Smash Bros. Brawl sells record-breaking 1.4 million first week in US
by Ross Miller 
{ Mar 17th 2008 at 5:31PM }
Always one to play the numbers game, Nintendo claims to have sold "at a rate of more than 120 units per minute between launch and March 16." Assuming they mean the entirety of March 16 (i.e. the first eight days), that amounts to 8 days * 24 hours/day * 60 minutes/day * 120 units/minute = 1,382,400 units. Too bad they didn't make 130 units per minute. Oh well, better luck next time.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Cheezeman3000 @ Mar 17th 2008 5:35PM
Ok so... fastest in Nintendo's history but what about all history? Either way I wasn't expecting anything less than a record-breaker here. :)
embassy @ Mar 17th 2008 10:02PM
Im pretty sure thats halo 3.
sold like 2+ million copies in 24hrs or something.
plus its the highest grossing media product ever in a 24hr period i believe.
if anyone has the deets on this plz chime in.
xFenixKnightx @ Mar 18th 2008 8:56AM
But I thought Halo3 broke all the rec...wahhh? Oh this is Nintendo only? Okily Dokily!!
The only thing that might evar come close to beating Halo3's record is either Halo4 or Gears 2. Oh yeah I said it!! Whats that? Metal Gear4 you say?
Oh thats rich!!!
finnith @ Mar 17th 2008 5:35PM
Congrats to Nintendo for making such a kick-ass (literally) game =)
embassy @ Mar 17th 2008 10:04PM
erm, that was suppose to be in response to cheezeman.
Cesaria @ Mar 17th 2008 10:15PM
Because that's relevant to the topic, embassy. FAIL!
Fernando Rocker @ Mar 17th 2008 5:35PM
And the most important thing is... Nintendo games have extremely long legs...
Nintendo games keep selling almost the entire generation. Twilight Princess, a launch title, still appears in the charts every week.
Fernando Rocker @ Mar 17th 2008 5:46PM
Look... vgchartz is not very accurate, but it gives very good estimated numbers...
Wii Play, Guitar Hero Wii (wich will outsell the 360 version), Mario Galaxy, New Super Mario (a two year old game), Pokemon Diamon/Pearl, Mario Kart DS (a three year old game), Nintendogs (a 2005 game) and Phantom Hourglass... titles that still appear in the top 50 every week. Same with Twilight Princess, but this is the first week that droped to number 57.
Now, imagine how many months will Smash Bros be in the charts. Even Melee keep selling!
D_Average @ Mar 17th 2008 5:53PM
Hey Rocker, speaking of brawl, I tried to join your match last night but kept getting kicked out, did you remove me by chance?
Roto13 @ Mar 17th 2008 5:55PM
Melee was on the charts pretty consistently for, like, four years or something.
Fernando Rocker @ Mar 17th 2008 5:55PM
Nahh, I was in a little tourney... there's one guy here in Joystiq that is my rival... is the only that can beat me... he has won two tourneys and I just have won 1 tourney...
By the way... attention Joystiqers... of you guys want to brawl in teams, we challenge you! We are almost invencibles. =p
Tranando @ Mar 17th 2008 5:56PM
There were ALOT of Wii owners waiting for something half decent outside Wii Sports to play on the Wii.
Finally they can pull the Wii back out from under the stairs, dust it off, and play something new..
Tranando @ Mar 17th 2008 5:56PM
There were ALOT of Wii owners waiting for something half decent outside Wii Sports to play on the Wii.
Finally they can pull the Wii back out from under the stairs, dust it off, and play something new..
Fernando Rocker @ Mar 17th 2008 5:58PM
Same with the PS3 Tranando.
For every good PS3 title, there's one good Wii title. So, shut the fuck up.
Maverick Saturn @ Mar 17th 2008 6:00PM
Touchy Touchy Fernando, although now you know how it feels.
Secura @ Mar 17th 2008 6:01PM
Maybe it's because they are the only good games on the system...
Marry me Mario PSN: Killjebus @ Mar 17th 2008 6:12PM
Fernandos can say the same negative crap about the PS3 over and over...and he sees no problem with that.
If someone says something bad about Nintendo then he threatens physical violence.
If your going to dish it out....you better be able to take it too you little bitch.
Waaaaaaahhhhhhh Fernandos...go cry about it in your Mario underoos.
albinshigeru @ Mar 17th 2008 6:39PM
fernando, you, me, smash, add me. I want to fight you
2277 6287 8894
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Mar 17th 2008 7:37PM
@Tranendo
You know, your name loses it's meaning when you're basically a carbon clone of Fernando, only much more of a dick and not as fun.
Koopaknight29 - (Nintendo Loyalist) @ Mar 17th 2008 7:42PM
...It's in our job description. But hey, it pays the bills right? ;)
Anyway, to be serious, I can't say I'm surprised by such a turnout considering how awesomely great the game is (to me). It is to be expected.
lukeR @ Mar 17th 2008 8:42PM
@Fernando
Oh ok that explains it. I thought I pissed you off some how,and you didn't wanna let me join your games anymore. btw Fernando,i bet i had you throwing your controller at the tv screen with our match against your pit and my ice climbers.You almost had me dead,but the animation for smashing someone upwards on screen is so slow,Nana made sure you were dead before me.Gotta love that computer AI. :)
Fatass of Kickassness @ Mar 17th 2008 8:43PM
"Nahh, I was in a little tourney... there's one guy here in Joystiq that is my rival... is the only that can beat me... he has won two tourneys and I just have won 1 tourney..."
Hehehe, you make me feel so special.
Up for a match tonight?
Markez @ Mar 17th 2008 5:40PM
I've had a good time with Brawl so far, although SSE mode has turned out to be rather bland. Finally got the opportunity to get a handful of people to sit down in the same room and play it last night, and that was great. Although I'm a little irritated with the final smashes appearing too often and being too powerful, but that can certainly be tweaked.
As much as I was looking forward to playing with Olimar, he just ain't my style. Anybody care to venture on how many units will have moved in North America in a month or two?
Dopple Boppler @ Mar 17th 2008 5:43PM
Olimar's a badass mother fucker, and anyone that says otherwise obviously can't handle his awesomeness.
But yeah, Subspace was kind of underwhelming. I still enjoyed it if only for the hilarious cutscenes, particularly Olimar and Falcon joining forces.
3cubed minus 3squared plus1 @ Mar 17th 2008 5:56PM
Olimar is one of my favorite newcomers. It took a while to master, but he is bad ass.
TWiNKiE @ Mar 17th 2008 5:41PM
How much did Halo 3 sell in its first week?
bender @ Mar 17th 2008 5:45PM
Somewhere between 2-3 million, I think, but I'm not sure exactly.
Shagittarius @ Mar 17th 2008 5:46PM
In the first day its estimated that Halo 3 sold 2.4 million copies.
Fernando Rocker @ Mar 17th 2008 6:05PM
But theres a difference... Halo 3 was launched in Sep. 24 in USA, Sep. 25 EU and Sep. 26 in JP...
Almost in a worlwide release, with the time differences.
Shagittarius @ Mar 17th 2008 6:07PM
2.4 million in 24 hours in the US.
Fernando Rocker @ Mar 17th 2008 6:08PM
In JP it sold 800,000 in launch day, and in USA 800,000 more, with a total of 1.6 million...
Now, add another 800,000 when the game is released in EU. 2.4 million day one if the game was released worlwide at the same time.
Fernando Rocker @ Mar 17th 2008 6:09PM
*Sales of Smash Bros.
Shagittarius @ Mar 17th 2008 6:14PM
What part of 2.4 million in 24 hours in the US alone don't you understand?
ComradeTrotskii @ Mar 17th 2008 9:36PM
What about the launch of Smash Bros on Mars and the galaxy wide event in Holnberg III when we find sentient life there? If we take those figures Brawl will have effective first minute sales of 2.8billion, much more than anything else ever.
Evan @ Mar 17th 2008 11:30PM
I have trouble trusting the Halo 3 sales numbers... Is it 2.5 million sold to consumers, or to stores? Because every local store I shop at still has a stack of cat-helmets left over from Halo 3's launch!
Sidepocket @ Mar 18th 2008 11:41AM
@ Shagittarius
What part of "Only In America", that Halo is the American version of Idolm@ster, it sells high in three territories with a fourth in Korea added soon and that Nintendo games have long legs did YOU not understand?
Mills and Boom @ Mar 17th 2008 5:41PM
Comes as no surprise. When you have a game as good as Brawl then this should have been expected.
tim @ Mar 17th 2008 5:42PM
well that would explain the online lag and server problems huh? Anyway its always nice to see nintendo printing more money. Great game.
Mr Khan @ Mar 17th 2008 5:45PM
They've fixed that, more or less. I connected to 2 matches (out of four attempts) a few nights ago, and they ran a lot smoother than they did on WiiFanboy game night (which were friended matches)
Still having a bit of trouble connecting, but the lag itself is now (at least in my peak-hours test) negligible
Fernando Rocker @ Mar 17th 2008 5:48PM
The lag is almost gone... the first day were very laggy.
But this weekened everything was running very smoothtly... I was playing with Joystiquers from LA, and Im in Texas, and I played with no lag.
Jtenma @ Mar 17th 2008 6:08PM
I connect almost everytime, but I get lag all the time no matter what!!! Maybe I should try again???
GatorSax2010 @ Mar 17th 2008 6:16PM
I tried my first online match today, it froze within fie seconds :( Maybe it's just me...
Fatass of Kickassness @ Mar 17th 2008 8:44PM
I'm in PA and the matches Fernando and I have had run pretty smoothly.
samfish @ Mar 18th 2008 12:08AM
I've given up on online matches more or less for the last few days the lag and connecting problems have been so bad for me. Especially with anyone.
Mr Khan @ Mar 17th 2008 5:43PM
Go Brawl!
I finally tested bin2jpeg, too. Soon I shall use it to get my next avatar
Superstar90 @ Mar 17th 2008 10:23PM
OMG! Is that how Kirby Sonic looks? He is adorable!
waynski1457 @ Mar 17th 2008 5:48PM
good stuff. i finally got to play online today and, while a bit laggy, was still as fun as it should be. oh, and cuz i totally missed all opportunities prior (was too busy playing it...) my fc for those interested: 4940-5190-3368
Joe Smith @ Mar 17th 2008 5:49PM
Well, I freely admit I don't get what people love so much about this game, but I am glad to see another hit title. Every time a game does this well, it helps the whole industry. With PS3 finally starting to get out of its pitiful launch stumbles, and 360 going great guns, and Wii shipping huge hits, it is hard to think of a better time to be a gamer.
Fernando Rocker @ Mar 17th 2008 5:53PM
It's a very very fun game to play with friends... and now with online, it's a blast.
I have played with dozens of Joystiqers, and it's so much fun... you can just brawl in crazy stages with all the weapons, or you can play pro, in Final Destination with no weapons when you want to show your skills.
And the taunt messages are so much fun.
Saria the Cat @ Mar 17th 2008 6:05PM
It's definitely only fun if you can appreciate multiplayer, and if you are reasonably good enough to put up a fight (or are a very good loser).
I do agree with you on the industry benefiting, though. Gaming sure has become both awesome and prominent over the years. :)