As Nintendo Universe Reports, Nintendo has released sales updates for various games in their year end financial statements.  Zelda Skyward Sword has sold a cool 3.52 million copies.  For fun, let’s compare that to other games inside and outside of the franchise.

Skyward Sword’s predecessor, Twilight Princess, managed 6.48 million copies on the Wii, according to VGchartz.com.  Twilight Princess was a title that managed to sell continuously throughout the Wii’s lifespan.  The title also sold around one and a half million units on the Gamecube.  It will be interesting to see if Skyward Sword can manage a similarly long life of sales.  With the backwards compatible Wii U hoping to bring hardcore gamers back into the Nintendo fold, perhaps Skyward Sword will benefit from a second strong holiday season. Still, it seems rather unlikely that Skyward Sword will eclipse its predecessor.

Microsoft’s big end of the year exclusive, Gears of War 3, sold a whopping 5.36 million copies.  Both titles are still selling at a decent rate, with Skyward Sword selling at a slightly faster rate than Gears.  Sony’s big holiday release, Uncharted 3, has sold 4.17 million copies to date, and is selling at a faster rate than Gears or Zelda thanks to a price cut.  It’s worth noting that both Uncharted 3 and Gears of War 3 benefited from being included in holiday console bundles.

So, what do all these numbers mean for Nintendo and the Zelda franchise?  I’ll leave you guys to work that out for yourself.  Let speculation run wild in the comments section.  And, if you’re not among the roughly 3.5 million who have played Skyward Sword, you should probably put that on top of your to do list.