Top Story
Switch has tripled Wii U’s lifetime sales, but the more popular 3DS is dead
Switch has sold three times as much as Wii U, but the 3DS is dead
The Switch is proving enormously popular, and while it still has some way to go before it catches up with Nintendo’s best-selling consoles, it has still sold three times as much as the Wii U did. According to Nintendo’s sales data, the Switch has sold 41.67 million units.
The poor Wii U only managed to sell 13.56 million units during its short lifetime. The Switch has doubled the GameCube’s 21.74 million sales, and if it carries on selling like it does now it will beat the 49 million SNES unit sold too.
3D or not 3D, that is the question
Unfortunately, Nintendo’s earnings report features a bit of sad news too: Nintendo considers the 3DS pretty much dead, and there are no more games planned for the system. However, they “will continue to fully utilize the platform’s rich software library to appeal to consumers purchasing game hardware for the first time, while continuing to drive sales of evergreen titles that leverage the hardware install base.”
Reading between the lines, it seems like Nintendo will be relying on existing 3DS software to drive sales of the console rather than making any new games. It’s not exactly surprising, since the Switch has all but replaced the 3DS at this point and is easier to develop for.
The Switch still has some way to go before it catches up to the 75.45 million 3DS units sold, to say nothing of the original DS, which shifted 154.62 million units. The Switch Lite is off to a good start, having already sold 1.95 million units, and it’s not even Christmas season yet!
Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?
Which of these characters from The Walking Dead comics did NOT appear in a Telltale series?
- Hershel Greene
- Rick Grimes
- Glenn Rhee
- Michonne Hawthorne
The answer will be revealed at the end of this issue!
News Bits
Nioh for PlayStation 4 in March 2020
There’s still no word on whether the sequel to action-packed Ninja-themed Dark Souls-like Nioh will come out for other platforms, but the PlayStation 4 version finally has a release date: March 13th, 2020. A beta test running until November 10th opens tomorrow, and it sounds like all PlayStation 4 users can check it out for free.
Daily Fact
Nightmare Before Christmas has a videogame sequel
Now that Halloween is finally upon us, it’s a great opportunity to watch the Halloweeniest Halloween movie of all time: The Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s one of the most beloved animation movies of all time, and it never had a sequel – unless you count a videogame. No, we’re not talking about Kingdom Hearts, but The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie’s Revenge!
Released for Xbox and PlayStation 2 in 2004, Oogie’s Revenge was developed by Capcom and plays a bit like a kid-friendly musical version of Devil May Cry – although it certainly has some challenging bosses.
The story continues where the movie left off, as terrible sackman Oogie Boogie returns to Halloweentown and declares himself the “Seven Holidays King” and abducts all the holiday mascots. Yup, even the Easter Bunny. Again.
The game has never been re-released, was not playable on PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 and the GameCube port got cancelled, so it’s not easy to pick up and play these days. Oh, and there was actually a Nightmare Before Christmas prequel too – The Pumpkin King for Game Boy Advance. It’s a mascot platformer that, uh, is probably not worth exhuming. Let dead dogs lie.
Daily News
Pokemon Go has earned more than $3 billion
Pokémon Go is a massive gaming phenomenon, and is still going strong after 3 years on the market and in spite of a slew of imitators and competitors. It’s also massively profitable, and is estimated to have earned more than $3 billion since launch. No official numbers are available, but a ballpark estimate based on Sensor Tower’s Store Intelligence data – and the game shows no sign of slowing down.
I choose you, massive profits!
While Pokémon Go has yet to match its stellar first year in 2016, it has come remarkably close: Pokémon Go earned roughly $832 million in 2016, which then dipped significantly to a still-impressive $589 million in 2017. However, it bounced back in 2018, raking in $816 million. Still lower than 2016, but close!
Niantic and the Pokémon Company are estimated to earn $774 million from Pokémon Go this year, so the phenomenon isn’t slowing down. The game is most popular in the United States – or at least that’s where the audience is most happy to pay – with American users spending $1.1 billion on Pokémon Go since 2016, which is about 36% of its lifetime sales.
Marvel’s Avengers trailer shows off gameplay and character customization
7 months from launch, Marvel’s Avengers is one of the most anticipated games on the horizon. No much has been revealed about the game except for hints and teasers, but the new ‘Game Overview’ trailer finally shows what’s in store.
It begins by revealing story details, before diving into gameplay footage featuring the recently-unveiled Ms Marvel, as well as the game’s progression systems, missions and character customization.
Hulk no want wear stylish suit
A disused helicarrier serves as hub, and will be upgraded throughout the story. Heroes can be customized with new outfits – such as Iron Man’s black and yellow Original Sin suit and Hulk’s gangster suit – along with new emotes, nameplates and (of course) gear. Gear works like in most loot’em-ups, improving your stats and conferring various bonuses. You can also unlock skills and abilities.
Perhaps the most enticing part of the trailer is the mission screen. Missions are divided into single-player Hero missions – which involve specific heroes – and Warzone missions – which can be played alone or in online co-op for up to 4 players. All missions appear to progress the story – but does that mean you can’t go back and play missions again? We will probably find out more as the release date draws closer.
