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RE5 Gold tops Japanese charts; Heavy Rain floods top ten
Even without the PlayStation Motion Controller to back it up, Resident Evil 5 has struck gold for a second time. The PS3 version of Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition (Alternative Edition in Japan) hit the top of the Media Create sales chart in Japan following its February 18 release, selling 143,339 copies. God Eater continues to gobble up attention, taking the #2 spot with 64,192 units sold (while passing 500k units sold to date). Another big PS3 game also debuted in the top ten this week: Heavy Rain, which fell in at #6, selling 26,775 copies. In a way, the Japanese version is the superior release, because the voice acting doesn't seem to have been performed by French people faking Japanese accents. See the full top ten after the break.
Dragon Quest VI remake approaches 1m Japanese sales in first week
The debut of the Dragon Quest VI remake for DS proves that a Dragon Quest game doesn't have to be entirely new to sell like crazy in Japan -- just new enough. In its first week at retail, January 25–31, the new version of the classic Super Famicom RPG sold 906,458 copies, according to Media Create, making it by far the top-selling game of the week. A pair of other newly-released RPGs also did quite well: the PS3 version of tri-Ace's shooty-RPG End of Eternity (we call it "Resonance of Fate") landed in second place on the weekly software chart with 118,088 units sold (the Xbox version charted respectably at #8, selling 27,048 units) and Ar Tonelico 3 hit #4 with 81,633 copies sold. Even the Japanese release of MAG managed to make it into the top ten! See the complete weekly top ten sales list after the break.
Final Fantasy XIII limit breaks Japanese PS3 software sales record
Are you shocked? Probably not, considering we all knew Final Fantasy XIII would make a killing during the initial week of its release. However, the magnitude of the game's success was still a little alarming. Within its first day on the market, it broke one million units, becoming the best-selling PS3 game in Japan. According to Media Create, the game had reached 1,501,964 units by the end of the week, which more than doubled the life-to-date totals of the platform's previous bestseller, Metal Gear Solid 4. It did so in just four days. Great googly moogly! As you also might have expected, these unprecedented sales also boosted PS3 sales in the region for the week. The platform's sales leaped, much like a gazelle would leap, from 75,086 units sold to 237,086 units (an increase of 215.75 percent). That's an impressive upshot -- but we're not sure it deserves any gibberish exclamations.
Professor Layton and the Devil's Flute plays successfully in Japan
[GAME Watch] Japan's infatuation with quaint, puzzle-filled villages has yet to wane. The second Professor Layton trilogy has started off on a positive note, with Professor Layton and the Devil's Flute topping the Media Create sales charts. The latest in Level-5's adventure series sold 306,000 copies in its first week at retail. The rest of the weekly bestsellers list is almost entirely dominated by Wii and DS games, like Tomodachi Collection, Wii Fit Plus and another debut, Momotaro Dentetsu 2010!, the latest Wii release of Hudson's Japan-only, train-themed board game series. The sole exception: Winning Eleven 2010, charting at number 7 with 20,000 copies sold. (The soccer sim's life-to-date sales of 312,000 isn't that far off from Layton's first week!) Additionally, Cave's region-free Xbox 360 shmup Mushihime-sama Futari just missed the top ten. [Via Kotaku]
Bayonetta launch continues Platinum's winning streak
Bayonetta had a strong debut in Japan this week -- on PS3. The PS3 version of Platinum Games' action title sold 135,242 copies in its first week, topping the Media Create sales chart. The Xbox version had a good launch for an Xbox 360 game in Japan, at 64,325 copies. It wasn't a Resident Evil 5-size launch on either console, though the Xbox 360 version came close, and it wasn't a Wii Sports Resort-level sensation, but it should be enough to be considered a successful launch. This is Platinum Games's second launch in Japan, and it's the second to debut at the top of the charts. Infinite Space on DS took the winning position back in June, with a comparatively modest 38,394 copies. MadWorld, Platinum's other game, has yet to be released in Japan. The number two and three spots on Media Create's chart are also occupied by new games: Four Warriors of Light: Final Fantasy Gaiden, the new Final Fantasy for DS made by Matrix Software, and Tekken 6.
Pokemon remakes break a million in two days
The top two games on the Media Create charts for the week ending September 13 are Pokemon HeartGold and Pokemon SoulSilver. Despite coming out just one day before the end of that week, the games managed to outsell everything else in Japan, almost by a factor of ten. The distribution of the 1,442,990 copies sold was pretty evenly split between the two versions, with Soul Silver's 722,904 copies edging out Heart Gold's 720,086.The number three spot belongs to Tomodachi Collection, also on the DS, followed by Dragon Quest IX, PS3's Gundam Senki, and Wii Sports Resort. The only other new game in the top ten is MAPLUS Portable Navi 3, a PSP map/navigation program.
Weekly Dragon Quest IX sales drop under 100K for the first time
Last week, for the first time since its July debut, Dragon Quest IX sold fewer than 100,000 copies. Gamasutra reports that the latest Media Create totals (not yet up on Media Create's site) put Dragon Quest at 79,000 units sold for the week ending August 23, earning it the second-place spot behind another DS game, Nintendo's Tomodachi Collection. This isn't the first week out of the top spot for DQIX: the August releases of SD Gundam G Generation Wars and Monster Hunter 3 bumped Square Enix's RPG sequel as well. Gamasutra estimates life-to-date sales for DQIX at 3.7 million units -- the rate of growth is slowing, but the results are still ridiculous.
Dragon Quest IX leads to increased DS sales in Japan
Nintendo of America touted the DS's sales in June, noting that the handheld outsold every home console combined, according to the June NPD numbers. Nintendo of Japan has its own success to be proud of, thanks to the release of Dragon Quest IX, which -- can you believe it -- led to increased hardware sales last week. According to Media Create, the DSi sold 118,202 units last week, up from the previous week's 46,855. That actually seems like a pretty minor boost given that Dragon Quest sold over two million copies, and given that the red DSi launched alongside it. The DS Lite even managed to sell 10,161 units, presumably because DSis were sold out. %Gallery-15248% [Via MCV]
Dragon Quest IX sells 2.3 million copies in two days
Japanese consumers eagerly grabbed up copies of Square Enix's Dragon Quest IX over the weekend, putting to rest any concern that the move to a handheld system would bother fans in the least. Enterbrain reports that the game sold 2,343,440 copies in its first week -- its "first week" actually being two days. Media Create reports a similar total of 2,318,932 copies. This beats the first-week record set by ... Dragon Quest VIII, of course! Media Create reports a sell-through rate of 81.56%, suggesting (according to Andriasang) that it probably sold out in some locations. There's something very comforting about reading stories of massive Dragon Quest sales in Japan. It's a reminder that some things in the gaming world are just like we remember them, even after decades. After the break, you can watch the game's intro movie as you begin the long wait for localization. [Image via GAME Watch, video via Gemaga]
Infinite Space takes space at top of Japanese charts
Platinum Games' first release may not have been a sales phenomenon, but the company has found (relative) success with its second, the DS sci-fi roleplaying game Mugen Kouro (Infinite Space). It was a slow week for Japanese software sales, which allowed Infinite Space's 38,394 copies to put it at the top of the Media Create sales chart for last week, its first week in stores.The three spots below that on the chart also belong to DS games: last week's top seller, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days sits at #2, followed by Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and Sloane and Machale's Mysterious Story. The #5 position is held by Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires on PS3.%Gallery-22958%[Via GamesIndustry.biz]
Mass Effect premieres at No. 3 spot in Japan
Looking over Media Create's weekly Japanese software sales chart for May 24 reveals something distinctly non-Japanese is mucking up the list. BioWare's space opera Mass Effect for Xbox 360 premiered in the number three spot, having sold 18,000 copies. Sure, that's less than half of Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukurou 2, but good on the western RPG for even charting.Mass Effect released in the Very-Near West in 2007 and -- believe it or not -- actually has a sequel in the works. Oh, and in case you're wondering, Sloan to Michael: Nazo No Monogatari was in the number one spot with 44,000 units.
Nintendo not concerned about declining Japanese Wii sales
The Wii, once an unstoppable sales force in Japan, has started falling behind the PlayStation 3. The whole industry appears to be trending downward, but the Wii's drop is more than proportional.A Nintendo representative told Financial Times that the company isn't distressed. "It is still the first few months of the year when sales are slow for the industry so we are not particularly concerned," the spokesperson said. "We hope to line up strong software to support hardware sales in the second half of the year." Nintendo has already lined up at least one strong title: Capcom's Monster Hunter 3, which will likely spark an increase in Wii hardware sales when it launches in Japan this summer. Of course, the main reason for Nintendo not to fret over falling Wii sales is that the company continues to sit at the top of the sales charts with the DS platform.%Gallery-32281%[Via Edge]
Yakuza 3 captures second-best PS3 launch in Japan
According to early data uncovered by the Japanese site, Drill-No Blog, Yakuza 3 has sold 380,000 units in its first week -- the second-best launch for a PS3 game in that country. If the numbers are accurate, Yakuza 3 (Ry? ga Gotoku 3 in Japan) will only have been bested by Konami's 2008 powerhouse, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, which sold around 465,000 units in its first week. Unfortunately, according to a comment Sega made to VG247, Western gamers may never get a chance to continue the adventures of Kiryu Kazuma as the publisher has no plans to bring the game to North America at this time. [Via N4G]
Xbox 360 outsells PS3 in Japan for fourth time, Four Horsemen draw closer
The Xbox 360 has only outsold the PlayStation 3 several times before, so we're reticent to bring the Four Horsemen out of their winter hibernation. However, if Japanese hardware sales tracker Media Create is to be believed, the 360 not only outsold the PS3 in Japan last week, it handily trounced all competition, with sales just over 25,000 units (compared to nearly 17,000 units for Wii and just over 16,000 for PS3). Considering Star Ocean: The Last Hope was released this past week and is outselling every game on the chart by a margin of at least 3:1 (162,232 units, folks -- in one week!), we're taking a stab in the dark here and saying 360 sales had something to do with that. After all, the last few times we put out a call to the horsemen, two other JRPG titles were to blame: Infinite Undiscovery and Tales of Vesperia. Can you remember the other game that put 360 on top in Japan for a week? Hint: It involves fire and liberation and ... fighter jets. Give up? Too bad! We're still not telling!
White Knight Chronicles debuts with impressive first week sales
The official sales figures for White Knight Chronicles' Japanese debut are finally out. Media Create shows that the game sold just under 207,000 units during the week of December 22nd to the 28th. Bearing in mind that White Knight Chronicles is a new IP and that this figure accounts for only three days of sales, we're impressed. To put it into perspective, White Knight Chronicles now has the third best opening week PS3 sales ranking for the region, after MGS4 (476K) and Devil May Cry 4 (212K). Both of which are long-running and very popular franchises.White Knight Chronicles also had an impact on PS3 hardware sales, keeping the upward momentum going by increasing sales from 39,136 units the previous week to 45,989 units. This is the highest number of units sold in a single week since Metal Gear Solid 4 was released in June (which shifted 75,311 units). We're intrigued to see how both the game and the PS3 itself continue to sell in the following weeks.
Japanese hardware Dec. 15 - Dec. 21: Quite Striking Edition
We have good news and bad news. The good news is we've figured out how to close strike tags, the bad news is Microsoft isn't taking Japan by storm anymore. According to data company Media Create, Microsoft pushed 12,914 units of its Xbox 360 SKUs between December 15 and December 21 and while sales have spiked nearly 10% higher than last week it wasn't enough to catch up to Sony's PS3 or the ungodly Nintendo Wii. This being the last full week of 2008 sales data we would like to formally guarantee 2009 will be a much better year for the Xbox 360 in Japan***. ***Not a guarantee. - DSi: 204,144 30,451 (17.53%) - PSP: 145,957 74,417 (104.02%) - Wii: 131,054 39,413 (43.01%) - DS Lite: 50,308 19,188 (61.66%) - PS3: 39,136 5,448 (16.17%) - Xbox 360: 12,914 1,117 (9.47%) - PS2: 8,662 2,003 (30.08%) [Source: Media Create]
Nintendo sweeps Japanese sales charts
According to the latest Media Create charts, Nintendo platforms completely dominated the market last week in Japan, with all of the top ten games being Wii or DS releases. It may not have been the busiest week in terms of sales -- the best-selling game was the newly-released Taiko no Tatsujin Wii at 106,000 copies -- but that's still a pretty wacky achievement. Of the ten games on the list, seven were published by Nintendo, and an eighth, Professor Layton and the Final Time Travel, is from a series published by Nintendo outside of Japan. The full top ten, including four Wii games, is after the break.%Gallery-33435%
PSP is on top of its game in Japan
It was unlikely the PSP would trump its awesome sales of nearly 160,000 units last week. Nevertheless, the PSP is once again on top, selling 60,467 units. Unfortunately, Sony's high-def console the PlayStation 3 was dead last, selling an abysmal 3,931 units. Look on the bright side though: during this week, Sony's current-gen hardware outsold all its competitors current-gen hardware combined.Hardware and software sales for the week of October 20th - October 26th: PSP -- 60,467 Wii -- 24,292 DS Lite -- 22,965 Xbox 360 -- 7,844 PS2 -- 6,962 PS3 -- 3,931
Xbox 360 tops PS3 in Japan for sixth straight week
Looks like Xbox 360 has landed itself above the PlayStation 3 in Japan for the sixth straight week, according to Media Create. Still on the heels of Japanese-style role-playing titles like Tales of Vesperia and Infinite Undiscovery the Xbox 360 has come out on top -- fourth overall in sales behind the PSP, DS and Wii -- against the homegrown Sony system for the week ending October 19. Coming soon for the console is The Last Remnant from Square Enix a title that mixes both Western and Eastern gaming conventions into one tight little package and the currently exclusive Star Ocean: The Last Hope, which will land early next year worldwide. Can Microsoft sustain a steady stream of console sales in Japan? Maybe, but if they really want to make a splash they should look into getting the rights to a game with the words "Monster" and "Hunter" in the title.- PSP: 159,816 135,915 (568.66%)- DS Lite: 29,839 2,075 (6.50%) - Wii: 26,024 3,147 (13.76%)- Xbox 360: 7,856 93 (1.20%)- PS2: 7,261 279 (4.00%)- PS3: 4,725 1,009 (17.60%)
Xbox 360 tops PS3 in Japan, again
According to weekly sales figures from Media Create in Japan, Microsoft has beat Sony on its home turf for the second week in a row. Reduced to nearly half of its console sales last week Microsoft was still able to inch out the PlayStation 3 in the Land of the Rising Sun. Of course, Nintendo's DS and Wii one-two-combo remained at the top with Sony's PSP landing comfortably in third. Sales figures, according to Media Create for last week look like this: Nintendo DS - 61,242 Wii - 29,921 PSP - 28,674 Xbox 360 - 13,777 PlayStation 3 - 8,156 PlayStation 2 - 7,720 On the software side, the Xbox 360 exclusive Infinite Undiscovery fell to #13 in its second-ish week of release with timed-exclusive Tales of Vesperia down to #28. Along with the two recently released titles the Xbox 360 received a price drop that is assumed to be a huge factor in the figures. Or Japanese gamers now love the Xbox. Yeah, that has to be it.
