Wii U Sales Jump Amid Strong Start for Amiibo

Nintendo's Wii U has recorded its best ever sales week in the US since the system launched in 2012, the company has announced.

Buoyed by the release of Super Smash Bros., Nintendo’s embattled next-gen console managed to finally outperform its previous best sales week, which was recorded during the Wii U launch in November 2012.

While 2013 represented an abject twelve months at retail for the console, November 2014 hardware sales are up by more than 90 percent year-on-year, Nintendo said. Software sales, meanwhile, are up 10 percent.

Nintendo also has revealed robust sales for the first wave of its new NFC figurines, Amiibo. It said that about 700,000 units had been sold across the US in its first month alone. The best-selling Amiibo so far, it added, is Link, followed by Mario and Pikachu.

Meanwhile, combined digital and physical sales of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U also neared 700,000 units. Comparisons with the phenomenal success of the Wii U’s predecessor, however, are still unflattering.

Super Smash Bros Brawl for the Wii sold about 874,000 units on launch day, and 1.4 million units in its first week, effectively double the Wii U version’s performance for November. The company’s marketing executives nevertheless appear proud of the Wii U's sales surge.

"This is a ringing endorsement from families and fans that Nintendo has the best variety, the best value and the best gaming experiences for sale this holiday season," said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America marketing executive.

"We're extremely confident in our holiday proposition and look forward to closing this year strong and starting 2015 with a full head of steam."