14 DAY TRIAL // Hyrule Warriors is apparently selling very well in Japan, giving Nintendo's hardware sales a healthy push, according to a report from Tsutaya, the largest retail chain in The Land of the Rising Sun.
Data from Japanese retailer Tsutaya is usually employed by analysts to predict software and hardware sales, so the report that the Nintendo Wii U sales have skyrocketed after the brawling game's release on August 14 is most likely indicative of a widespread phenomenon in Japan.
"The Obon Season [a three day Japanese festival made to honor ancestral spirits] saw strong sales over last year. Especially for the released Wii U software title Hyrule Warriors, with hardware sales going very well. The Wii U software division recorded sales nearly four times that of the previous year," the report states.
The report further informs that sales aren't usually as strong during the Obon season, which makes Hyrule Warriors' achievement even more impressive, with the August 11 to August 17 multi-platform chart from the retailer placing Omega Force and Team Ninja's creation at position number three.
For the time being we don't have any concrete numbers, but the information gathered so far not only points to Hyrule Warriors seeing strong sales on its own, but also behaving as a system seller for Nintendo.
The huge boost in software sales is great news for the Wii U, especially since it was accompanied by a spike in hardware sales, at a time when there's not much going on for the console, and more and more Xbox and PlayStation games are piling up for release.
Hyrule Warriors is a crossover title between the Dynasty Warriors franchise and The Legend of Zelda series, borrowing the gameplay of the former and using the very popular characters and storyline of the latter.
The Dynasty Warriors games are pretty big in Japan, so Hyrule Warriors' popularity doesn't come as a surprise, but hopefully the game will be received with the same level of enthusiasm in the West.
In any case, Nintendo seems to have a few solid launches scheduled to come to the Wii U in the near future, such as Bayonetta 2, Super Smash Bros. and Splatoon, all of which have the potential to help the company increase the popularity of its home entertainment system and to drive up Wii U sales.
Hyrule Warriors is coming to the West next month, scheduled to land in Europe on September 19, in Australasia on September 20, and in North America on September 26, exclusively for the Nintendo Wii U home console.