We're almost back to normal with the UK Charts following a few delays recently, and this week marks the debut of Ubisoft's divisive Star Wars Outlaws, which managed to beat the competition and claim the top spot.
By comparison, Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club hasn't made much of an impact upon its debut, settling in at number 22 behind the likes of Mad Max and Bluey: The Videogame. Were we expecting it to storm to the top given its niche appeal..? No, of course not. This is about what we had anticipated from the game's initial performance.
Elsewhere, Hogwarts Legacy has climbed back up the charts to nab the silver medal this week, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is still chilling out in the top 10, despite a slight drop from number 2 to number 6.
Here's a look at this week's top 40 in full, with platform breakdowns for all of the titles available on other consoles alongside the Switch:
Last Week | This Week | Game | Platform Split |
---|---|---|---|
NEW |
1 |
Star Wars Outlaws |
|
11 |
2 |
Hogwarts Legacy |
Switch 43%, PS5 25%, PS$4 23%, Xbox 6% |
- |
3 |
Elden Ring |
|
- |
4 |
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon |
|
1 |
5 |
EA Sports FC 24 |
Switch 33%, PS4 30%, PS5 27%, Xbox 9% |
2 |
6 |
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe |
|
3 |
7 |
Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition |
|
10 |
8 |
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 |
|
9 |
9 |
Minecraft |
|
22 |
10 |
DC Justice League: Cosmic Chaos |
PS4 40%, PS5 35%, Switch 23%, Xbox 2% |
6 |
11 | Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Edition | |
12 |
12 |
Animal Crossing: New Horizons |
|
9 |
13 | The Witcher III: Wild Hunt GOTY Edition |
PC 62%, PS4 36%, Xbox 2%, Switch 0% |
- |
14 |
Visions of Mana |
PS5 82%, Xbox 13%, PS4 6% |
13 |
15 | Super Mario Bros. Wonder | |
20 |
16 | WWE 2K24 | |
15 |
17 |
Nintendo Switch Sports |
|
16 |
18 |
Grand Theft Auto V |
|
21 |
19 |
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt Complete Edition |
|
- |
20 |
Blue: The Videogame |
Switch 80%, PS5 10%, PS4 8%, Xbox 2% |
- |
21 |
Mad Max |
|
NEW |
22 |
Emio: The Smiling Man Famicom Detective Club |
|
19 |
23 |
Luigi's Mansion 2 HD |
|
23 |
24 |
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III |
|
34 |
25 |
The Last of Us Part II: Remastered |
|
- |
26 | Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor | |
30 |
27 |
Gran Turismo 7 |
|
25 |
28 | God of War Ragnarok | |
- |
29 | Cyberpunk 2077 | |
24 |
30 |
Hitman: World of Assassination |
|
- |
31 | Batman: Arkham Knight | |
- |
32 | Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham | |
32 |
33 |
Wreckfest |
PS5 98%, Switch 2%, PS4 0% |
6 |
34 |
Mafia Trilogy | |
29 |
35 |
Sonic Superstars | |
37 |
36 |
Transformers Battlegrounds | Switch 98%, PS4 2%, Xbox 0% |
- |
37 |
Batman Arkham Collection |
|
36 |
38 |
Pokémon Violet |
|
33 |
39 |
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | |
35 |
40 |
Mario Party Superstars |
[Compiled by GfK]
Did you pick up anything new this week or are you saving up for a busy autumn/fall season? Let us know what you think of the latest charts in the comments below.
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Comments 54
Switch users just LOVE Bluey. Hey, I do too. 👀
Considering the retail price for Emio, I think if it sells 500K in total then it is counted as a success. I'm guessing it had 2-3 years of development time, there not that many devs actively working on it.
Was hoping Emio would pip star wars in sales, but star wars is multi platform so has an unfair advantage
Removed - unconstructive
Yeah, unfortunate but unsurprising for Emio, especially considering it's the UK Charts - fingers crossed it will sell better in Japan at least!
Wow, almost no Nintendo games in the top 40!
I remember saying it when Apollo Justice Trilogy charted in Japan a couple months back and I'll say it again: a visual novel/adventure game like Emio cracking the charts in the first place is still insanely impressive given how niche the genre is to the general gaming space. Hopefully the positive reviews/word-of-mouth will help it crack the 500k barrier in time 👻
@Pigeon Do you perhaps need to go to Specsavers? 9 of the top 40 are Switch-exclusive Nintendo developed / published titles.
Isn’t this list physical only? I have the impression that the physical distribution of Emio hasn’t been very widespread, it seems to be unavailable in various stores, including Nintendo’s. It must be selling more digitally (unlike, say, Bluey, which is typical mall fodder).
@Uncle_Franklin Sorry, but I don't get this kind of mentality at all: if Emio hadn't come out there would've simply been no Nintendo game in August and Sakamoto-san would've most likely worked on a Metroid game instead but that's quite unlikely considering Prime 4 is coming.
I also can't get behind it even without considering the abovementioned facts as I'd like to see creators make the games they want to make and fans of even niche series like Famicom Detective Club enjoy a new game after so much time... not to mention that you could apply the same reasoning to F-Zero because while not as niche as Emio it has never sold that well in general and even more so compared to Mario Kart while certainly costing way more than Emio so it would be an even bigger risk for Nintendo.
"Emio flounders" is so contextually bereft. No-one expects it to sell gangbusters. Sales expectations and targets for Emio vs. Star Wars Outlaws are vastly different.
Showing the % between platforms is quite eye opening.
wut? I thought outlaws was a massive flop, lol. guess it has some appeal to mainstream players or die hard star wars fans. lmfao
Paper bag masks are so overdone in horror and this looks like an especially unimaginative version
@Poco_Lypso A game can flop even when being at #1 on the retail charts of one country in it's first week. Many people buy it just because it's called Star Wars. Doesn't mean it's performing exceptionally well or anything. @Uncle_Franklin No, that's not being honest. You're just continuously hatefull towards this game.
@JohnnyMind
Yeah, and the Switch is on the way out as well, fair enough.
@BTB20
Yeah, the demo was so bad it made me angry.
@Sequel Star Wars is also one of the biggest media brands on the planet. No way was Emio going to beat that.
Did anyone really think it was gonna be a huge seller?
It's part of a niche, that's not popular in the west.
It's cool that nintendo still make games like this and not just big AAA games like 3D zelda & mario. And not wasting their time chasing live service games like other console maker (glance at sony and concord).
Visual novels are never going to be huge sellers compared to a lot of other types of games but a game doesn't need to sell millions and millions of copies to be a success. Niche games are just as important as the big mainstream ones IMO. The video game market would be very boring with little variety if developers only focused on making whatever will sell the best all the time.
I'm not into anime visual novels generally, but Nintendo's first "M-rated" game had me intrigued.
Then the reviews were "good-ish" but definitely not "great" so I passed.
I bought mine on launch day and the store had only one copy. 🙄
It's either Nintendo or retailers that had so little confidence in it to begin with, because surely a Nintendo-published title during a drought should have done better otherwise. If my experience was any indication, then I'd say it did pretty damn well to chart at all!
@Uncle_Franklin Yep, I have my fingers crossed we'll see the series you mentioned last time, F-Zero and Star Fox if I recall correctly, make their comeback with new games other than rereleases (F-Zero at least got 99 on Switch, but that's besides the point) on Switch 2 at this point and also because they're the kind of games that can benefit the most from better hardware!
@Pigeon what chart are you looking at?
Ey...!
Bluey is back on Top 20. 😊
@SillyG Reminds me of when I went to buy a copy of Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii in the morning on launch day from a big EB Games store in Melbourne and was lucky enough to snag the last of the two whole copies they received for non-preorders. I've preordered games I want day one ever since then just to be on the safe side.
"Floundering" is more than harsh, the chart is for physical sales and it wasn't even available in stores. Perhaps the tagline should be "Emio sales cause smiles for NUK despite limited distribution"
The primary place to buy the game in the UK was the My Nintendo Store.
They SOLD OUT of their stock over a week before the title released.
All of this is important in context, the fact that it cracked the charts at all is astounding given the short time between announcement and release, that it is a niche genre, that the previous titles aren't available physically etc etc.
I'm sure the powers that be are ecstatic with the sales figures tbh.
FDC4 had a limited print to begin with. Just like Another Code
I really hope Astro Bot is #1 next week.
Said it before but I’ll say it again, not putting the first two FDC games on sale at all or having a physical version for them was only ever going to hurt Emio’s chances of doing better. Even if it’s selling as expected it could have potentially sold better if the other games were more accessible.
Sucks because these games look right up my street but there’s no way I’m paying £50 for the digital versions of 1&2 (and potentially not even like them).
Hey, at least Emio did better than Concord 😐
@larryisaman there were two demos provided for this game. people didn't have to buy anything to try it for free.
I played the Emio demo. Wow that was unpleasant. "Here's 5 options with several suboptions for most of them. Keep trying them all until something advances the story." No thanks.
A $30 physical or a $60 with the first two FDC games packed in would've gone a very long way.
@Uncle_Franklin @FantasiaWHT
I'm not too far in the game, but I feel like playing it by trying out every single option all the time is missing the point. You're supposed to consider what options make the most sense for the situation you're in; as this Twitter thread details, everything is like a puzzle to some extent, and going in with that mindset is likely to help.
https://x.com/TrainDetective/status/1824477993407799313?t=YU3S4_gK3jViHEp8VuLbsQ&s=19
There are also multiple subtle hint systems at play, like highlighting key words and the Think command. I'm not too far into the game, but they've absolutely helped me so far when I do get stuck. And I've seen a fair number of people say that, compared to the original Famicom games/their remakes, it is more intuitive to figure out what to do most of the time. I respect the developers for trying not to upend the design philosophy of the original games while still working to modernize them. Could they have done more? Perhaps. But I don't think everyone would like it if the game constantly highlighted what they had to do next at the cost of any flexibility (a toggle would probably be a good compromise, though...).
I think that ultimately, sometimes you just have to accept a game might not really be for you. Emio reviewed well with critics; it's been warmly received by many others. If you didn't enjoy the demo at all, then fine. It's not for you. That doesn't mean the game lacks merit and was a waste of resources (the only game it really could've detracted from is the next 2D Metroid, and considering that Sakamoto worked on the remakes of the first 2 Famicom Detective Clubs at the same time as Metroid Dread, it's not even likely it did that). I like to read, and I'm generally patient with my games - and so far, I've really been enjoying Emio. The demo helped sell me. It's fine if it didn't do the same for you - I'm not even trying to say you should try it again with a fresh perspective. But there's a reason why these games are clicking for a lot of people, and just because you aren't one of them doesn't make the game an objectively terrible release.
Ah yes, a videogame featuring my favorite color: "Blue: The Videogame". Quite interesting that a simple color game could chart so well. ( )
Oh no :/ I want it to be a success. Super Emio Brothers, wahooo?
Regarding the Bluey game: is it any good? My kids are too young still, but they do like Bluey on TV.. maybe later
@Glasso What are you on about? I’m talking about making the first two games more accessible. I don’t want to play the third game in the series first
@PikaPhantom
It's archaic pixel hunting.
Emio wasn't exactly the easiest game to find and it definitely has a limited print from what I can tell similar to Another Code Recollection. Here in Canada the only big retailers selling it are Amazon and Gamestop. Then you have small dedicated game stores like VGP and PNP games that had limited stock as well.
I wish we got a physical of the other two Famicom Detective games. Them being digital only and having no English physical of any sort is really crappy.
Nice to see that HOGWARTS LEGACY is still doing well! Especially the SWITCH version!
Surprised to see that AC New Horizons is also on the list, been thinking of getting back into it but the grind of starting over is kind of a deal-breaker.
LMAO at Subhead "Surprise, niche game is niche" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA its standing is in no way surprising, nor should it be to anyone.
Of course people eat that garbage Star Wars game up, it's another generic open world game with no inspiration behind it whatsoever.
It's sad what the gaming world have turned into.
@Maubari It’s not a bad game to be fair (so far). Nothing spectacular but it’s decent.
Regardless, charts are rarely an indicator of quality (not just in games but all media). A licensed game with an IP as huge as Star Wars with that kind of marketing budget topping the charts isn’t really a shock. Mainstream audiences favouring familiarity is par for the course.
@larryisaman they are standalone stories. many people won't really take to the archaic mechanics and the demo can let them find that out!
I don't think anyone expected Emio to be a huge seller. All in all I don't think it's doing too bad for a US$50 visual novel, especially one in a series that's been dead for decades and no one outside of Japan knew existed until a few years ago.
I'm just surprised it charted. And at 22 no less for the end of the month game.
@Uncle_Franklin Anger doesn't bring you anywhere.
Nintendo wastes their time on a game like Emio when they could have made something that people REALLY want, like Tomodachi Life or Nintendogs. SMH. 🤦🏻♀️
As someone who doesn't even like visual novels, it's very funny seeing Emio enjoyers deliver practical essays on the game's quality, intelligently explaining the means of engagement with an unfamiliar artistic medium, and the haters responding with "no it's bad." Great argument, that'll convince em
@FantasiaWHT The orange text usually tells you which option to pick, or gives you a lead, turn highlighting on if it's off. It's a better system than the first 2 games but not perfect.
if there's ever a reason to lose faith in humanity, it's the fact that Outlaws is number one.
@Uncle_Franklin It's certainly not a genre for everyone. And a few times my wife and I were annoyed by how the progression works. But the story was interesting all the way through and it's fun that Nintendo feels comfortable making games that aren't their huge IPs. I'm glad it was released!
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