The 'Black Friday' craze is almost at an end, with the hectic shopping weekend finishing and 'cyber Monday' still to come. Nintendo will naturally have been hoping that its bundles and promotions will have boosted sales; the good news is that its deals seem to have had a bit of impact.
In a press update issued earlier this weekend - thanks to all that have pointed us to it - Target spoke of sales success over the initial period of the discount bonanza. So far so typical of a press release, but the Wii U was highlighted not only as a top seller, but the top-seller on its website in the early-access Black Friday sales. The following was said:
Gaming consoles were popular in stores and online, including Nintendo Wii U, which was the top selling item on Target.com.
The distinction here is in the Wii U leading on the website, of course, though we'd anticipate that some of that success will have translated into in-store sales too. It's impressive going for the Wii U to be leading in any sector of game console sales via any retailer, frankly, and is a reward for Nintendo's bundles and giving Target tempting prices to pitch to customers. The following bundles were the big deals:
- Wii U 32GB Console With Super Mario 3D World and Nintendo Land - $249.99
- Smash Splat Special Edition Wii U (Splatoon + Smash Bros. installed) - $249.99
Though the base price of the Wii U has been a concern in recent months, a combination of the discount price and the bundled games have clearly done the trick, and we'd anticipate that the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Splatoon bundle was particularly popular.
Some happy news for Nintendo of America; a bargain and top games sure go a long way.
[source pressroom.target.com]
Comments 78
Not too surprised with the Smash Splat Bundle, getting both of those games with a Wii U at that price is a steal! Those 2 games alone can pre-occupy someone for months.
Good news. That Smash and Splatoon bundle makes a very attractive Christmas present
Good! Hopefully lift some sales for Christmas
The Splatoon bundle is excelent value for money
I have seen this reported elsewhere and I remember in the comments people were saying the Wii U was the only console available on the site, or at least only bundle they had. Can someone confirm this to be true or not?
Great to see. Somewhat surprised given how Slim the holiday season looks for new games, but not surprised because this is an outstanding value. Happy to see some good sales news for Nintendo.
Nice, I know a few people getting a Wii U this Christmas, I can take some of the credit for it too, as it's a decision made after their children played mine. Same as last year, my bro got one for his son, as did my sister in law! I was in Smyths today & I heard people pointing out & talking about the Wii U, it was the Splatoon / MK8 bundle. It's been in the Top 20 on Amazon sales rank over the weekend too
Meanwhile here in UK we had Wii U bundles for 230 pounds.... >_<
Surprising to see the Wii U sell so well, I can't see why they didn't push out a Smash Bros. bundle last holiday season. Regardless, I'm happy to see more people getting the Wii U. It's a pretty silly console, but it has some of the best exclusives this generation.
It is interesting that last year Nintendo did very little to push their consoles during Black Friday sales and yet this year they did a half decent push, at least in the US, not so much here in the UK. I wonder if this is Nintendo trying to shift stock knowing this will be the final Holiday Season they sell the Wii U before the NX launches.
@FragRed Why would they stop selling the Wii U when they launch their new handheld?
Some good news at last, shame they didn't bother in the UK though. Great games and a competitive price prove that Nintendo could still shift some consoles. Makes you wonder why they stuck to such a high price for so long
@Octane It is entirely possible they could begin to hate money.
NX delayed till 2020 now... Jokes aside. This is good news Both games are awesomeeee
Surprised it sold as well as that especially with it being a bit overpriced. The games should technically be free and not add to the price as they come pre installed and are not a physical copy. Also not to mention it only has one more year as the main home console for Nintendo as it's obvious the NX is to be released around this time next year for xmas. As the new Zelda has obviously been delayed to be a dual launch game on Wii U and NX so the new console has a big launch game.
Meanwhile Push Square is reporting Best Buy has suggested PS4 'won' Black Friday.
Awaiting news that XB1 was the best seller at Our Price, Comet, and Tandy.
@wizzgamer Does that mean all the games on the eShop should be free because they don't come with a box and physical manual?
@MrGawain Oh God, those are three names I haven't heard in years. I miss Our Price, those were the days when high street retails were good.
@Octane why do you think it's a handheld?
@wizzgamer the bundle was 250 with three games (nintendoland comes with the splat bundle) when normally its 300 so what's your point?
"obviously" some people have their crystal balls out again if we're back to knowing the NX release date again
@faint my point is that if you downloaded 50 download games from the eshop and sold your wii u console you would only get the value of a used wii u console as they are not physical but digital would'nt add any value to your console if you sold it. So why should those two games included with the wii u that are pre installed add to its value they would only be a good deal if they were physical discs in my book.
The price is really good for the bundle if you could get your hands on one. Only one bundle left at my Target one hour after they opened the doors thursday. It looked awesome seeing 20 Xbox one's and 20 ps4's surrounding the Wii U bundle in floor. I regret not taking a picture.
Wow, nice! Very great news!
Now if only those of us who already own a Wii U had something to look forward to this Holiday season...
I'm just happy I finally got Splatoon for the super cheap price of $25 bucks at Wal-Mart!
@wizzgamer because you don't have to spend extra to get them? You know you can keep your account set up on the Wii u and sell it to somebody with the games right? You just erase credit info and tell them not to change the account.
@Not_Soos xenoblade
@faint I know but every console I have seen sell on Ebay with built in digital games like 100s of VC games on the original Wii for example it still seems to sell as if it were a stand alone console with no games only physical games seem to up the price. Seems to be the same with Xbox and Playstation also.
This clashes with other console sales figures I've seen, where PS4 is leading XBO slightly and Wii U was well behind
@wizzgamer
because, for example, I sell a playstation with 200 digital games on it, I can go online and desync the console from my account and buy another playstation and redownload the games, and the buyer lost all 200 games.
not sure how that works with nintendo or Xbox, but I'm sure Xbox is probably similar. That's like selling a PC with 5000 steam games installed... even if you give them your account information, it can be yanked away from them anyway... unless you change the recovery email to their email and you sign an agreement to hand over your account to them and have it notarized and such.
physical and digital games are still the same game. you pay to play the game, not to have a CD and box to collect dust, I can get those for like $1!
So that's Nintendoomed, Wii U sucks, Wii U won't sell, Wii U dead, Nintendo hate their fans NX launching 2016, Zelda for NX etc all confirmed signed and sealed then? Or do these geniuses only come out of hiding when it suits them? Well done Nintendo, about time the Wii U had a solid line-up of games along with a great bundle at a reasonable price. Hopefully it means more fresh noobish meat for me to conquer on Splatoon and Smash
@FragRed
Last year retailers did big bundles for the Wii U - I think it was Zavvi who were selling the Just Dance bundle with 3 other games for around £170. Back in May, Tesco were selling the premium bundle in store for about £80 during their clearance sale.
Cool! All Wii U sales are good.
Target at retail was cleaned out of PS4s and there was one Mario Kart 8 Wii U bundle when I went there... Saturday.
Nintendo not getting closed out on Black Friday is great news, but I suspect PS4 cleaned up. It was only a $50 difference even if the Wii U bundle was way better in my own opinion. Seems like online shoppers favored Wii U this year at Target, though. I'm curious why, but I'm thinking we won't get much of an explanation.
This bundle does come with Nintendo Land, too? That's such a crazy deal and if you don't own the games, they're new to you!
Fun stuff, though SSB just doesn't do it for me overall.
On NX. It's funny to see how convinced everyone one is that it is a console. That's it is a handheld. That it's coming out in 2016. That it is not coming in 2016. That it will have a port of Zelda. That it will not have a port of Zelda.
Nintendo has done a good job of keeping it inside a question block, which is exactly what it should do until it's ready to reveal and release.
I so want to speculate though:
Wii U was such a headache of a launch and the Wii dropped like a lead brick. So, those using the past examples of reveal coming a year from the full-reveal and then release... well, Nintendo has good reason not to do that again. Just saying.
Bit of a double edged blade really. On the one hand it's great to see the sales boost but on the other it highlights a big issue in the perceived value of Nintendo's products. People haven't been so willing to pick up the WiiU at it's intended price but once a they go on sale they sell like hot cakes. Clearly people want them then, they just don't perceive them as being worth the asking price. Unlike the PS4 and XB1 which, whatever you think of them, sell well at a generally much higher price point.
Nintendo are going to have to work hard to change this view of their hardware come the NX.
@MikeW Welcome to the party pal!
@shigulicious
Thanks! Just started playing a couple of hours ago!
Still having a hard time with the controls, but I like what I've seen so far and I'm starting to get the hang of it!
Software sells.
@Ogbert but then your solution too is a double edged blade. Sure making their next hardware a powerhouse is what some people would want, but Nintendo do quite rightly have a kiddie image that they don't shy away from and that their best IP personify, so making an expensive and powerful piece of hardware would alienate a large percentage of their target audience if parents deem it too expensive or techy (dunno the right word) for their kids.
That would be doubly so if the 'NX' is a handheld is some capacity (which is still a possibility) as their portable consoles have never been too far away from being toys. So as far as I see things, making the highest quality console on the market is not the sure-fire guarantee of success that some people seem to think it will be.
Shame there's no physical copy of the games. Guess it keeps cost down!
My Splatoon is ready, bring on the noobs!
Some good news is always welcome, especially considering there were fears that the Wii U would underperform due to a bleak software forecast going into the holiday quarter. Gotta love those evergreen titles.
Anyone know where I can actually get one of these Smash Splatoon Bundles? Target's website would only let me order one for store pickup, but the store didn't actually have the console causing the order to get cancelled. Every Target or Walmart I visited trying to get this bundle said they got somewhere between 4 and 8 of these things and sold out "instantly" at 6 PM Thursday evening. I can't buy a Wii U if none are made available.
Those same stores all had mountains of PS4 and XBO bundles. Literally pallets full of them — no supply issues there!
@Mando44646 How is the PS4 leading given it had no real price drops and in my opinion, had far worse bundles then the Xbox One.
Not that it matters to me, I picked the Xbox One due to the awesome bundles alot of places were selling.
@FragRed that's probably false. They said other game consoles were good sellers as well.
Very good news indeed. It's a fantastic system and so much fun.... Too bad they will most likely be disappointed in the fact that those 2 games alone eat up more than half of the Wii U's hard drive space. I wish Nintendo wouldn't do pre-installed games on their systems if they are going to give them such small hard drives..... Another reason I will never go digital.
@wizzgamer It's not obvious. There is no information towards that blind claim.
Wii U and Top Selling in the same phrase...now that's weird!
I picked up the Splatoon/Smash 32 GB Wii U on Friday for $250. Can't open it until Christmas though, as it's technically for the kid. Going to buy Mario Maker too.
@TheLastLugia Dont know how many times ive heard the "appealing to parents" line.
Nintendo has not had much of a impact on children since the Wii and DS. Most of the parents I know have PS and XB. Their children game on tablets and smart phone's and either of the two competitor consoles mentioned that mom & dad own.
It's not the same scenario that it was with past generations.
@chess227 Totally a fair criticism, but it also makes sense to allow the consumer to buy an external HD as suits their needs, rather than installing a 500 GB HD into every system at added cost. I bought a cheap HD, 1 TB last Christmas, and now I couldn't fill it up even if I tried.
@Superryanworld "since the Wii and DS." Because that was so long ago?
@MikeW If you don't like the motion controls you can turn them off in the game settings. Some people miss that initially. Have fun!
@3DSWiiUFanatic Both DS and Wii where released nearly a decade ago. Smart devices became the next big thing for casual gamers and children over that time span. I'd say nearly ten years ago is a decent hunk of time.
Even with the black friday discount, the Wii U is still overpriced...
I worked all three days of Black Friday weekend at Gamestop and while we only sold a few Wii Us while I was there (it was an extremely slow weekend all around, though, and we didn't have any used ones to take advantage of the buy 2 get 1 free promotion) I did talk to a lot of people who were in to buy Wii U games (more so than normal) and who had just bought a Wii U at the Walmart down the street. One woman was talking up how much her son loved Splatoon already and she was wondering about what other games he might like. Unfortunately we don't have a very large Nintendo section overall! This is definitely something I have found to be true of most Gamestops. But it was definitely a good weekend for Nintendo at my store compared to normal. (It was a super good weekend for Microsoft though. They had the most bundles!)
@Octane lol get info before you try to troll.nx is a console.you can call nintendo they will give you this much info.its a console and you can use the same nnid on it.
@wizzgamer - do you get paid by the talking point?
"Surprised it sold as well as that especially with it being a bit overpriced."
"The games should technically be free and not add to the price as they come pre installed and are not a physical copy"
"Also not to mention it only has one more year as the main home console for Nintendo as it's obvious the NX is to be released around this time next year for xmas. As the new Zelda has obviously been delayed to be a dual launch game on Wii U and NX so the new console has a big launch game."
@Slim1999 And where did YOU get your information from?
@aaronsullivan
If Wii U and especially PS4 cleaned up more than Xbox One did this Black Friday, MS needs to give up the dream of winning even the North American market this gen (which I still didn't think was out of the question when 2015 began). MS had by far the best values on the market this holiday shopping season. Of course I guess it all depends on what games you like but MS was giving away up to 3 games in some bundles, as well as a free game on top of that at some retailers and controllers at others. I'm hoping somebody gets as much solid information as possible soon so we can get a clearer picture of what how things went down. All I've read so far is Wii U won at Target, PS4 won at Best Buy although I have to say I was at a Best Buy and there were plenty of all 3 consoles to go around. Same at Gamestop and Walmart. Not sure that paints a good picture for overall industry spending but it is just anecdotal evidence.
$249 is around £170 that is a bargain but I think that is where the price needs to be to get them selling well, should do the same in the UK!
@sandman89 UK prices are set by retailers, not Nintendo.
@faint It could be anything really, but it's getting tired seeing people assuming they know things, when they are clearly just guessing. At this point, some people are so adamant that the NX is a home console, coming next year, something that's also a handheld and a console with the most stellar launch ever that is going to win everyone back. I'd love to see how wrong they all are when most of that turns out to be not the case.
@Slim1999 Handhelds are consoles as well. Handheld console and home console, both are consoles... We only know that NX is a dedicated gaming device. Again, at this point it could be anything, because we don't really have any info.
@the-madprofessor Nintendo must have some influence
That's good, if I didn't already have a Wii U I'd be all over that smash/splat bundle (and an external hdd of course). I'd very much like to see the breakdown of how the big three did over the weekend.
Yay
@Octane Reggie and the guy behind Tri-Force Heroes (cannot for the life of me remember his name at the moment) both said it was a home console at E3. The Wall Street Journal also said it was a home console in their report, so it's not really assuming at this point.
@sandman89 Given the big differences you often get between retailers, I don't think Nintendo UK has much of a say in the prices.
@the-madprofessor so maybe retailers are more to blame for lack of sales then
@the-madprofessor Sources are appreciated, as I'm not going to do the work for you and look them up. Reggie never called the NX a home console, he only said that Nintendo was also working on the next home console (like they always do). Tanabe never confirmed that the NX was a home console either, and I honestly doubt how much he'd know about it. The thing is, if it was already known what the NX is, Nintendo wouldn't talk so mysteriously about it. Anyway, if it's a home console, don't expect it to launch in 2016.
This was really excellent news for Nintendo. I think there's a lot of life left and a lot of potential left in the Wii U. It's an amazing console. It's a shame that Nintendo put up the NX stuff so Wii U's life became so much shorter suddenly with everyone expecting a successor. Third parties were horrible and short sighted with the Wii U but it's filled with strong first party games and the Nindies, really a great console all around and good to see U.S. consumers being smart about it this holiday season.
@wizzgamer people think everything overpriced these days. ¯(ツ)/¯
@Hinaru77
Agreed. Seriously, if people don't like the price, then don't buy the damn item or just be patient and wait for a price drop. A product is only worth as much as the consumer is prepared to pay. Don't moan about it, just buy something else instead or save up.
So Splatoon was the "magic" game?
@Caryslan you got me. I feel the PS4 has been pretty lackluster all of 2015, compared to XBO. I guess their marketing is making up for that slack
@Mando44646
Sony has made the right choices in which third party franchises it's aligned the PS4 with and there's some like Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid which are associated with the brand due to what's happened in the past. But even as more of a PlayStation gamer I agree that Xbox One has been better. I've recommended it to friends over the PS4 at this point because MS is actually putting out some exclusives and most of them are very good.
@GuruOfGreatness no kidding. :/ people want everything to be free now these days.
It's a good deal if only they hadn't cancelled my order! >
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