BWii, Zack & Wiki sell poorly while GHIII does well . . .

(NOTE: These numbers are North American sales numbers according to VG CHartz which I know doesn't have the greatest reputation around here.)

Last week or so I reported that according to VGChartz Zack and Wiki made it's North American debut with a really poor 29,000 copies sold. It was even worse in Japan.

This week things are not looking too good.

Zack and Wiki dropped 50% in its second week to 14,963 copies sold. Any more severe drops like this and the franchise could be dead before it even started. Hopefully the reason for low numbers could still be the low amount of copies Capcom actually shipped out. A consistent 10.000+ copies sold every week throughout the holidays can still happen. So spread the word to all your friends about this great game.

Now on to BWii, oh man, it's debut numbers were worse than Zack and Wiki as it sold only 26,133 copies week one. Now of course we all know Nintendo harldy even acknowledged this games existance even on release day minus a few banners on select gaming websites. But this game was much easier to find next to Zack and Wiki as well. A really poor debut for a franchise I believe had all the potential in the world.

Other tidbits:

Manhunt 2 sold 51,000 it's first week on the Wii. Decent numbers I suppose. The great thing though is that the PS2 version sold 57,000. So it seems to me there is as much an adult audience on the Wii as there is on the PS2. This is good news for future third-party adult oriented games.

Also, Guitar Hero III sold almost 800,000 copies on the XBOX 360. What console sold the second most? The Wii! Granted the drop-off was huge selling through some 271,000 copies on the Wii. The PS2 followed that with 254,000 and the PS3 version lagged considerably with only 113,000 copies sold.

Not a bad week for 3rd party Wii gaming.

UPDATE: Oh, not Wii related, but Dementium: The Ward for DS sold 37,000 week one, not bad for a DS horror game on a small budget!

I knew that Zack & Wiki would suffer the Okami syndrome.

BWii is going on the path from its brother on GameCube. A sleeper game that no one noticed.

I would take both games over Guitar Hero at anytime.

wow uitar hero 2 was fun, but I don't think I could play a sequel..

I get more disappointed with some people in the industry every time I hear of nintendo's marketing

i am not surprised. when i bought zack and wiki, i walked into a gamestop asked for it. and they stared at me blankly. none of the three people working there had heard of it. they found they had one copy in the computer. and we found it in the used wii game section.

at least when i bought BWII it was on the shelf under new releases.

You apparently don't realize that most stores didn't order the game at all? The same is true in Japan. Most of the game copies went to online stores. Walmart online and Amazon have tons of copies for you to buy. Never go to brick and mortar stores expecting to find low key game releases. Often they only stock ten to one percent of a console or portable library. The Wii has over a 100 titles and the DS has over 400 titles. Tell me how many do you see when you enter a brick and mortar store?

Count them in the brick and mortar store then go to an online store like Toy's R' US. Tell me how many more titles does the online store carry?

Btw gamestops in my expierence often have two copies of a game while a Walmart or Bestbuy has 30-50.

It's a shame for Zack and Wiki because it was one of the first really decent third party Wiigames that wasn't a port or a mini-game collection and I think had it been advertised more, it would've done better. I feared that Zack and Wiki would be this year's "Viva Pinata" in that it was a great game but too cartoony for older gamers, too complex for kids. Relaly developers need to advertise games like Zack and Wiki and Okami more if they want them to sell. I haven't seen a single commercial for it. Let's hope when Okami is ported to the Wii, that it finds the audience it deserves.

It's also good to hear that the Wii version of GHIII sold well. I didn't expect it to outsell the 360 version. As much as I'd like to play the Wii version, we already have the 360 GHII at our house and it makes more sense for us to get the 360 version so we'll have two guitars.

Manhunt 2 sold better than I thought then again it hada huge media circus surrounding it though the game itself has only gotten so-so reviews but it does give the Wii a nice M-rated title.

sorry duckman :(

on the other hand.. i got Zack and Wiki.. and maybe i`m not as loyal to games/consoles.. bc i do not actually care if agame sell well or not (at least i do not tend to follow on that).. i have it and i like it so :)

I guess is important to see a sequel on a game... but oh well... and sometimes games like zacka nd wiki are better without sequels ... imo...

And i just got the game so i do not know about the end.. but some games have a sequel plan already ... and this are ok numbers.. so :)

Manhunt 2 sold 51,000 it's first week on the Wii. Decent numbers I suppose. The great thing though is that the PS2 version sold 57,000. So it seems to me there is as much an adult audience on the Wii as there is on the PS2. This is good news for future third-party adult oriented games.-Despacio-

about that i`m :D:D::D:D:D Thus i have not get the game... all the blur stuff made me not to get it :? maybe i will in tehfuture

Sad really. BWii and Zack and Wiki are both sleepers that deserve more attention. They're both original and creative. Lack of sales discourages developers from making better games like these :(.

In the end it's really the casual market that counts.

Honestly, i think it is too late for Zach and Wiki. Despite the statistics, Capcom took the safe route and shipped only a few copies of the game, making gamers miss the hype train. Now gamers have moved their attention to other bigger (and better) games like Super Mario Galaxy, ect.

It is really quite sad. Hopefully the holidays will help it reach at least 200k in the US.

I just bought my copy of Z & W today. Hopefully getting BWii for Christmas. Just because it doesn't do well week one doesn't mean it's going to fail.

i am not surprised. when i bought zack and wiki, i walked into a gamestop asked for it. and they stared at me blankly. none of the three people working there had heard of it. they found they had one copy in the computer. and we found it in the used wii game section.

at least when i bought BWII it was on the shelf under new releases.

frankeyser

I just bought my copy of Z & W today. Hopefully getting BWii for Christmas. Just because it doesn't do well week one doesn't mean it's going to fail.

sumarr

Exactly. These games can still pick up decent sales throughout the holidays.

Duckman, do you have any sales numbers on the first Battalion Wars? Curious how the sequels number look in comparison. I've heard the first Battalion Wars didn't sell too well coming out when the Cube was dying, but we still got a sequel. Let me know when you can.

So the moral of the story is this... keep your copy of Zack & Wiki for it will be worth quite a bit years from now. Earthbound sold poorly, but people are willing to pay good money for an original SNES cartridge.

The same might be said for BWii.

both games are underrated. if Nintendo would just advertise for BWii more. JEEZ.

Come on people I bought both games before they even offcially released. BUY THESE GAMES pEOPLE.

Z and Wiki is revolutionary and BWii has a pretty good campaign.

Its just time and money..Right now i have alota stuff to do and so little time..I currently own Zelda:PH and MP3 and i'm still trying to beat those...I'll barely have time to play ZW or BWii if i buy them...Plus i really cant see myself spending $50 on Bwii..In ZW's case its cheap but i just dont have time...SMG was one of the three reasons i got a wii so i must buy that...which means even less time and money...(i still have Paper MArio for the 64 downloaded on my wii and i gotta finish that too)

I think people are in the same boat as i am, or maybe they just dont know about those games due to lack of advertising..

zack and wiki is starting to lose me as a sale. I'm very hyped for the game but it is still not available for purchase in my town, anywhere. It's like it doesn't exist. Anyway, when galaxy launches I'm putting off zack and wiki. After I'm finished with galaxy I might get the game, but maybe by then I'll be distracted by something else (probably mass effect or assassin's creed)

zack and wiki is starting to lose me as a sale. I'm very hyped for the game but it is still not available for purchase in my town, anywhere. It's like it doesn't exist. Anyway, when galaxy launches I'm putting off zack and wiki. After I'm finished with galaxy I might get the game, but maybe by then I'll be distracted by something else (probably mass effect or assassin's creed)

GunSmith1_basic

Go online seriously or have the store order you a copy. You do know stores can get a copy for you and you only have to pay when you come in to get it right?

I bought Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock on its launch day...

and then I bought Zack and Wiki The Quest for Barbaros Treasure several days later...

Soon I hope to buy Battalion Wars II, but money can only be stretched so far...

I wouldnt get too worried about this article. There are 2 main reason for the lack of sales for both games. One is availability and the other is advertising. I have yet to see one advertisement for either ZW or BW2 and that with the fact that each store only has couple of copies of each game is going to hurt sales. Unless you check online or read it in a magazine your no going to know the game has been released and the stores dont have enough copies to promote the games. mgfarmer

It's not an article, it's just me reporting the numbers. Also that's just it, the lack of availability and marketing is something to worry about. Why is it limited and why is there no marketing?

IMO, there is no doubt more availablity and marketing would have made these games sales numbers thus far a lot better. What you say not to worry about is exactly what should be worried about. I don't think anybody is questioning the very good quailty of each of the games. But even great games wont sell without the proper exposure and advertising.