Super Mario 3D Land Debuts At Top Of Japanese Charts

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Nintendo has been in a lot of trouble lately, reporting a massive loss for the first half of its fiscal year and gearing up to post its first annual loss in over 30 years. That isn’t good, and it can be linked directly to three things: poor investor reception of the Wii U, the near abandonment of the Wii, and a botched 3DS launch.

Even though Nintendo had to slash the price on the 3DS just six months after release (which, unsurprisingly, caused profits to plummet), it seems like things are finally turning around for the beleaguered handheld, and it’s all thanks to a pudgy plumber dressed in red and blue.

Super Mario 3D Land launched in Japan last Thursday and it immediately shot to the top of Japanese sales charts. As it turns out, 343,492 copies of Super Mario 3D Land were sold during its first week on the shelves in Japan. This means that Super Mario 3D Land outsold the first weeks of Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Galaxy 2, effectively making it the best launch a 3D Mario game has ever experienced in Japan.

That figure is made even more impressive by that fact that there are only 2.4 million 3DSes in the hands of consumers. Speaking of the 3DS, it had a pretty good week as well, with 145,271 units sold – up from 65,041 units sold the week before.

So, just when it looks like Nintendo was struggling in a big way, Mario comes along to help it out. Nintendo still has a fight ahead of it, but the success of Super Mario 3D Land will go a long way in helping the company make the 3DS a success.

What do you think of these numbers? Are we beginning to see Nintendo bounce back from the rut it was in earlier this year, or isn’t it out of the woods yet? Take to the comments section to sound off and keep it tuned right here to TFTS for more news about Super Mario 3D Land and the 3DS!