hana-yori-dango
Latest
Another Week in Japan: Hardware and software numbers 7/7-7/13
There's so much DS software love in the top ten that we don't know what to highlight! If pressed, though, we'll have to choose Densetsu no Stafi 5, because 1) Stafy is just the cutest and 2) it performed better than the rest. Band Brothers DX is inching toward 200,000 sales, though, and will probably hit that landmark next week.The other DS love goes to Hana Yori Dango: Koi Seyo Onago, an otome based on an anime/manga/j-drama. Although the chances of it happening are about ... zero ... we'd love to see that one localized, as Hana Yori Dango is one of our guilty pleasures. Last but not least, we'll mention the sometimes inappropriate Gegege no Kitarou, which debuted in ninth. (Oh yeah -- there's also Derby Stallion, but really.)Software sales gave DS hardware a small boost, but Nintendo's handheld is still stuck behind the PSP: PSP: 56,998 (559) Nintendo DS: 48,540 (1,085) Wii: 41,768 (2,757) PlayStation 3: 12,458 (1,901) PlayStation 2: 10,405 (1,363) Xbox 360: 3,807 (969) To check out the Japanese software sales numbers and rankings, just click past the break. (Our apologies -- we could only find translations for the top ten games!)
DS chooses Boys Over Flowers
If Japanese dating sims are usually on your radar, you'll be glad to know that Konami is releasing another interesting title in the genre this July, based on Hana Yori Dango. Known as Boys Over Flowers in North America, the manga is so popular that it was adapted into an anime, multiple live-action TV series, a singing group (known as F4), an anime movie, and a live-action movie (to be released this summer). In Hana Yori Dango the main character is Tsukushi, a working-class girl attending a school full of rich kids. The most elite of the elite is a group known as the "Flower" Four (F4), who make it a hobby to harass other students. In the manga (and show), Tsukushi stands up for herself against the group, which causes the F4 leader to fall for her. In the DS game based on the franchise, called Hana Yori Dango -Koi Seyo Otome!-, you take control of a new girl that essentially fulfills the same role as Tsukushi. Whether or not she finds romance with one of the F4 crew depends on how you play the virtual dating game, which includes stylus-controlled hand-holding and other kinds of mini games.This title comes out in the Far East on July 10th, so all you gals (and guys!) who don't mind navigating through Japanese text to land yourselves a virtual man, mark that date.[Via GamerTell]
