Nintendogs Bark Up 2m Sales in Europe
Nongame it may be, but it's one with broader appeal outside of Japan than many would have thought.
Doubters of Nintendo's new strategy of bringing in new people by creating new kinds of games have been put in their place by a Nintendo announcement this week that its sorta-game Nintendogs for DS has reached 2 million sales across Europe.
Perhaps more impressive than the numbers, though, is who the game is selling to. Nintendo said at an event earlier in February that more than half the people who bought the puppy simulator were girls and women - a segment of the population companies have been trying desperately to cosy up to for years.
That 2 million figure is all the more remarkable because it dwarfs sales of the Nintendogs game in the rest of the world. To compare, the three versions of the game have together sold 1.5 million copies in the US and 1 million in Japan.
Success for the first so-called nongame outside of Japan will give Nintendo confidence that perhaps its other experimental games will do well too.
The next offbeat title headed to the West is Brain Training, a DS game filled with all sorts of logic and comprehension puzzles. The game has already spawned a series in Japan, where it is still dominating the charts months after release. And here too Nintendo is reaching out to a new audience, with Brain Training proving especially popular with older people.
Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games
Satoru Iwata Video Interview - the late Nintendo president spoke with Kikizo in 2004 as 'Nintendo Revolution' loomed.
Kaz Hirai Video Interview - the first of Kikizo's interviews with the man who went on to become global head of Sony.
Ed Fries Video Interview - one of Xbox's founders discusses an epic journey from Excel to Xbox.
Yu Suzuki, the Kikizo Interview - we spend time with one of gaming's most revered creators.
Tetris - The Making of an Icon: Alexey Pajitnov and Henk Rogers reveal the fascinating story behind Tetris
Rare founders, Chris and Tim Stamper - their only interview? Genuinely 'rare' sit down with founders of the legendary studio.
The History of First-Person Shooters - a retrospective, from Maze War to Modern Warfare