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Nintendo Sold a Bunch of Hardware Last Week

1.2 million total pieces of gaming hardware were sold by the company over the last week, including around 400,000 Wii Us.

"Well, that's one down..."

Hey, a console launched last week! I know, right? A real, honest-to-god new console, something we haven't had since 2006. In console years, that was like a hundred years ago. Undoubtedly, you are all dying to know how well this new console, otherwise known as Nintendo's Wii U, did at retail its opening week. The answer is...

400,000! At least, that's the number Nintendo is touting in its hardware sales round-up for the last week. According to a statement released to CNET, that number has left the Wii U "essentially sold out of retail." That would seem to jive with personal accounts from various Internet users, who have often reported seeing one or two consoles at most available at stores.

That 400,000 number is down from the 600,000 sold by the original Wii in its launch week. As many may remember, the Wii was almost completely sold out of retail for long periods following its launch, and continued to sell out shipments for weeks afterward. Incidentally, Nintendo reports that it sold 300,000 original Wii units last week.

Between Wiis and handheld systems, Nintendo pulled out a total of 1.2 million hardware units sold last week, which is certainly a tidy number. While the Wii U's near sellout is a positive sign for the hardware maker, it'll be interesting to see how the console does as it becomes more readily available in stores. Would also be curious to see how software attach rates are sussing out.

For purely anecdotal research, a question: Did you grab a Wii U this past week? And if so, what games did you grab with it?

Alex Navarro on Google+

220 Comments

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labman

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Edited By labman

I live in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, but our local store (we only have one) usually has the newest consoles/games on the day of release. However, I have yet to see a Wii U at the store. I'm not sure if the Manager neglected to order them or if there were just none to available or what happened. At any rate, I didn't get a Wii U yet, but I kinda want a deluxe one. We'll see what happens when more units become available. I didn't buy a Wii or 3DS, and I'm not burnt out on the whole Super Smash Bro's thing like most Wii/3DS owners...I would probably pick that up to go along with Nintendoland until the next big Wii U release.

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deactivated-629f1111f1060

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@Colourful_Hippie said:

@GreatDane said:

Dreamcast sold 374k in the first week in the US......

And the Dreamcast died, you're point is?

*your

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Draxyle

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Edited By Draxyle

Seems like a healthy number. The Wii U was in no way going to surpass the Wii; I think we all knew that. I'm sure some of the launch issues and market confusion aren't helping, but they'll likely remain the market leader over the next PS3 and Xbox by virtue of price and being first out the gate.

I'm waiting on some bigger hitters before picking mine up. Nothing about the launch lineup is a must have for me yet, but we all know the next big Mario and Zelda are being made as we speak.

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Slow_pC

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Edited By Slow_pC

Grabbed one last week , really been enjoying it. Nintendoland and nsmbu so far.

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ApolloBob

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Edited By ApolloBob

Strolled into a local Target on Tuesday night and bought a deluxe, after their website claimed they were in stock. Figured the Nintendoland pack in would keep me occupied, so no other games (except for an eshop purchase a coupla days ago).

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Quickling

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Edited By Quickling

I picked one up. Got the deluxe so it came with Nintendoland... But I also picked up New Super Mario Bros. U and ZombiU the latter of which is simply awesome.. I've also downloaded Little Inferno which appeals to the inner pyro in me... that game is kinda dark just saying.

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colourful_hippie

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Edited By colourful_hippie

@Penzilneck said:

@Colourful_Hippie said:

@GreatDane said:

Dreamcast sold 374k in the first week in the US......

And the Dreamcast died, you're point is?

*your

Thanks for that, I've corrected the proper use of you're so much that I finally fucked up.

Edit: Wait a second, my initial post never said you're. Quit changing my shit yo.

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algertman

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Edited By algertman

@GreatDane said:

Dreamcast sold 374k in the first week in the US......

Also, not getting a Wii U. Have a 360 and a wii I dont use..

The fate of the Dreamcast was written in stone before it launched. Sega had had the failures of the Game Gear, Sega CD, 32x, and Saturn on them by the time Dreamcast launched.

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rachelepithet

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Edited By rachelepithet

.

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Blastroid

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Edited By Blastroid
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bigevil1987

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Edited By bigevil1987

Haven't bought one yet, but hoping to pick one up this week. If there are any left around these parts.

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deactivated-5a46aa62043d1

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I didn't get a Wii U, but definitely plan to at some point. I couldn't care less if third party devs support it or not, I want a Wii U to play Nintendo games in HD and to play the handful of Wii games I missed out on since I never wanted to get one of those. If any worthwhile third party games come along I'll consider them a bonus.

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Adrian79

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Edited By Adrian79

No WiiU for me tyvm, I got burned enough by the WIi and 3DS. Be interesting to see if the figures plummet after the diehard Nintendo fans have all got theirs or if it'll be another casual must-have.

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cruxking

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Edited By cruxking

here's the real question. How many of the 300,000 Wii bundles sold were bought by people because they got confused and thought they were buying something new?

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algertman

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Edited By algertman

@Draxyle said:

Seems like a healthy number. The Wii U was in no way going to surpass the Wii; I think we all knew that. I'm sure some of the launch issues and market confusion aren't helping, but they'll likely remain the market leader over the next PS3 and Xbox by virtue of price and being first out the gate.

I'm waiting on some bigger hitters before picking mine up. Nothing about the launch lineup is a must have for me yet, but we all know the next big Mario and Zelda are being made as we speak.

When the new MS and Sony hardware hit I think Sony will be in last. I a lot of people who buy one console and stick with it will go to MS. Sony has better 1st party games, in my opinion, but recently the 3rd support has been bad on PS3 due to shoddy port overs. We'll see though.

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superfriend

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Edited By superfriend

I wonder how many of those 300.000 original Wii sales were clueless parents buying the wrong system by accident.

Well, I was hoping for a system that would run modern games at 1080p without any problems, guess I´ll stick with my PC till the next batch of consoles rolls out.

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Meepasaurus

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Edited By Meepasaurus

Just got a Deluxe for now. I'd be playing Nintendo Land right now, but I'm waiting for the patch to hopefully fix all these goddamn system lockups. I don't want to destroy my system.

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deactivated-629f1111f1060

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@Colourful_Hippie said:

@Penzilneck said:

@Colourful_Hippie said:

@GreatDane said:

Dreamcast sold 374k in the first week in the US......

And the Dreamcast died, you're point is?

*your

Thanks for that, I've corrected the proper use of you're so much that I finally fucked up.

Edit: Wait a second, my initial post never said you're. Quit changing my shit yo.

You're right. It didn't. But I made you doubt yourself for a moment and take a look, with a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. Then you realized you were perfectly right and now have a boosted and justified sense of confidence, and are empowered to engage the world with a new lease on life. You're welcome. Pay it forward. *SWOOSH* "The more you know"

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algertman

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Edited By algertman

I assume Nintendo is happy with the numbers since they didn't go all Sony and say "Nintendo Family" without breaking it down based on console.

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Fearbeard

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Edited By Fearbeard

Honestly I'll be more interested in seeing how the Wii-U sells in a few weeks.

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joeshabadoo

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Edited By joeshabadoo

I wonder how many people are going to post a comment asking how many people thought they were buying a Wii U when they bought a Wii...

There were new attractive bundles, people. That's accounting for most of the 300K. I'm sure there were a few isolated incidents of the mix-up you're talking about, any disappointed kids on christmas should be able to bring that wii back to the store and put the credit toward a wiiU

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cannonballbam

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Edited By cannonballbam

@joeshabadoo: I had a similar thought. The name has been my only gripe about the system since its reveal. It makes me realize how much PR go crazy for that brand synergy crap.

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epgpx

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Edited By epgpx

@ikabubu: Yeah, I guess it tells me that you live in a small ass town with a population of 12 people in it. That's no surprise to me being that you're from a desolate town.

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iceman228433

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Edited By iceman228433

Spin it how ever you want Nintendo but this is the end for you.

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BBQBram

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Edited By BBQBram

I think it'll do pretty well for them once they start releasing bundles with some big Nintendo franchise games in there.

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Peanut

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Edited By Peanut

This is also just US hardware sales. I'm interested to know how they did elsewhere this far.

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orange_pork

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Edited By orange_pork

Picked up a Basic last week with NSMBU, Sega All-Stars Racing, and a bunch of Wii games like Last Story, Rhythm Heaven Fever, and Mario Galaxy. Couldn't find any copies of Xenoblade Chronicles anywhere, and screw paying $100 for it on Amazon.

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McGhee

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Edited By McGhee

@MarioBoza said:

@edgeCrusher said:

Nope. Not getting one until Baynoetta 2 drops.

You guys are going to be real sad when Bayonetta 2 ends up sucking.

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Gildermershina

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Edited By Gildermershina

Nintendo seem to have a problem where they keep naming their consoles pretty much the same as the old ones, creating unnecessary marketplace confusion. How many parents go out with instructions to buy their kid a 3DS, see a DS and think "hey, this is a DS, right? This one is cheaper. I'm sure that'll do." If they had dropped the name Wii, even calling it something dumb like the Nintendo "Yuu", then at least there'd be less people thinking it's just an optional add-on for a Wii.

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papercut

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Edited By papercut

300,000 wii units sold huh? That's a lot of sad kids this christmas....

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SathingtonWaltz

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Edited By SathingtonWaltz

I really want to pick up the deluxe package and I noticed that according to their website my local Walmart has "limited stock". Does anyone know what exactly that means?

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Enigma777

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Edited By Enigma777

And I wasn't one of them! Whoooooo! You can't have my cash Ninty! Nope nope nope.

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ikilledthedj

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Edited By ikilledthedj
@Colourful_Hippie that dreamcast failed
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whitespider

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Edited By whitespider
  • Console joe "Hey man, what are you playing"
  • Pc Matt."Assassins creed 3, and Dishonored both are pretty stunning on pc"
  • Console joe"Dude. I can't afford one of those"
  • Pc Matt."Oh?"
  • Console joe"Yeah, computers are crazy expensive"
  • Pc Matt."So what are you playing?"
  • Console joe"My new Wii-u. It's so rad."
  • Pc Matt."You do realize that's like 75% the cost of a pc right there?"
  • Console joe"It's got zelda"
  • Pc Matt."Oh right. Totally understand."
  • ....
  • Pc Matt."So I'm just going back to my phenomenal looking and playing games now ok?"
  • Console joe"Sure, I'll be playing Batman armored edition"
  • Pc Matt."Awesome dude. Power to you."
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m0rdr3d

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Edited By m0rdr3d

I'm a little worn out by all the BS hype by gamers and the industry this time. The Wii U is not sold out at all. Of the 17 Wal-Marts in my area, only 2 were sold out. The day after Black Friday I walked into a Wal-Mart and grabbed one. Tons of shoppers (families) hanging around and none wanted the system.

I WISH they sold out like crazy, I don't have an ax to grind. Just sayin...They ain't sold out, peoples.

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isawachuck

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Edited By isawachuck

Along with the Deluxe Edition Wii U and Nintendo Land, I snagged New Super Mario Bros. U (I don't know why) and ZombiU.

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DrRandle

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Edited By DrRandle

Picked up a WiiU deluxe on launch. So far I've got NSMBWU, Scribblenauts Unlimited, the unfortunately named ZombiU, Batman Arkham City because why not I never played it, and Assassin's creed 3 to kind of benchmark the tech. So far I'm really impressed, but there are three things that get me the most:

1. The streaming services are all best on here. I love using the GamePad to navigate them, but the software could use some work. Also, no more XBOX Live fees to watch things I already subscribe to watch!

2. The Miiverse kind of came out of nowhere and has actually really impressed me. I love just checkin' out what's on there, including the swarm of ridiculously amazing sketches.

3. Day 1 digital downloads for almost every game. It was headline news whenever Sony was able to score a Day 1 digital, and Nintendo just blasted it all out of the gate. I would love to see that trend continue strong.

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sissylion

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Edited By sissylion

The issue with trying to pin down Nintendo's success is that all their products sell gangbusters. The Wii U could make two thirds of what the Wii made and it would still be a large profit.

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divergence

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Edited By divergence

I have not picked up a Wii U yet. I probably will not get one until sometime next year.

Oddly, I actually fired up my original Wii last night and played New Super Mario Bros Wii for the first time. I'm kind of digging it (besides the controller shaking and tilting nonsense). Once they get some 2nd generation games coming out for the U that look good I'll get a system then. And hopefully also by then maybe they can fix some of the clunky OS issues that I keep reading about (shudder).

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amafi

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Edited By amafi

It's not out here until the 30th, but I've put one on lay-away.

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Seeric

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Edited By Seeric

I didn't get a Wii U yet. While console launches are always fun to be a part of, I'd prefer to wait until more of the heavy-hitting games come out since the games are all I really care about. Plus, I have enough games on other consoles/pc which I still need to get around to finishing that I don't mind waiting for more stuff and a possible price drop/discount before I pick up a Wii U.

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subyman

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Edited By subyman

Wow almost as many Wiis and Wii Us. Not too surprising though, I believe I remember the PS2 selling close to what the PS3 sold for a while after the PS3's launch.

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JoelTGM

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Edited By JoelTGM

meh. I'm not sold on the weird game pad or the weird ways that developers are trying to make use of it. When I'm playing games I look at my TV, and I like all the info there, like the corner map in Call of Duty or Halo. If I could have my inventory or a map shown down below, that'd be cool for some games, but it only ever took a second to pull up the map or inventory in a game anyway, so now instead it'll just be displayed the whole time on my game pad until the battery quickly dies. All I can see so far is devs either putting some game info down below that isn't really worth draining battery for, or trying to force little mini games onto it like picking the lock on a door or something, and again it doesn't need to be there when it could just be on the TV screen. And I got very very little use out of the original Wii.

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RadixNegative2

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Edited By RadixNegative2

I bought the deluxe Wii U with ZombiU and New Super Mario Bros. U.

I have to say, not really enjoying Mario. Kinda wish I had picked up AC3 or Scribblenauts instead.

Surprisingly though I've enjoyed Nintendo Land the most. It was a lot of fun playing with my family.

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ShatterShock

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Edited By ShatterShock

I went out to shop on Black Friday, and I found two standard edition WiiUs at Game Stop (Even with it being packed full of people who had to get in long lines to make their purchases) and two standards with two deluxes at my local Toys R Us (This was 2:00am, long after the door busters were picked clean). However, I didn't purchase one because there are no games that I'm interested in playing on it. Nintendo will just have to accept my 3DS XL monies instead.

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pictoben

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Edited By pictoben

So is it true that the wii-u controllers are built from the re-purposed shells on unsold YouDraw tablets?

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RE_Player1

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Edited By RE_Player1

@xombi242: Yup I'm really happy Atlus picked that up too. Dragon's Crown, Soul Sacrifice and Killzone Mercenary are the 2013 Vita games I'm most interested in.

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harpooningliger

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Edited By harpooningliger

Got the white one on the first day with Zombi U and Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge. I would have bought the deluxe model but they had run out of pre-orders.

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uhtaree

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Edited By uhtaree

I stood in line with my brother at our fairly rural Walmart Supercenter Thanksgiving night to get a $149 White 4gb 360 bundled w/ last year's Skylanders. The line quickly filled in to sell the 128 units they had. If you assume that our run-of-the-mill Walmart sold the average number of 360s per Supercenter in the US, listed as 3,029 stores on wikipedia, thats 387,712 units of just that specific bundle presumably sold at Walmart Supercenters alone.

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Gonmog

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Edited By Gonmog

In case anyone reads the comments for the question asked at the end..

Yes bought the Deluxe, so got Nintendo Land, ZombiU and Black Ops 2.