Super Mario 3D Land boosts 3DS sales in Japan

The release of Super Mario 3D Land caused 3DS sales to more than double in Japan last week.

According to data from Media Create, reported by Andriasang, Mario's long awaited arrival on the 3DS generated 343,492 sales in the seven-day period ending November 6.

The success of Super Mario 3D Land reverberated in the performance of the 3DS, which sold 145,271 units - a huge improvement of the previous week's total of 65,041.

This goes some way toward vindicating the view - voiced recently by both Nintendo and Ubisoft, among others - that the 3DS's success is contingent on the launch of compelling software.

Western games also had a strong week, with Uncharted 3 and Battlefield 3 entering the chart at second and third respectively. However, if sales of the Xbox 360 version of Battlefield 3 were combined with the PlayStation 3, the total would have been enough to edge past Uncharted.

The full hardware chart is below, with last week's sales in parentheses:

• 1. 3DS: 145,271 (65,041)
• 2. PSP: 27,952 (30,605)
• 3. PS3: 26,966 (25,217)
• 4. Wii: 11,725 (11,784)
• 5. DSi LL: 2,041 (2,009)
• 6. X360: 1,699 (1,704)
• 7. PS2: 1,457 (1,228)
• 8. DSi: 1,057 (1,061)
• 9. DS Lite: 33 (55)

The full software chart is below, with last week's sales in parentheses:

• 01. [3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo, 11/03): 343,492 - New Entry
• 02. [PS3] Uncharted 3 (Sony, 11/02): 124,989 - New Entry
• 03. [PS3] Battlefield 3 (EA, 11/02): 123,379 - New Entry
• 04. [PSP] Final Fantasy Type-0 (EA, 10/27): 122,286 (594,540)
• 05. [WII] Kirby Wii (Nintendo, 10/27): 55,779 (192,589)
• 06. [PSP] Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami, 11/03): 45,437 - New Entry
• 07. [3DS] Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest 3 (Square Enix, 11/03): 38,859 - New Entry
• 08. [360] Battlefield 3 (EA, 11/02): 27,723 - New Entry
• 09. [WII] Just Dance Wii (Nintendo, 10/13): 25,665 (189,116)
• 10. [WII] Go Vacation (Namco Bandai, 10/20): 16,995 (89,463)
• 11. [WII] Winning Eleven Play Maker 2012 (Konami, 11/03): 14,117 - New Entry
• 12. [WII] Wii Sports Resort Wiiplus Pack (Nintendo, 11/11): 12,570 (638,091)
• 13. [PS3] Idolmaster 2 (Namco Bandai, 10/27): 10,721 (76,233)
• 14. [PS3] Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami, 10/06): 10,636 (381,156)
• 15. [PS2] Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami, 11/03): 9,786 - New Entry
• 16. [PSP] AKB1/48 If I Loved an Idol in Guam (Namco Bandai, 10/06): 8,883 (310,625)
• 17. [WII] Minna no Rhythm Heaven (Nintendo, 07/21): 8,581 (535,523)
• 18. [PS3] Macross F Sayonara no Tsubasa Hybrid Pack (Namco Bandai, 10/20): 8,352 (167,700)
• 19. [PSP] Naruto Narutimate Impact (Namco Bandai, 10/20): 7,144 (72,374)
• 20. [3DS] Model Fashion Audition 2 (Alchemist, 11/03): 6,643 - New Entry