Sunday, October 2, 2011

eShop Rating-Sales: September 2011

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, let us take a look at how the games performed.

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Free Apps
1/1 Nintendo Video 7158 19206
2/2 Pokedex 3D 5371 31464
3/3 Netflix 3331 14147

Unmoved from last month, Nintendo Video remains the most-rated product in Nintendo's applications, but Pokedex 3D is still the most-rated download software on the eShop to date. At the very least, roughly 30 to 40 thousand people have accessed the eShop at some point, but I imagine the number to be greater overall.


Pre-eShop DSiWare*
1/1 Plants vs. Zombies 647 3623
2/2 Photo Dojo 496 2643
3/3 Cave Story 424 2791
4/5 Inchworm Animation 419 1707
5/4 Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! 404 2387
6/7 Anonymous Notes Chapter 1 - From the Abyss 304 1342
7/10 Zenonia 299 1128
8/6 Shantae: Risky's Revenge 281 1911
9/8 Bomberman Blitz 211 1091
10/12 Mario Clock 209 972
11/9 GO Series: 10 Second Run 203 839
12/11 Tetris Party Live 194 999
13/13 Pop Island - Paperfield 168 788
14/15 Army Defender 162 614
15/14 Soul of Darkness 122 595
16/16 Dark Void Zero 119 622
17/00 JellyCar 2 108 585
18/17 Dr. Mario Express 96 580
19/19 Anonymous Notes Chapter 2 - From the Abyss 71 386
20/18 Extreme Hangman 59 424
21/00 Arcade Bowling 56 267
22/20 GO Series: Defense Wars 33 136
23/21 WarioWare: Snapped! 31 180

*The list might not include games with higher rating counts, as it omits a large portion of prior DSiWare releases.

More or less the top 6 games remained as such, although there are some movements lower down the list. There does not appear to be any surprise in the current listing of old DSiWare games, at least not yet. Meanwhile, Nintendo this past month posted a "Biggest Movers" category in the eShop, and including newly charted games, represent the added chunk of games to the list for next month.

Crystal Monsters 638
Nintendo Countdown Calender 353
Pop Island 332
Touch Solitaire 317
My Farm 279
Paper Airplane Chase 227
Blazybloo: Super Melee Action Battle Royale 217
Mario Calculator 193
5 in 1 Solitaire 180
My Exotic Farm 175
Castle Conqueror 168
Gangster 2: Kings of L.A. 160
Earthworm Jim 149
AiRace 144
A Topsy Turvy Life: The Turvys Strike Back 63
Petz Dogz Family 51
Petz Kittens 38

Yes, Nintendo listed two Petz games in the "Biggest Movers" section. I have my doubts, but we will see next time if the category meant much.


Post-eShop DSiWare
1/00 The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition** 1679 1679
2/16 Let's Create! Pottery 99 112
3/01 Afterzoom 80 376
4/00 GO Series: Fishing Resort 61 61
5/02 Extreme Hangman 2 56 213
6/05 Go! Go! Kokopolo 51 96
7/18 Magical Whip 47 58
8/03 The Lost Town: The Dust 46 168
9/20 Build-a-lot 29 38
10/32 Calculator 29 32
11/06 My Australian Farm 27 71
12/13 My Asian Farm 25 42
13/07 Moto eXtreme 22 96
14/04 Antipole 22 113
15/31 Zoonies - Escape from Makatu 19 23
16/09 Make-Up & Style 17 82
17/00 House M.D. - Blue Meanie 17 17
18/12 Pro Jumper! Guilty Gear Tangent!? 16 70
19/00 Defense of the Middle Kingdom 16 16
20/19 Kung Fu Dragon 14 25
21/26 Crazy Hamster 14 20
22/10 GO Series: Portable Shrine Wars 13 45
23/23 Blockado - Puzzle Island 13 20
24/00 Break Tactics 13 13
25/08 Stratego: Next Edition 12 87
26/14 Farm Frenzy 10 35
27/15 Heart Spaces Euchre 8 32
28/17 Puzzle Fever 8 29
29/25 Roller Angels 7 26
30/11 Jewel Keepers: Easter Island 7 44
31/22 Trollboarder 7 17
32/27 Zimo: Mahjong Fanatic 6 19
33/24 Delbo 6 28
34/00 DotMan 6 6
35/28 Hidden Photo 5 20
36/00 Puzzle Rocks 5 5
37/00 Escape Trick: Ninja Castle 5 5
38/34 Boardwalk Ball Toss 4 15
39/36 Go Fetch! 2 4 6
40/33 Gold Fever 3 18
41/21 Beach Party Craze 2 20
42/29 Oscar's World Tour 2 7
43/30 Play & Learn Spanish 2 7
44/00 Bridge 2 2
45/35 Just SING! 80s Collection 1 3
46/37 B-Team - Episode 2: Ice & Venom 1 2
47/00 Bugs 'N' Balls 0 0
48/00 Crystal Caves of Amen-Ra 0 0

**This game is free and will be available for free until February 20th, 2012.

Even a couple of days after its debut, Four Swords Anniversary Edition happens to become the most-rated game from new DSiWare titles, although that is to be expected. The game is and will remain free for months, so I suspect it will stay at Number 1 until then. Outside of that large outlier, the highest new release goes to GO Series: Fishing Resort with 61 ratings. Last month's biggest rated title, Go! Go! Kokopolo, only debuted with 45, although it has since more than doubled in ratings, a good sign for a good game. However, the biggest mover from last month's releases was not Kokopolo but Let's Create! Pottery, with 99 ratings this past month.

The last two games, both without a single rating, were only out for a full day when I gathered data, so if they are good, expect them to shoot up the charts come next month.

After Zelda, the most-rated post-eShop DSiWare title remains to be Afterzoom.


Virtual Console

1/1 Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX 1693 14452
2/2 Super Mario Land 1006 8464
3/4 Kirby's Dream Land 595 2572
4/3 Donkey Kong 463 3319
5/00 Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge 275 275
6/5 Mario's Picross 238 806
7/7 Gargoyle's Quest 225 350
8/6 Game & Watch Gallery 185 802
9/00 Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins 81 81
10/8 Alleyway 64 585
11/9 Avenging Spirit 48 119
12/00 Pac-Man 47 47
13/10 Qix 30 170
14/11 Baseball 27 126
15/12 Radar Mission 23 203
16/14 Tennis 17 138
17/13 Fortified Zone 15 91
18/00 Golf 14 14

The top 4 games remained as expected, although Kirby outdid Donkey Kong this month. The most-rated new release was Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge with 275 ratings. The other Capcom release, Gargoyle's Quest, sits at the top of third-party VC releases. The worst-performing game of the bunch was Golf, which also debuted this week. Word of advice for Nintendo: do not release a GB Golf title within weeks of releasing an NES Golf game for the Ambassador Program. Also, Super Mario Land 2 was barely out when the month ended; expect it to do well next month.

Link's Awakening DX remains the highest-rated title on the eShop that was never available for free at any time. Outside of new releases, Fortified Zone remains the least-rated VC title, with only 91 ratings.


3DS Download Software
1/1 3D Classics: Excitebike* 1399 17490
2/2 Let's Golf! 3D 456 1351
3/3 3D Classics: Xevious 241 901
4/4 3D Classics: Urban Champion 210 401
5/0 3D Classics: Twinbee 67 67

*This game was available for free during the month of June 2011.

Like last month, the actual 3DS games from eShop went up in count by one, and it happened to be another 3D Classics title. Twinbee only had a week to perform, and it did poorly, with only 67 ratings. Urban Champion, despite being seen negatively upon release, still sits at a total of 401 ratings. Let's Golf! 3D surpassed 1000 ratings, and Xevious appears to be on the verge, as well.

As expected, 3D Classics: Excitebike remains the most-rated 3DS download software and, outside of Nintendo Video and Pokedex 3D, is the most-rated product on the eShop. I do not expect this fact to change into the near future.

Overall
1/2 Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX 1693 14452
2/00 The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition** 1679 1679
3/1 3D Classics: Excitebike* 1399 17490
4/3 Super Mario Land 1006 8464
5/6 Plants vs. Zombies 647 3623
6/5 Kirby's Dream Land 595 2572
7/8 Photo Dojo 496 2643
8/4 Donkey Kong 463 3319
9/7 Let's Golf! 3D 456 1351
10/9 Cave Story 424 2791
11/12 Inchworm Animation 419 1707
12/10 Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! 404 2387
13/15 Anonymous Notes Chapter 1 - From the Abyss 304 1342
14/19 Zenonia 299 1128
15/13 Shantae: Risky's Revenge 281 1911
16/00 Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge 275 275
17/14 3D Classics: Xevious 241 901
18/11 Mario's Picross 238 806
19/29 Gargoyle's Quest 225 350
20/17 Bomberman Blitz 211 1091

*This game was free for the month of June 2011
**This game is and will be free until February 2012


In a way, it is sad to see only two new games appear on the Top 20, but between free games, great handheld virtual console titles, and the 10-game Ambassador Program, I suspect the ratings to have dropped as a result. Link's Awakening DX remains at the top, but Four Swords Anniversary Edition almost surpassed it, followed by the other-once-free title on the eShop 3D Classics: Excitebike. The only paid-for debut in this now Top 20 is Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge. Meanwhile, the only August games on this list are Mario's Picross and Gargoyle's Quest.

What's in store for October? Well, there will almost certainly be a 3D Classics title, and Japan is getting a unique game developed by Intelligent Systems. As for other titles, Wayforward's newest title might appear in the next couple months, so keep a look out!

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