison and get a real idea of how "well" the game did look up the first week sales for Dragon Quest Swords from this summer or Super Mario Sunshine on the Gamecube.

That should give you a better idea of just how optimistic the people here are being.

plyx @ Nov 8th 2007 11:08AM

Dragon Quest Swords: 305,000.
Super Mario Sunshine: 280,000.

arrrgh @ Nov 8th 2007 11:13AM

Don't forget that halo3 had an advertising campaign that would make some hollywood movie studios blush. Mario's advertising campaign is basically non existent. It's like comparing The Matrix with a critically acclaimed indie film. Both might be great...but what's the one more people went to see just because they knew it existed?

cc123 @ Nov 8th 2007 11:20AM

@plyx

Yup, thems the numbers.

Sunshine outsold Galaxy on a system with a much smaller install base and none of the popularity.

Paints a whole different picture than this article leads us to believe.

megaStryke @ Nov 8th 2007 11:27AM

Crisis Core didn't have to be bundled with the PSP Slim to sell well with new hardware. Twilight Princess wasn't bundled with the Wii and it sold at a rate close to 1:1 with the Wii launch in the States.

Oh, and again... THREE. DAYS. OF. SALES. ONLY.