First-party games still number one on Nintendo systems

Almost half of all software sold on Wii and DS are Nintendo-owned properties, new research has shown.

Industry analyst and professional soothsayer Michael Pachter has disclosed sales figures showing that of the $3.23 billion (yes, billion) generated by Nintendo software in the US last year, that $1.53 (that’s 43%) was from Nintendo franchises such as Mario, Zelda, Wii Fit and Brain Training titles.

Pachter, or as we now like to call him – the Pack, noted that high-profile multiplatform titles such as Guitar Hero, ranked unexpectedly low on overall Wii software sales, despite being a respectable money-maker for Activison. What does ‘The Pack’ make of all this? “the Wii audience is far more casual and harder to reach than the PS3 or 360 audiences (pretty obvious), and they buy brand name software (with "Wii" or "Mario" in the title, or with a TV/product tie-in).” We all know that Nintendo make the best first-party games of the big three players in the industry, but the situation is looking pretty tough for third-party developers. The bad news? If a non-Nintendo developer wants to make money on Wii or DS, then ‘go casual’.

Backing up Pachters figures, Nintendo today disclosed a selective list of life-to-date software sales for some of their biggest-selling titles.

Nintendo Wii

Wii Sports Resort – 13.58 million
New Super Mario Bros. Wii – 10.55 million
Wii Fit Plus – 10.16 million

Nintendo DS

Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver – 3.74 million
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks – 3.45 million
Pokemon Platinum Version – 3.1 million
Tomodachi Collection – 2.74 million

Source: Michael Pachter at NeoGAF and Kotaku