New Super Mario Bros. Wii sells 937,000 in Japan

Super Smash Bros. Brawl was one of Nintendo's tent-pole releases in 2008, and the game sold like gangbusters upon its January debut in Japan. The heavily anticipated Wii-exclusive multiplayer brawler shifted nearly 820,000 units within the first week of availability in Japan. As hefty a tally as that may be, Super Smash Bros. Brawl's opening performance has been bested in Japan by Nintendo's arguably most anticipated release of 2009, New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Famitsu publisher and stat-tracking firm Enterbrain reports today that New Super Mario Bros. Wii sold 936,734 between December 3-6, the game's first week of availability. Translated by GameSpot, Famitsu's report indicates that the game's opening performance is the best for a Wii title in Japan since the console launched in the region in December 2006.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii received a warm critical reception upon its release in North America on November 15. Nintendo has yet to announce sales figures for the multiplayer-centric platformer in the US, though the NPD Group is expected to release its November US retail report later this week.

According to Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter, the game's US haul will eclipse that seen in Japan. In a note to investors today, Pachter estimated that New Super Mario Bros. Wii sold 1.2 million units in the US during the four-week period ended November 28.

For more information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of New Super Mario Bros. Wii.