Digital accounts for 5% of New Super Mario Bros 2 sales

Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata has revealed that digital sales of new 3DS release New Super Mario Bros 2 accounted for around five per cent of the total.

"This initial offering going forward, we’ve gotten a good reaction going," he told The Wall Street Journal.

He also revealed that the share is lower than the company saw with previous release Demon Training, of which digital sales accounted for around 20 per cent. He believes the discrepancy comes from the fact that Demon Training offers a free daily puzzle download, automatically suiting it to the digital format.

Although this may seem low on face value, in reality it’s not too bad. The 3DS market – and specifically the typical Nintendo buyer – is simply not accustomed to digital Nintendo purchases.

And let’s not forget that – despite Iwata’s claims to WSJ – NSMB2 does not cost the same to buy digitally as it does at retail.

Indeed, buying the game on Nintendo eShop costs a whopping 39.99 – that’s up to 25 per cent more expensive than the physical game can be found for online.

New Super Mario Bros 2 debuted in the UK charts at No.2 this week behind Square Enix action title Sleeping Dogs.