Paper Mario The Thousand-Year Door Opens At #1 Slot In Japan

The excitement around the launch of Paper Mario The Thousand-Year Door was immense. Fans wanted to get their hands on the game ASAP so that they could enjoy what they felt was one of the best RPGs ever, not to mention one of the best Nintendo titles ever produced. It may have been 20 years since its original launch, but that didn’t stop the fervor around it. However, hype can only go so far when it comes to a video game’s success. It’s the sales numbers that reveal how good a title did or didn’t do. To that end, the first numbers from Japan point to a positive sales reception for the RPG.

As noted by Insider Stealth, Paper Mario The Thousand-Year Door sold about 115K physical units in Japan within its first week. On the surface, that might not seem like a lot. However, context is key here, and there are two metrics to consider. First, Japan has long since shifted away from buying up every game in sight. They are a more “mobile market” these days, and only certain games get dramatic game sales in their first week.

As Stealth indicates, the sales are only slightly lower than what the game got 20 years ago in its first week! Second, and this is just as important, the digital sales of the game aren’t included in this number. Thus, more than likely, it’s much higher than 115K, further painting the success of the title:

The big numbers will likely come from the US and UK regions, and there are already signs that this RPG will get well over 1 million units sold. You might recall that there were issues with Amazon and Walmart over pre-orders. Specifically, they stopped taking them and started to cancel them because there were so many. Then, when the game finally launched, it immediately shot up to the #1 spot on the Nintendo eShop. So, between the physical and digital sales, things look positive.

That’s the kind of result that fans want because they want nothing more than for a TRUE sequel to this GameCube title to finally happen. There are hints of it happening, too, as Nintendo recently sent out a survey asking about things in the recently re-released title and whether players want to see more of these things going forward.

Sales figures can move what a company does, so let’s all hope that this game has big sales so Nintendo can’t deny what this franchise is meant to be any longer.