eShop Sales-Ratings: March 2012

Due to PAX East postings, I had been too busy to make these articles.  However, I will be posting March and April's Sales-Ratings articles now that PAX East coverage is just about complete.  Now, onto the disclaimer.

The Nintendo eShop is Nintendo's online shop through the 3DS where people can download games from old Nintendo hardware, DSiWare games, and new download software specific for the 3DS. Because Nintendo does not disclose sales numbers, and developers are most likely barred from revealing them, we do not know how games are doing on the service.

But we might have at least a small hint.

After playing a game on the 3DS for over a hour, players are capable of rating these games via the eShop, and the totals are shown on each game page, showing up to five stars based on what the population thinks. At the very least, we now have minimum sales figures for the games, but with a very large disclaimer: these numbers represent the users who have done the following:

1) Purchased the game
2) Played the game for over an hour on the 3DS, and
3) Chose to rate the game on the eShop.

People who play the games on their DSi systems cannot rate games, nor can people who have not played the games for less than one hour. Since rating cannot be done outside of the eShop, some might have forgotten to or chosen not to rate said games. Also note that a rating does not necessarily correspond with a sale in the month in which it appears, only emphasizing the number of additional people who completed the above steps.

With that disclaimer in mind, check after the jump to see how everything did.


 Free Apps

1	2	Nintendo Video	9355	69293
2	1	Swapnote	9225	39991
3	3	Pokedex 3D	9164	79117
4	4	Netflix	4968	41352

It seems Nintendo Video finally outdid Swapnote in March for monthly ratings, and April should see the total pass 70k easily.  The space between its monthly ratings and Pokedex 3D's is still too close for there to be any guaranteed closure of the overall gap.  Meanwhile, Swapnote and Netflix will meet each other in the next couple months guaranteed.  Guess having a paid subscription attached to it and the other venues for Netflix partly defeat the purpose of it, but it is still solid.

No Hulu Plus again.  Seems pointless to discuss it at this point.


Video Downloads 

1	1	Thriller	94	557
2	2	Night of the Living Carrots	89	454
3	3	The Pig Who Cried Werewolf	31	139

No difference here, and there is really no commentary to make, except that Thriller has passed 500 ratings and Night of the Living Carrots is nearing 500 next month.  Still getting ratings all this time.


Pre-eShop DSiWare*

1	1	Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! [CN]	843	8199
2	2	Photo Dojo	783	6825
3	3	Plants vs. Zombies	752	8329
4	7	Anonymous Notes Chapter 1 - From the Abyss	358	3065
5	5	Mario Clock	357	2789
6	4	Inchworm Animation	353	4055
7		Art Academy: First Semester [CN]	338	1247
8	8	Cave Story	292	4787
9	10	GO Series: 10 Second Run	283	2168
10	13	Pop Island - Paperfield	247	1786
11	9	Zenonia	233	2592
12	15	Nintendo Countdown Calender	216	1381
13	6	Dr. Mario Express [CN]	211	1784
14	11	Crystal Monsters	208	1647
15	12	Tetris Party Live	180	2136
16	17	Army Defender	178	1415
17	14	Bomberman Blitz	166	2095
18	18	Mario Calculator	139	814
19		Absolute Chess	111	980
20	16	Shantae: Risky's Revenge	108	2976
21	20	Gangstar 2: Kings of L.A.	103	577
22	23	Soul of Darkness	82	1093
23	21	JellyCar 2	81	1098
24		UNO	81	987
25	19	My Farm	80	666
26	26	Pop Island	67	646
27	22	Glory Days: Tactical Defense	67	645
28	24	Anonymous Notes Chapter 2 - From the Abyss	58	647
29	25	Earthworm Jim	50	477
30		Dragon Quest WARS	48	669
31	27	Dark Void Zero	47	952
32	28	Extreme Hangman	45	671
33		Rayman	43	679
34	29	Arcade Bowling	39	504
35	34	5 in 1 Solitaire	34	379
36	38	AiRace	31	322
37		Aura-Aura Climber	30	577
38	31	Blazybloo: Super Melee Action Battle Royale	30	447
39	36	GO Series: Defense Wars	30	280
40	30	Music on: Retro Keyboard	30	209
41	40	MySims Camera	28	120
42	32	Touch Solitaire	27	557
43	39	Escapee GO!	25	223
44	33	Paper Airplane Chase	24	432
45	37	My Exotic Farm	23	330
46	41	Castle Conqueror	20	323
47	43	WarioWare: Snapped!	19	304
48		GO Series: Picdun	18	324
49	35	Faceez Monsters!	18	249
50		Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords	17	588
51		Art Academy: Second Semester	17	136
52		Ivy the Kiwi? Mini	12	153
53	42	Petz Dogz Family	8	135
54	44	Petz Kittens	7	95
55	45	A Topsy Turvy Life: The Turvys Strike Back	3	103

 [CN] Game was made free for download via Club Nintendo
*Note: This list does not contain every pre-eShop release but is periodically updated to include more.

It seems that having Art Academy: First Semester as a Club Nintendo game helped it out quite a bit.  The game had almost a fourth of its total ratings this month, following its CN inclusion.  On further inspection, it seems First Semester's boost has not affected Second Semester in the slightest.  Jumping from one to two games can be a challenge for some, it seems.  Of course, now all the ratings are suspect, but without knowing which is which, all we can do is provide the usual disclaimer.  Heck, I doubt Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again is doing this well simply from Club Nintendo downloads, but even so, I cannot confirm nor deny. 

Speaking of MvsDK, the game is on the verge of passing Plants vs. Zombies for the most-rated DSiWare game period (outside of Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition).  Furthermore, both games are on the verge of passing 10k ratings in the next few months, so that will be a nice milestone to pass.

Looking at other milestones, Bomberman Blitz, Tetris Party Live, and GO Series: 10 Second Run passed 2k ratings.  Anonymous Notes Chapter 1 has passed the 3k mark, and Inchworm Animation has surpassed 4k ratings.

It seems some choices of mine last month were not superb, so let me see what happens by adding in Wayforward's two remaining DSiWare products!  We'll see how they perform in April!

Mighty Flip Champs!	281
Mighty Milky Way	359

Post-eShop DSiWare

1	1	The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition*	6692	66622
2	4	Cut the Rope	487	1734
3	3	GO Series: Undead Storm	482	926
4	2	Bloons TD	481	2415
5	6	Extreme Hangman 2	96	660
6	5	Cake Ninja	86	311
7		Zuma's Revenge	66	66
8	12	Doodle Fit	62	255
9	10	Come On! Heroes	58	307
10	14	Magical Whip	44	297
11	9	Rytmik Retrobits	43	255
12	7	Afterzoom	41	780
13	11	Crazy Hamster	41	211
14	24	Escape Trick: Convenience Store	36	149
15	17	Let's Create! Pottery	35	405
16	18	1001 BlockBusters	33	273
17	15	My Asian Farm	33	210
18	19	GO Series: Fishing Resort	32	301
19	57	iSpot Japan	32	40
20	8	Castle Conqueror: Against	31	204
21	70	Anne's Doll Studio: Gothic Collection	31	64
22	25	Lola's Alphabet Train	28	56
23	35	Make-Up & Style	27	194
24	30	Slingo Supreme	27	78
25	20	Calculator	26	187
26	13	Elite Forces: Unit 77	26	154
27	21	Hip Hop King: Rytmik Edition	25	65
28	22	Moto eXtreme	22	224
29	34	40-in-1 Explosive Megamix	21	36
30	16	My Australian Farm	20	241
31	28	Chronicles of Vampires: Origins	20	104
32	23	The Lost Town: The Dust	15	339
33	31	Stratego: Next Edition	14	202
34	29	Word Searcher 4	13	80
35	50	Trollboarder	13	72
36	32	Go! Go! Kokopolo	12	228
37	36	Build-a-lot	12	137
38	73	Bugs 'N' Balls	12	49
39		Aahh! Spot the Difference	12	12
40	39	Roller Angels	11	68
41	33	Academy Checkers	11	68
42	38	3 Heroes: Crystal Soul	10	33
43	71	Box Pusher	10	15
44	41	Antipole	9	183
45	63	Go Fetch! 2	9	40
46	26	Gaia's Moon	9	23
47	62	Farm Frenzy	8	84
48	56	Christmas Wonderland	8	49
49		Pirates Assault	8	8
50	60	Hidden Photo	7	67
51	72	Heart Spaces Euchre	7	65
52	59	Furry Legends	7	44
53	47	1950s Lawn Mower Kids	7	36
54	75	Just SING! Christmas Vol. 3	7	14
55	27	Kung Fu Dragon	6	87
56	53	Halloween: Trick or Treat	6	68
57	66	Play & Learn Spanish	6	33
58	76	Just SING! 80s Collection	6	18
59	43	Blockado - Puzzle Island	5	77
60	46	Simply Minesweeper	5	74
61	45	Escape Trick: Ninja Castle	5	54
62	78	Crystal Caves of Amen-Ra	5	32
63	42	GO Series: Portable Shrine Wars	4	102
64	40	Jewel Keepers: Easter Island	4	83
65	52	Break Tactics	4	78
66	48	Quick Fill Q	4	20
67	80	House M.D. - Under the Big Top	4	17
68	65	101 Pinball World	4	12
69	79	Battle of the Elements	4	9
70	51	Defense of the Middle Kingdom	3	66
71	61	Delbo	3	43
72	67	DotMan	3	34
73	84	Boardwalk Ball Toss	3	29
74	55	WordJong Arcade	3	25
75	74	Play & Learn Chinese	3	21
76		1st Class Poker & Black Jack	3	3
77	44	Zoonies - Escape from Makatu	2	79
78	49	Castle Conqueror: Heroes	2	43
79	68	House M.D. - Skull and Bones	2	30
80	83	Beach Party Craze	2	28
81	58	Pro Jumper! Guilty Gear Tangent!?	1	108
82	69	Castle Conqueror: Revolution	1	82
83	85	Puzzle Fever	1	41
84	82	Zimo: Mahjong Fanatic	1	33
85	81	Gold Fever	1	27
86	54	House M.D. - Crashed	1	26
87	37	Flipper 2: Flush the Goldfish	1	18
88	87	Double Bloob	1	2
89		90's Pool	1	1
90	64	House M.D. - Blue Meanie	0	57
91	86	Oscar's World Tour	0	18
92	77	Puzzle Rocks	0	17
93	88	B-Team - Episode 2: Ice & Venom	0	7
94	89	Bridge	0	5

* Game was a free download until February 2012, now no longer available.

It appears that despite no longer being available, Four Swords Anniversary Edition will sit at the top of this list for some time.  This should not be a surprise, of course, as the game has been available for free for about half a year.  On that note, I am surprised Nintendo actually removed it and is showing no sign of bringing it back.  Anyways, moving on to actually available games.

Zuma's Revenge was the top debut DSiWare title with a light 66 ratings, whereas 90's Pool had only 1 rating, though it was probably due to its debut mere days before the end of the month.  Still, the remaining debuts in this DSiWare list were not good; the second most-rated game, Aahh! Spot the Difference, received only 12 ratings.  Not a good month for debut DSiWare titles.  As a note, it seems we got 5 DSiWare titles in March as opposed to the increasingly small release list last month, but it appears Nintendo is keeping DSiWare releases to one a week until another mass influx of DSiWare appears.

February's GO Series: Undead Storm stood its ground among other DSiWare hits Cut the Rope and Bloons TD, even though it just barely missed the thousand-rating mark.  Bloons TD passed 2k ratings, and it looks like Cut the Rope will do the same in April.  We had five games not receive a single rating in March, and finally after months of slowly climbing, GO Series: Portable Shrine Wars passed the 100 rating milestone.  It still seems that DSiWare attention is heavily weighted toward the top five or so games, which is a shame for smaller games here.


Classic Games

1	1	Super Mario Bros. (A)	1971	15303
2	2	Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX	934	20734
3	4	Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins	796	6402
4	12	Mario's Picross [CN]	692	1998
5	3	Kirby's Dream Land [CN]	581	6482
6		Metroid (A)	557	5031
7	5	Super Mario Land	483	11988
8		Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble	481	481
9		Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream	344	344
10	6	Metroid II: Return of Samus	260	1774
11	7	Donkey Kong	225	4798
12	26	Radar Mission [CN]	210	483
13	8	Tetris	154	618
14		Dragon Crystal	146	146
15	9	Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge	112	1233
16	10	Game & Watch Gallery	110	1456
17		Shinobi	88	88
18	11	Pac-Man	62	374
19	13	Gargoyle's Quest	49	790
20	14	Blaster Master: Enemy Below	35	162
21	17	Double Dragon	28	201
22	15	Bionic Commando	25	137
23	16	Catrap	22	266
24	25	Adventure Island	22	111
25	18	Lock'N Chase	17	65
26	27	Baseball	15	216
27	19	Alleyway	14	746
28	21	Avenging Spirit	14	254
29	24	Burger Time Deluxe	14	121
30	29	Tennis	9	191
31	30	Side Pocket	9	39
32	28	Balloon Kid	8	106
33	22	Qix	7	252
34	23	Golf	7	62
35	20	Maru's Mission	7	26
36	31	Fortified Zone	4	121

(A) Game was given freely to Ambassadors - 3DS owners before August 2011
[CN] Game was made free for download via Club Nintendo

It should be of no surprise that Super Mario Bros. took the top spot yet again as it ventured into its first full month of being available for all.  The game surpassed 15k ratings, putting it just over five thousand less than the most-rated Virtual Console title to date: Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX.  On that note, LA is the first Classic Game to surpass 20k ratings overall, although it is still short of being the most-rated downloadable title period.

Ambassador Game Metroid was the most rated new title this month, with around five hundred votes placed on it since it emerged as a downloadable title for all gamers.  We also got our first non-Abassador NES title, Punch-Out!!  The most interesting development was the release of Game Gear titles on the Virtual Console, particularly with Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble which got almost half a thousand ratings this month.  No GameBoy releases is a bit of an oddity, so hopefully that will change before long.

In other news, Adventure Island surpassed 100 ratings this month, and Double Dragon surpassed 200 ratings.  We have a couple milestones coming up, but that might have to wait until April or May.


3DS Download Software

1	1	Pushmo	1844	10248
2	8	Dillon's Rolling Western	1606	2271
3	2	FreakyForms: Your Creations, Alive!	1049	6987
4	2	Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword	1001	2970
5	4	3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure	951	5472
6		3D Classics: Kid Icarus**	608	608
7	5	Mutant Mudds	594	2049
8	6	VVVVVV	483	2576
9	7	Mighty Switch Force!	392	2568
10		Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH	375	375
11	9	Zen Pinball 3D	359	1590
12	10	3D Classics: Excitebike*	311	20803
13	11	3D Classics: Xevious [CN]	271	2982
14	12	Let's Golf! 3D	141	2701
15	13	Samurai Sword Destiny	121	589
16	14	3D Classics: Urban Champion	76	1032
17		Zombie Slayer Diox	68	68
18	16	3D Classics: Twinbee	51	607
19	15	Pyramids	46	505
20		ARC STYLE: Soccer 3D	7	7

* Game was made freely available throughout the month of June 2011
** Game was available as Pre-Order for Kid Icarus: Uprising and via Gamestop
[CN] Game was made free for download via Club Nintendo

It appears that despite a strong second month, Dillon's Rolling Western was unable to push Pushmo from the top spot this month.  Meanwhile, the other February-debut, Sakura Samurai, just received more than a thousand ratings in March, a good sign for the title.

While the game was not available for purchase directly from the eShop in March, 3D Classics: Kid Icarus was available to purchase from Gamestop or via Pre-Order of Kid Icarus: Uprising.  As such, the game is now on the charts this month, and it so happens to be the most-rated debut game this month.  Otherwise, Shin'en Multimedia's Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH would have been the most-rated, having just over half what Kid Icarus received.  Meanwhile, Arc Style: Soccer 3D and Zombie Slayer Diox both fared poorly in their debut months, although Arc Style had only been available for a few days before the cut-off.  Hopefully Diox gets some traction.

In milestone news, Pushmo has become the first 3DS Download Software title to surpass 10,000 ratings and not be available for free by any means.  It still has almost 11k to gather before it can surpass the current most-rated title in 3DS Download Software overall: 3D Classics: Excitebike.  Meanwhile, 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure surpassed 5k ratings, and 3D Classics: Urban Champion finally surpassed 1,000 ratings.  In regards to third party releases, Pyramids and Samurai Sword Destiny passed the 500 ratings mark, and Mutant Mudds surpassed 2,000 ratings.  Both VVVVVV and Mighty Switch Force! are very close to one another around the 2,500 mark, so we'll see which surpasses which.  Either way, good stuff all around for the older games.


Overall

1	2	The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition*	6692	66622
2	1	Super Mario Bros. (A)	1971	15303
3	3	Pushmo	1844	10248
4	16	Dillon's Rolling Western	1606	2271
5	5	FreakyForms: Your Creations, Alive!	1049	6987
6	4	Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword	1001	2970
7	6	3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure	951	5472
8	9	Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX	934	20734
9	7	Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! [CN]	843	8199
10	12	Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins	796	6402
11	11	Photo Dojo	783	6825
12	13	Plants vs. Zombies	752	8329
13	61	Mario's Picross [CN]	692	1998
14		3D Classics: Kid Icarus**	608	608
15	8	Mutant Mudds	594	2049
16	10	Kirby's Dream Land [CN]	581	6482
17		Metroid (A)	557	5031
18	21	Cut the Rope	487	1734
19	17	Super Mario Land	483	11988
20	14	VVVVVV	483	2576

* Game was available for free until February 2012.
** Game was available for free via Pre-Order of Kid Icarus: Uprising.
(A) Game was given freely to Ambassadors - 3DS owners before August 2011
[CN] Game was made free for download via Club Nintendo

Despite no longer being available in any capacity on the eShop, Four Swords Anniversary Edition took the top spot this month.  Of course, it should be noted that the game's ratings have been cut in half from February, so perhaps it will continue to drop in due time.  Meanwhile, February's top game Super Mario Bros. is knocked down a peg, just below the top 3DS Download Software titles in total ratings.  Classic Games and DSiWare fill most of the second half of the Top 20.

No surprise that a Club Nintendo game appears on the Top 20: Mario's Picross.  The only debut Classic Game was Metroid at 17.  Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble sat at 23, just outside the Top 20.  The only other debut game in March's Top 20 is 3D Classics: Kid Icarus, and it didn't even fully release just yet.  The most-rated debut 3DS Download Software, Fun! Fun! Minigolf, was ranked 25.  In regards to DSiWare, Zuma's Revenge sat at rank 70 as the most-rated DSiWare debut.  For comparison, last month's GO Series: Undead Storm was biting at the Top 20's ankles at rank 21.

Overall, the month went about without much in the way of shocking releases.  The third party 3DS Download Software did not fare well, and the Classic Games seemed more focused away from the GameBoy than expected.  There were some solid milestones, but it seems this month was without a massive hit.  Will April be able to provide the goods?