You have more than a week before you get the chance to punch Nintendo mascots in high definition, but that doesn’t mean you start preparing now.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is available today for digital preorders. Not only can you get on Nintendo’s eShop and buy it, but you can also fully install it so that it’s ready to go when it unlocks Nov. 21. This ensures that you won’t have to wait in any lines and that you’ll get to start playing without having to wait for a download. This is the first Wii U game to take advantage of this feature, and it’s likely to give Smash Bros. digital sales a boost. That is significant because it’s already the most preordered Wii U game of the console’s nearly two-year life, according to a Bloomberg interview with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime.
The executive thinks that Super Smash Bros. will help the Wii U’s sales just like Mario Kart 8 did earlier this year.
“The launch of Mario Kart 8 has essentially doubled our Wii U sales year-on-year,” said Fils-Aime. “Our expectation is that the sell-through for Smash is going to be very strong, certainly on par with what we saw with Mario Kart 8. We think the impact on hardware will be similarly dramatic.”
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U’s preorder numbers are perhaps a little bit surprising considering Nintendo just released the 3DS version in early October. That game surpassed 705,000 copies sold after just two days, which makes it one of the fastest-selling pieces of software on Nintendo’s handheld. It’s easy to assume that game would have satisfied demand for a new Smash Bros. game, but it looks like it has only made fans — who are extremely dedicated to the franchise — hungry for more.
Now, with games like Mario Kart 8, Pikmin 3, and Smash Bros., Nintendo is seeing the sales of the Wii U pickup. That’s despite its poor start. Sony’s PlayStation 4, which debuted a year after Nintendo’s home console, has already outsold the Wii U.
“Consumers buy the hardware so they can play the software,” Fils-Aime said. “When you have a robust library of games, that’s when consumers jump in.”
This holiday gift-giving season is an important opportunity for Nintendo to prove that. Last quarter, thanks to Mario Kart and the 3DS, Nintendo made its first profit after several quarters of losses. It’s obviously looking to Smash Bros. to help turn that into a winning streak.