Splatoon nearly sold out at launch in Japan

Splatoon‘s Japanese launch has been a resounding success for Nintendo, with Media Create revealing that the Wii U exclusive had sold 144,818 copies in the four days after it went on sale.

More remarkably Splatoon achieved a 97.33 percent sell-through of stock distributed to retailers, meaning that a majority of consumers have struggled to find a copy in any of their local stores. That sell-through ratio is one of the highest ever recorded, and even managed to surpass that set by Pokémon Diamond (97.12 percent).

The Splatoon amiibo which, in Japan, are available separately or in a Triple Pack, also sold more than 106,000 units which saw their sell-through ratio surpass 90 percent.

It’s clearly exceeding Nintendo’s own expectations in their home market, where the Nintendo 3DS has long been the lead platform. But, sadly, this wasn’t entirely replicated by Wii U hardware sales, which saw a momentary boost to 17,313 units that week.

Software Sales (lifetime sales bracketed)

1. [Wii U] Splatoon, Nintendo – 144,818 (New)
2. [3DS] Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX, SEGA – 41,442 (New)
3. [PS4] The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Spike Chunsoft – 22,454 (89,839)
4. [PSV] Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition, SCE – 12,449 (179,625)
5. [Wii U] Mario Kart 8, Nintendo – 11,654 (1,006,719)
6. [PSV] Cross Ange: Rondo of Angels and Dragons tr., Bandai Namco – 11,215 (New)
7. [3DS] Downtown Nekketsu Jidaigeki, Arc System Works – 9,444 (New)
8. [3DS] Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, GungHo Online Entertainment – 8,920 (252,479)
9. [3DS] Assassination Classroom: Grand Siege on Kurosensei, Bandai Namco – 6,620 (75,242)
10. [PSV] Nobunaga’s Ambition: Sphere of Influence with Power-Up Kit, Koei Tecmo – 6,360 (New)
11. [3DS] Girls Mode 3: Kira Kira Code, Nintendo – 6,282 (140,808)
12. [XBO] Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness, 5pb. – 4,593 (New)
13. [3DS] Pokémon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire, Nintendo – 4,501 (2,631,071)
14. [PSV] Possession Magenta, Idea Factory – 4,172 (New)
15. [3DS] Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo – 3,507 (2,237,443)
16. [PS4] Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster, Square Enix – 2,994 (24,498)
17. [3DS] Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission 2, Bandai Namco – 2,858 (207,938)
18. [Wii U] Mario Party 10, Nintendo – 2,607 (146,290)
19. [PS4] Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair, D3 Publisher – 2,554 (45,143)
20. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Nintendo – 2,526 (3,977,777)

Hardware Sales (last week’s sales bracketed)

1. Wii U – 17,313 (7,611)
2. PlayStation Vita – 12,517 (11,352)
3. PlayStation 4 – 12,272 (12,096)
4. New 3DS LL – 11,170 (10,134)
5. New 3DS – 4,129 (3,609)
6. PlayStation 3 – 3,069 (2,627)
7. 3DS – 1,418 (687)
8. 3DS LL – 919 (827)
9. PlayStation Vita TV – 529 (423)
10. Xbox One – 522 (308)