14 DAY TRIAL // The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, the Nintendo Wii game that stars one of the biggest characters in the company’s history, has sold under 320,000 units on the Japanese market during its debut month, which is one of the worst performances ever posted by a game in the series.
The problem is worsened by the fact that the launch took place during December, which is traditionally seen as being a month to release high profile titles in Japan in order to bring in solid sales.
Skyward Sword was launched in Japan in late November and predictably topped the chart during its first week on sale but then dropped off very quickly and after just two weeks failed to get into the top twenty that the research firm Media Create compiles for a week.
Despite the holiday shopping spree the new Legends of Zelda failed to make a comeback, which suggests that gamers were not moved to offer it as a gift.
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks managed to sell more than 500,000 copies during the first five weeks on the Japanese market in 2009 while Phantom Hourglass managed an even better performance in 2007, when it moved 631,000 units during the same period.
Even Twilight Princess, the Legend of Zelda game which was a Wii launch title, managed to move around 300,000 dollars during its first week on sale.
These sales numbers were posted during a time when the installed base of gaming devices from Nintendo was significantly smaller than it is today.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has done better overseas, with sales in the United States currently being reported as being over 600,000.
Another underperforming title has been Final Fantasy XIII-2, the Japanese role playing game from publisher Square Enix, which has sold significantly less than the first game in this iteration of the series.