eShop Ratings-Sales: April 2012

Due to PAX East postings, I had been too busy to make these articles.  However, I will be posting March and April's Sales-Ratings articles now that PAX East coverage is just about complete.  Now, onto the disclaimer.

The Nintendo eShop is Nintendo's online shop through the 3DS where people can download games from old Nintendo hardware, DSiWare games, and new download software specific for the 3DS. Because Nintendo does not disclose sales numbers, and developers are most likely barred from revealing them, we do not know how games are doing on the service.

But we might have at least a small hint.

After playing a game on the 3DS for over a hour, players are capable of rating these games via the eShop, and the totals are shown on each game page, showing up to five stars based on what the population thinks. At the very least, we now have minimum sales figures for the games, but with a very large disclaimer: these numbers represent the users who have done the following:

1) Purchased the game
2) Played the game for over an hour on the 3DS, and
3) Chose to rate the game on the eShop.

People who play the games on their DSi systems cannot rate games, nor can people who have not played the games for less than one hour. Since rating cannot be done outside of the eShop, some might have forgotten to or chosen not to rate said games. Also note that a rating does not necessarily correspond with a sale in the month in which it appears, only emphasizing the number of additional people who completed the above steps.

With that disclaimer in mind, check after the jump to see how everything did.


Free Apps

1	1	Nintendo Video	9174	78467
2	2	Swapnote	8801	48792
3	3	Pokedex 3D	8605	87722
4	4	Netflix	4491	45843

No change has been seen in the standings this month.  The space between Nintendo Video and Pokedex 3D is shrinking ever so slowly.  Currently the gap sits at 9,255 ratings, and it is only going to get smaller.  Meanwhile, Swapnote has surpassed Netflix this past month, and at its pace, it is bound to race ahead all the more.  I'm just surprised more free apps haven't been made yet.

As a note, Nintendo recently announced Pokedex Pro, an enhanced version of Pokedex 3D but not for free.  When that 3DS Download Software is released, Pokedex 3D will no longer be available.  At that point, its ratings are bound to decline greatly.  We'll have to wait to find out, though.

Video Downloads

1	1	Thriller	122	679
2	2	Night of the Living Carrots	118	572
3	3	The Pig Who Cried Werewolf	20	159

Well, no surprises here.  Night of the Living Carrots passed 500 ratings, and it looks like a thousand for the top two are pretty much a lock by year-end.  Why hasn't any other Nintendo Video released here yet?

Pre-eShop DSiWare*

1	2	Photo Dojo	804	7629
2	1	Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! [CN]	797	8996
3	3	Plants vs. Zombies	772	9101
4	6	Inchworm Animation	418	4473
5	5	Mario Clock	379	3168
6	4	Anonymous Notes Chapter 1 - From the Abyss	373	3438
7	8	Cave Story	276	5063
8	9	GO Series: 10 Second Run	269	2437
9	12	Nintendo Countdown Calender	233	1614
10	13	Pop Island - Paperfield	220	2006
11	17	Bomberman Blitz	194	2289
12	7	Art Academy: First Semester [CN]	192	1439
13	13	Dr. Mario Express [CN]	186	1970
14	11	Zenonia	185	2777
15	14	Crystal Monsters	180	1827
16	16	Army Defender	174	1589
17	18	Mario Calculator	151	965
18	20	Shantae: Risky's Revenge	129	3105
19	23	JellyCar 2	90	1188
20	21	Gangstar 2: Kings of L.A.	89	666
21	24	UNO	86	1073
22	27	Glory Days: Tactical Defense	77	722
23	19	Absolute Chess	71	1051
24	26	Pop Island	70	716
25	25	My Farm	67	733
26	28	Anonymous Notes Chapter 2 - From the Abyss	63	710
27	22	Soul of Darkness	56	1149
28	33	Rayman	56	735
29	30	Dragon Quest WARS	47	716
30	31	Dark Void Zero	43	995
31	37	Aura-Aura Climber	41	618
32	34	Arcade Bowling	41	545
33	29	Earthworm Jim	41	518
34	35	5 in 1 Solitaire	41	420
35	41	MySims Camera	39	159
36	32	Extreme Hangman	36	707
37	40	Music on: Retro Keyboard	34	243
38	39	GO Series: Defense Wars	32	312
39	44	Paper Airplane Chase	31	463
40	36	AiRace	30	352
41	50	Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords	27	615
42	51	Art Academy: Second Semester	23	159
43	49	Faceez Monsters!	21	270
44	46	Castle Conqueror	20	343
45	43	Escapee GO!	20	243
46	45	My Exotic Farm	19	349
47	42	Touch Solitaire	18	575
48	38	Blazybloo: Super Melee Action Battle Royale	18	465
49		Mighty Milky Way	17	376
50	47	WarioWare: Snapped!	16	320
51	53	Petz Dogz Family	16	151
52	48	GO Series: Picdun	15	339
53		Mighty Flip Champs!	11	292
54	54	Petz Kittens	11	106
55	52	Ivy the Kiwi? Mini	6	159
56	55	A Topsy Turvy Life: The Turvys Strike Back	2	105
57	15	Tetris Party Live [N/A]	0	2136

[CN] Game was made freely available through Club Nintendo.
*Note: This list does not contain every pre-eShop release but is periodically updated to include more.

Photo Dojo took the top spot this time, and it has since passed the 7k rating mark.  Meanwhile, Mario vs. Donkey Kong and Plants vs. Zombies are pretty much locked into passing the coveted 10k rating mark in the next month or two, just over the first anniversary of the eShop launching. Mario Clock passed 3,000, and Absolute Chess passed a thousand ratings.

More interesting than these milestones, however, is the fate of Tetris Party Live.  For some reason, the game has been entirely removed from the eShop.  It might have something to do with the availability of Tetris on the Virtual Console as well as Tetris Axis on the retail side.  Either way, the game will no longer be tracked in my system as I never purchased the game and cannot access it in any way.  At the very least, being at 2,136 will be its permenant number unless someone pops in with some numbers from time to time.

The added games from Wayforward did not seem to make too much of a splash, but they are slowly chugging along, regardless.  This upcoming month, Art Style: PiCTOBiTS becomes our Club Nintendo game selection, so we should expect that in the May 2012 data, although it will be marked with [CN].  Meanwhile, The Club Nintendo game for this month was also this month's addition to the Legacy DSiWare section:

Metal Torrent [CN]

438

438

Post-eShop DSiWare

1	1	The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition*	5194	71816
2	2	Cut the Rope	637	2371
3	3	GO Series: Undead Storm	518	1444
4	4	Bloons TD	506	2921
5	6	Cake Ninja	98	409
6	5	Extreme Hangman 2	90	750
7	7	Zuma's Revenge	66	132
8		Penguin Patrol	63	63
9	8	Doodle Fit	56	311
10	11	Rytnik Retrobits	52	307
11	89	90's Pool	50	51
12	12	Afterzoom	45	825
13	9	Come On! Heroes	45	352
14	26	Elite Forces: Unit 77	45	199
15	10	Magical Whip	44	341
16	13	Crazy Hamster	44	255
17	29	40-in-1 Explosive Megamix	40	76
18	21	Anne's Doll Studio: Gothic Collection	39	103
19	22	Lola's Alphabet Train	38	94
20	15	Let's Create! Pottery	33	438
21	24	Slingo Supreme	32	110
22	14	Escape Trick: Convenience Store	29	178
23	20	Castle Conqueror: Against	28	232
24	16	1001 BlockBusters	27	300
25	31	Chronicles of Vampires: Origins	27	131
26	18	GO Series: Fishing Resort	26	327
27	30	My Australian Farm	26	267
28	19	iSpot Japan	26	66
29	32	The Lost Town: The Dust	25	364
30	36	Go! Go! Kokopolo	24	252
31	17	My Asian Farm	24	234
32	25	Calculator	22	209
33	34	Word Searcher 4	22	102
34	27	Hip Hop King: Rytmik Edition	21	86
35	28	Moto eXtreme	20	244
36	39	Aahh! Spot the Difference	19	31
37		I Must Run!	19	19
38	23	Make-Up and Style	17	211
39	76	1st Class Poker & Black Jack	16	19
40	40	Roller Angels	13	81
41	53	1950s Lawn Mower Kids	13	49
42	43	Box Pusher	13	28
43	33	Stratego: Next Edition	12	214
44	35	Trollboarder	12	84
45	66	Quick Fill Q	12	32
46	49	Pirates Assault	12	20
47		Chuck E. Cheese's Arcade Room	12	12
48	48	Christmas Wonderland	11	60
49	52	Furry Legends	11	55
50	46	Gaia's Moon	11	34
51	55	Kung Fu Dragon	10	97
52	65	Break Tactics	9	87
53	56	Halloween: Trick or Treat	9	77
54	63	GO Series: Portable Shrine Wars	8	110
55	60	Simply Minesweeper	8	82
56	38	Bugs 'N' Balls	8	57
57	59	Blockado - Puzzle Island	7	84
58	78	Castle Conqueror: Heroes	7	50
59	67	House M.D. - Under the Big Top	7	24
60		Anne's Doll Studio: Tokyo Collection	7	7
61	47	Farm Frenzy	6	90
62	77	Zoonies - Escape from Makatu	6	85
63	50	Hidden Photo	6	73
64	70	Defense of the Middle Kingdom	6	72
65	41	Academy Checkers	6	64
66	42	3 Heroes: Crystal Soul	6	39
67	58	Just SING! 80s Collection	6	24
68	87	Flipper 2: Flush the Goldfish	6	24
69	54	Just SING! Christmas Vol. 3	6	20
70	90	House M.D. - Blue Meanie	5	62
71	86	House M.D. - Crashed	5	31
72	74	WordJong Arcade	5	30
73	44	Antipole	4	187
74	81	Pro Jumper! Guilty Gear Tangent!?	4	112
75	82	Castle Conqueror: Revolution	4	86
76	51	Heart Spaces Euchre	4	69
77	61	Escape Trick: Ninja Castle	4	58
78	45	Go Fetch! 2	4	44
79	79	House M.D. - Skull and Bones	4	34
80	68	101 Pinball World	4	16
81	64	Jewel Keepers: Easter Island	3	86
82	72	DotMan	3	37
83	57	Play & Learn Spanish	3	36
84	73	Boardwalk Ball Toss	3	32
85	37	Build-a-lot	2	139
86	71	Delbo	2	45
87	84	Zimo: Mahjong Fanatic	2	35
88	75	Play & Learn Chinese	2	23
89	83	Puzzle Fever	1	42
90	62	Crystal Caves of Amen-Ra	1	33
91	80	Beach Party Craze	1	29
92	94	Bridge	1	6
93	85	Gold Fever	0	27
94	91	Oscar's World Tour	0	18
95	92	Puzzle Rocks	0	17
96	69	Battle of the Elements	0	9
97	93	B-Team - Episode 2: Ice & Venom	0	7
98	88	Double Bloob	0	2

* Game was freely available from Sept '11 - Feb '12, no longer on eShop

Last month's assumption that DSiWare games have been reduced to one a week seems to be true into April, with four games released.  Unfortunately, none of the games performed entirely well in the face of other releases.  Penguin Patrol stood at the top of debuts with 63 at number 8 on the chart.  Meanwhile, last month's Zuma's Revenge outdid it by doubling its previous month performance from 66 to 132 ratings.  Still, for a game from PopCap, it seems fairly less effective as, say, Plants vs. Zombies.  Last month's 90's Pool did great into its second month, from 1 vote to 51 votes, but it should be noted it was a late release in March.

Despite not being available for download since mid-February, Zelda remains the top DSiWare game with over 5k ratings.  The game could very well surpass 100k ratings before it slows to a halt, but it will have quite the trek ahead of itself to do so.  It continues to slow in monthly ratings, and it should only be a matter of time before it slumps away.  Eventually.

Cut the Rope surpassed 2k ratings, just in time to see Bloons TD on the verge of passing 3k, both big milestones in new DSiWare releases.  GO Series: Undead Storm has become the third non-free new DSiWare title to surpass a thousand ratings, with the next most-rated game being Afterzoom sitting at 825 ratings.  As for other milestones, Extreme Hangman 2 surpassed 700 ratings; Cake Ninja surpassed 400 ratings; 1001 BlockBusters, Doodle Fit, Magical Whip, and Rytnik Retrobits surpassed 300 ratings; Make Up and Style and Calculator surpassed 200 ratings; and Slingo Supreme, Word Searcher IV, and Anne's Doll Studio: Gothic Collection surpassed 100 ratings.

Six games did not contain any rating at all for the month of April, and 51 games total had at least 10 ratings made in the month (that is, more than half).  Not a great month, but it could always get worse.


Classic Games

1	1	Super Mario Bros. (A)	1774	17077
2	2	Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX	931	21665
3	3	Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins	861	7263
4	8	Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble	568	1049
5	5	Kirby's Dream Land [CN]	418	6900
6	7	Super Mario Land	405	12393
7	6	Metroid (A)	401	5432
8	4	Mario's Picross [CN]	377	2375
9	9	Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream	288	632
10	10	Metroid II: Return of Samus	252	2026
11	11	Donkey Kong	205	5003
12	13	Tetris	171	789
13	12	Radar Mission [CN]	131	614
14	16	Game & Watch Gallery	126	1582
15	14	Dragon Crystal	120	266
16	15	Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge	115	1348
17	17	Shinobi	75	163
18	18	Pac-Man	74	448
19	19	Gargoyle's Quest	39	829
20	20	Blaster Master: Enemy Below	35	197
21	27	Alleyway	30	776
22	21	Double Dragon	26	227
23	22	Bionic Commando	21	158
24	29	Burger Time Deluxe	20	141
25	23	Catrap	19	285
26	28	Avenging Spirit	19	273
27	26	Baseball	16	232
28	24	Adventure Island	14	125
29	33	Qix	13	265
30	30	Tennis	10	201
31	25	Lock'N Chase	8	73
32	32	Balloon Kid	7	113
33	35	Maru's Mission	5	31
34	36	Fortified Zone	4	125
35	34	Golf	3	65
36	31	Side Pocket	2	41

 (A) Game was given freely to Ambassadors - 3DS owners before August 2011
[CN] Game was made free for download via Club Nintendo

Well, this is not something I wanted to see.  Before the eShop hits its first year anniversary we see the first full month without a SINGLE release on the Virtual Console.  That's right, folks, none.  Of course, being late May as of this post, I can assure that this was not a trend, but still, it seems odd that there was nothing in April.

Last month's Game Gear games continued to do well, particularly Sonic Triple Trouble, which became the second third party release here to get more than a thousand ratings.  Gargoyle's Quest is but a hundred and change from that same milestone, but it may take a while to get there at its current rate.   Meanwhile, Super Mario Bros. continues to be the most-rated game in this category and looks like it shall be there for the foreseeable future.  As of now, the game has surpassed 17k ratings, about 4k away from the most-rated game on the platform: Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX.  In fact, LADX has become the most-rated downloadable game on the eShop as of April 2012, surpassing 3D Classics: Excitebike after almost a full year of competition (and the latter was free for a whole month!).

As for other milestones, Super Mario Land surpassed 12k ratings, whereas its sequel only just passed 7k.  Will the two meet at a particular number?  Hard to say.  Early release Donkey Kong finally passed the 5k rating milestone, and Mario's Picross and Metroid II surpassed 2k ratings together.  On the lower side, Tennis just got passed 200 ratings.  Every game received at least one rating in this category.

So far we have Kirby's Block Ball and Game and Watch Gallery 2 for May, so we will certainly see more movement in May's Report.


3DS Download Software

1	6	3D Classics: Kid Icarus**	1944	2552
2	1	Pushmo	1820	12068
3		Colors! 3D	1819	1819
4	2	Dillon's Rolling Western	1090	3361
5	3	FreakyForms: Your Creations, Alive!	1056	8043
6	5	3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure	855	6327
7	4	Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword	706	3676
8	10	Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH	532	907
9	7	Mutant Mudds	498	2547
10	8	VVVVVV	475	3051
11	11	Zen Pinball 3D	307	1897
12		Ketzal's Corridors	304	304
13	9	Mighty Switch Force!	296	2864
14	12	3D Classics: Excitebike*	291	21094
15	13	3D Classics: Xevious [CN]	201	3183
16	17	Zombie Slayer Diox	168	236
17	14	Let's Golf! 3D	151	2852
18	20	ARC STYLE: Soccer 3D	140	147
19	16	3D Classics: Urban Champion	73	1105
20	19	Pyramids	72	577
21	15	Samurai Sword Destiny	59	648
22	18	3D Classics: Twinbee	34	641
23		Block Factory	11	11

* Game was made freely available throughout the month of June 2011
** Game was available as a Preorder Gift for Kid Icarus: Uprising and via Gamestop
[CN] Game was made free for download via Club Nintendo

After four months of being the most-rated game, monthly, for 3DS Download Software games, Pushmo has been pushed to 2nd place by 3D Classics: Kid Icarus, which was made available in March.  Note that 3D Classics: Kid Icarus was released officially on the eShop in April, but preorders of Kid Icarus: Uprising and Gamestop exclusivity came into place the month prior.  As for Pushmo, it surpassed 12k ratings, closing the gap between it and 3D Classics: Excitebike to 9,026 ratings, something which shrinks with each passing month.

The big debut in April belongs to Collecting Smiles's application, Colors! 3D.  The game debuted with 1,819 ratings, surpassing a number of games and already on the verge of taking the most-rated third-party 3DS Download Software released.  Nintendo-published Ketzal's Corridors did not fare as well, sitting at just over 300 ratings.  Block Factory might be too early to tell as it debuted the week ending the month.  As for last month's releases, ARC STYLE did a lot better, but it has yet to surpass 200 ratings.  Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH looks close to getting past 1,000 ratings heading forward in the next couple months.

For milestones, Dillon's Rolling Western, Sakura Samurai, 3D Classics: Xevious and VVVVVV passed 3k ratings, with the last now sitting as the most-rated third-party 3DS Download Software title.  FreakyForms is looking to be the next game to hit the coveted 10k milestone within the next two-to-three months.  Next in line would be 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure.

As for releases this month, we already know of Bird Mania 3D and Sudoku by Nikoli, but I am pretty certain one of those will be barely a blip in May's report.


Overall

1	1	The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition*	5194	71816
2	14	3D Classics: Kid Icarus**	1944	2552
3	3	Pushmo	1820	12068
4		Colors! 3D	1819	1819
5	2	Super Mario Bros. (A)	1774	17077
6	4	Dillon's Rolling Western	1090	3361
7	5	FreakyForms: Your Creations, Alive!	1056	8043
8	8	Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX	931	21665
9	10	Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins	861	7263
10	7	3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure	855	6327
11	11	Photo Dojo	804	7629
12	9	Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! [CN]	797	8996
13	12	Plants vs. Zombies	772	9101
14	6	Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword	706	3676
15	18	Cut the Rope	637	2371
16	23	Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble	568	1049
17	25	Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH	532	907
18	21	GO Series: Undead Storm	518	1444
19	22	Bloons TD	506	2921
20	15	Mutant Mudds	498	2547

 * Game was available for free until February 2012.
** Game was available for free via Pre-Order of Kid Icarus: Uprising.
(A) Game was given freely to Ambassadors - 3DS owners before August 2011
[CN] Game was made free for download via Club Nintendo

Out of the Top 20, Colors! 3D is the only debut this month, sitting at number 4.  Last month's releases have more entrants in this Top 20 than the previous, with both Sonic Triple Trouble and Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH squeaking into the list.  The highest debut DSiWare game, Penguin Patrol, sits at 74, lower than two of the three downloadable videos available in the eShop.

Zelda: Four Swords continues to sit as a questionable inclusion with it being free, but consistency is necessary.  The Top 20 currently has four entries with over 10k ratings, but it looks like we will be seeing at least three more in the coming weeks, between FreakyForms, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, and Plants vs. Zombies.  Only Fun! Fun! Minigolf has less than a thousand total ratings on the Top 20.

What is to see next month?  Well, we are nearing the first anniversary of the eShop, so I would like to show a few graphs depicting the top performers together and give you an idea how newer games hare fared versus debut releases for the eShop.  Not to mention the usual statistics. 

Until then, keep downloading!