Nintendo Expects To KO Sales Record With Smash Bros Wii U

Nintendo’s Wii U is dead last in the next-generation console race, but there are encouraging signs ahead for the House of Mario, and the company expects the upcoming Super Smash Bros Wii U to break previous sales records for the console.

Nintendo’s Wii U has been something of an afterthought for many game enthusiasts, particularly following the launches of Sony’s Playstation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One. But the company is expecting the upcoming Super Smash Bros Wii U to help generate some big numbers, and pre-sales of the game have already surpassed pre-sales for Mario Kart 8; the highest-selling game on the console, more than a week before Smash Bros is set to release on November 21.

More from Entertainment

This is pretty great news for Nintendo, who needs to rely on their significant stable of exclusive franchises and characters to make up for the Wii U’s dearth of third-party games. Two of the games expected to be big sellers this holiday season, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Destiny, won’t appear on Nintendo’s console.

It’s doubtful Nintendo can completely make up the sizable gap between Sony and Microsoft, but the Big N is also clearly doing its own thing with video games; Smash Bros Wii U is the first game to support Nintendo’s upcoming Amiibo figurines, which will compete with similar video game/toy hybrids such as the Skylanders franchise and Disney’s Infinity games and toys. The excitement for Smash Bros could get more consoles into houses, and make it more viable for third-party developers to release a game on the Wii U.

Nintendo’s Wii U is dead last in the next-generation console race, but there are encouraging signs ahead for the House of Mario, and the company expects the upcoming Super Smash Bros Wii U to break previous sales records for the console.

More from FanSided