Japanese-Hardware-Sales
Latest
Stiq Figures, October 7 - 13: Favorite pre-order bonuses edition
Welcome to Stiq Figures, where the sales data is after the break and the posts don't matter. When pre-order bonuses are done well, they're a great argument to throw down some cash for a game months before its actual release. They help retailers get a general idea of the game quantities they should request, and customers get a sweet trinket related to the game they're anticipating! Seems like a win-win situation to me. The best bonus I ever got for pre-ordering a game I wanted anyway was The Legend of Zelda: Master Quest, a version of Ocarina of Time with completely re-worked dungeons. T-shirts and game cases are great, sure, but Master Quest struck me as the Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels of the Zelda series. The idea of accessible room layouts was thrown out the window in favor of some really bizarre dungeon design, and I remember it taking me quite a while to wrap up the game's quest. I refused to use a guide, though, so I feel that those weeks of confusion make up for my cracking under the pressure of Majora's Mask's last temple. With digital distribution becoming more prevalent, it's safe to assume that tokens for downloadable maps or skins will become the norm for pre-order incentives - tangible goodies seem to exist almost exclusively in the realm of collector's editions now. Be they digital or physical, were there any pre-order bonuses throughout your gaming career that still stick with you as great incentives? Share them with us after you witness the Vita 2000's affect on this week's Japanese hardware sales after the jump!
Stiq Figures, September 30 - October 6: Shapes and colors edition
I love puzzle games. If it involves stacking shapes or colors in a competitive fashion or just plain 'ol geometric obstacles, I'm guaranteed to play the associated cartridge (or in Pushmo's case, data) until my brain compiles thoughts solely out of chain combos. My love for them overpowers the frustration of defeat by cheating AI opponents that magically pull off 8-chain combos whenever I even catch a glimpse of winning. It's about the only genre that I can consistently plateau within in terms of skill without being annoyed by it. Whereas Mortal Kombat Ultimate 3's consistent decision that fun time is over around match three infuriates me, losing to some BS move in games like Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix just means I get to stack up some neat combos again. Do you have any love for puzzlers? Better yet, are there any lesser known games you swear by? Share them in the comments so I can snatch them up on Amazon! After you check the Japanese hardware sales after the break, of course.
Stiq Figures, September 23 - 29: It's my birthday edition
Welcome to Stiq Figures, where the sales data is after the break and the posts don't matter. Great Sea explorers just experienced an extra birthday when they started their fresh files in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, but it's my actual birthday today, so I think that means I get double presents? I was the kid that had gaming-themed parties for as long as my family allowed me to. Pokemon banners, Pikachu cakes, Yoshis as presents ... a total stranger could have predicted where I'd end up professionally, really. The themed cakes and parties have been replaced with presentable dinners and spirits because I guess I should grow up, but I'll always appreciate my family letting my gaming-themed decoration requests overrun their houses once a year. I also had a homemade Pikachu outfit for a few Halloweens, because my mother's sewing abilities seemingly know no bounds. Were you able to talk your way into any gaming birthday parties as a kid, or have you bucked society's expectations in favor of carrying them out to this day? Maybe you have little ones of your own to pass the gaming-themed celebratory torch to now? Let us know how you celebrate once you check the hardware sales data for Japan after the jump!
Stiq Figures, June 11 - 17: Play it loud edition
Welcome to Stiq Figures, where the sales data is after the break and the posts don't matter. Every week, we take a look at, uh, something – meanwhile, the previous week's Japanese hardware sales figures are posted after the jump, and a discussion of said figures takes place in our comments. It may not be conventional, but it's a time-honored Joystiq tradition. Nintendo announced a new, much larger 3DS system this week, the Nintendo 3DS XL. For North America, the system will come in red and blue. The announcement was informative, but also boring. Nintendo has never shied away from flooding the market with colorful systems, but there was once a time when they did it with charisma.That time was during their "Play it Loud!" marketing campaign of the mid-90's. Nintendo showed its edgy side when advertising a variety of colored Game Boy systems. Commercials showed rebellious kids giving each other wedgies between skateboarding sessions, all set to Butthole Surfers tunes. Nintendo even suggested that kids should "give the world a wedgie." It was chaos, and it was awesome.Maybe we're stuck in the 90's, but who wouldn't want to play today's games as loud as the commercial seen above?
Stiq Figures, May 28 - June 3: Captain Tsubasa edition
Welcome to Stiq Figures, where the sales data is after the break and the posts don't matter. Every week, we take a look at, uh, something – meanwhile, the previous week's Japanese hardware sales figures are posted after the jump, and a discussion of said figures takes place in our comments. It may not be conventional, but it's a time-honored Joystiq tradition. This week's Stiq Figures is courtesy of Joystiq reader MartinLalia, who reminded us about one of the first true sports RPGs, the Famicom version of Captain Tsubasa (sorry, Madden 13). Based on the Japanese manga and anime of the same name from the early 80's, the Captain Tsubasa games spanned multiple generations, each featuring strange turn-based soccer action.The first game was localized for North American audiences in 1992, released by Tecmo as Tecmo Cup Soccer Game, and underwent a series of sweeping modifications, including changes to the main character. Originally a spiky-black-haired footballer named Captain Tsubasa, the "hero" of the American version of the game was changed to a parted-blond-haired fellow named Robin Field. This NES sports gaming gem did retain the RPG-like gameplay style, as seen in the video of the Japanese version above.
Stiq Figures, May 21 - 27: Cheat code edition
Welcome to Stiq Figures, where the sales data is after the break and the posts don't matter. Every week, we take a look at, uh, something – meanwhile, the previous week's Japanese hardware sales figures are posted after the jump, and a discussion of said figures takes place in our comments. It may not be conventional, but it's a time-honored Joystiq tradition. Cheat codes have always been a part of gaming. Though less popular in recent years, punching a code into games in years past would often lead to power-ups and secret characters intentionally set aside by developers.Most everyone knows the Konami code, or what happens when you type "Justin Bailey" into the password field in the first Metroid game. Playing as Bill Clinton in NBA Jam continues to be a highlight in all of sports video games. Even the discovery of a code that unlocks characters is thrilling, such as driving off a building in Twisted Metal 2.But not every game makes a statement in the way Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge did. The game was designed by Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy, also known as the Two Guys from Andromeda. At any point in the game, players could type the word "cheat" and not only win the game automatically, but receive 255 out of the total 250 points possible. Cheaters also get a special message from Crowe and Murphy, calling them "the most bitchen adventure game player in the world."
Nokia pulls out of Japan: once more, with feeling
Okay, we've played this game before, but that was almost three years ago. This time, Nokia's really leaving Japan, and they're taking their fancy luxury phones with them. Actually, Nokia's high-end Vertu phones were all it had left in the land of the rising sun, and even those were only readily available in Tokyo's Shibuya and Ginza districts -- so out of Japan by the end of July? No problem. The phones may be gone by August, but the Finnish firm will retain offices in Tokyo through the end of the year to manage refunds, tidy up, and bid farewell to the robot loving maidens of Tokyo's commercial district.
PSP is Japan's best-selling console of 2010, Pokemon Black/White the top game
You could probably guess the two best-selling games in Japan this year: Pokemon Black and White and Monster Hunter Portable 3rd. The DS monster collecting adventure and the PSP monster murder adventure sold 4,734,064 and 3,163,750 units respectively, according to a year-end report by ASCII. Monster Hunter managed to finish in second place after less than one month of sales -- it was released on December 1. It should come as no surprise, given the blockbuster status of those two, that the DS and PSP were the best-selling hardware platforms in Japan as well. The PSP was the only console to show growth in sales versus 2009, selling 600,000 more consoles than the previous year. 2,719,544 DS systems were sold in 2010, down a million from 2009. Find out how other systems did, and see the rest of the top ten best-selling games, after the break.
KDDI's biblio Leaf SP02 priced, due out Christmas Day in Japan (update)
E-readers are flooding the market these days, and KDDI has delivered its most recent offering just in time for the holiday season. Since the biblio Leaf SP02's specs were first released, battery life seems to have grown to 13,000 pages, with presumably a few extra thrown in courtesy of its solar array. The device utilizes KDDI's LISMO Book Store and its 20,000 titles to obtain content, and if that isn't enough reading material for you, the company claims that five times as many titles will be available by 2012. All this can be had on Christmas day -- if you're lucky enough to hail from the land of the rising sun, that is. Update: Details on the e-reader, much like the device itself, seem to have gotten lost in translation. As a few readers have pointed out -- and our own Engadget Japanese editor Ittousai confirms -- the SP02 has an "open" price of around ¥15,000 (about $180 in US currency), with 3G prices ranging from ¥525 per month for data on a two-year contract, or ¥1,575 without ($6.28 vs. $19, respectively).
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!
Japanese hardware sales, Feb. 2 - Feb. 8: Redundant redundancies edition
Here's an interesting fact: In order to earn money through product placements, you actually have to have a pre-arranged deal with the advertised company. You can't just start interjecting their brand name into conversations and wait for them to send you a check. Alas, our meticulous plan for bringing some much-needed economic growth to the Japanese Hardware Sales Institute has collapsed under the weight of its own immeasurable incompetence. We've been forced to take the last measure available to us in order to continue providing this valuable service: Workforce optimization. We've elected to simplify a startling number of positions here at the Institute, including Stat Trackers, Adders, Subtractors, Analyzers, Percentage Calculators, Red and Green Arrow Breeders, Pun Writers, Pun Editors, and our LOLcat Locator. We even restructured the guy who was in charge of the optimization procedures. We'd like to call this irony, but we can't be sure. We smartsized our Literary Device Examiner.We also unhired our Witty Remark That Actually Pertains to The Current Week's Sales Figures Guy -- luckily, his services won't be needed, as this week's chart looks alarmingly similar to the last fifty. Just hop into our archives, and choose your favorite wisecrack. Take our word for it -- it'll still be relevant. - DSi: 49,529 6,084 (10.94%)- PSP: 34,969 9,166 (20.77%)- Wii: 20,412 2,866 (12.31%)- PS3: 16,082 1,323 (7.60%) - DS Lite: 12,484 2,663 (17.58%) - Xbox 360: 8,311 204 (2.52%)- PS2: 5,089 245 (4.59%)[Source: Media Create]See: The smartsized archives
Japanese hardware sales, Jan. 26 - Feb. 1: Money, money makin' edition
Times are tough, folks. If you live in the economically beleaguered U.S. of A., we think you're probably aware of what we're DRINK PEPSI talking about. We know you guys place us on a towering, resplendent pedestal, high above the recession's unforgiving grasp, but just like everyone else, we've needed to find CRISP REFRESHING PEPSI-COLA alternative methods of earning some extra greenbacks in order to make ends meet. The wariest among you may have qualms with our new, surreptitious product placements, but hey, a blogger's gotta eat AND DRINK PEPSI IT'S SO CRISP AND GOOD.Here's the charts, which are boring. There, we said it. Their order has IT'S PEPSI TIME barely changed over the past two months, and aside from the post-holiday drop-off, the changes in sales figures haven't exactly razzle-dazzled us either. C'mon, Japanese console buyers. We wanna DRINK PEPSI-COLA ALL NIGHT AND DAY see some shifts of apocalyptic proportions next week. Everyone in Japan under the thrall of our voice -- go buy PEPSI a few Game Boy Pockets, and nothing else. That oughta do the trick.- DSi: 55,613 3,995 (7.73%)- PSP: 44,135 5,855 (15.29%) - Wii: 23,278 3,492 (13.04%)- PS3: 17,405 303 (1.71%) - DS Lite: 15,147 1,461 (10.68%) - Xbox 360: 8,107 444 (5.79%)- PS2: 5,334 257 (5.06%)[Source: Media Create] See: The TALL, SWEATY GLASS OF PEPSI-COLA archives
Japanese hardware sales, Jan. 12 - Jan. 18: Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes edition
Are you there, God? It's me, the Japanese Hardware Sales post.A lot of the guys around the office have been talking about a bunch of scary-sounding changes coming to the site, and I'm beginning to worry about my place in the Ultrastiq. Will there still be room for me when the Fanboy sites interlock with the main site, Voltron-style? Will the features making their way over from the Fanboy sites be mean to me? Will they be ... further developed than I am? I hear Philosony has been wearing a bra for over two months now. I'm not sure I can stand up to that kind of pressure.I'm also pretty bummed that all the consoles' sales are falling even further. I thought it couldn't get any worse after last week! If people in Japan stop buying consoles altogether, am I going to cease to be? I guess it doesn't matter. I think I'm going to run away, tonight. Nobody would notice. The Joystiq Podcast gets all the attention, anyways. I've never forgiven him for swallowing my turtle.Well, God, I think I'm going to go. I've been mixing my Judy Blume allusions for about a paragraph now, and I want to make a clean break before I do any more damage.- DSi: 62,525 15,676 (20.05%)- PSP: 42,559 17,936 (29.65%) - Wii: 32,333 8,910 (21.60%)- PS3: 20,690 7,454 (26.49%) - DS Lite: 18,809 4,620 (19.72%) - Xbox 360: 9,576 978 (9.27%)- PS2: 5,760 868 (13.10%)[Source: Media Create] See: The superfudged archives
Japanese hardware sales, Jan. 5 - Jan. 11: Pep talk edition
Oh. Oh, dear. While the first full week of the year is rarely typified by outrageous console sales explosions, we certainly didn't expect to see all seven of our competitors have their sales figures sundered in twain. We imagine the respective companies behind said consoles (and their curiously steadfast cadre of followers) are experiencing a kind of disappointment usually reserved for fans of comic-based movies, so we thought we'd take this week to bust out our prescription notepads, and get everyone hooked up to a 10cc drip of the Feel-Goods.Hey. You're doin' just fine. Sure, the [enter favorite console name] only did half as well as it did last week, but things aren't completely grim. After all, every other system went down by a similar margin, including the [enter console for which you harbor a feverish, inexplicable disdain], which should jab a thorn into the sides of said console's foolish supporters. Also, said sales are bound to bounce back once [enter most anticipated title for favorite system] comes out, and completely revolutionizes the industry.If that didn't do the trick, we guess you could drop the funds required to purchase the product advertised above. We rarely (if ever) find ourselves investing in compact discs for the sole purpose of self-encouragement, but if Ellen DeGeneres says it's a must-have, who are we to say no?- DSi: 78,201 104,317 (57.15%)- PSP: 60,495 96,593 (61.49%) - Wii: 41,243 78,722 (65.62%)- PS3: 28,144 32,510 (53.60%) - DS Lite: 23,429 24,731 (51.35%) - Xbox 360: 10,554 9,140 (46.41%)- PS2: 6,628 5,920 (47.18%)[Source: Media Create] See: The encouraging archives
White Knight Chronicles sells more Japanese PS3s than MGS4
The latest Japanese hardware sales figures show White Knight Chronicles' continued impact throughout the region. Numbers rose from 45,989 during WKC's launch week to 60,654 the next. A rare occurrence, as sales have tended to substantially drop the week after a big release in the past. In fact, the increase means that White Knight Chronicles has sold more PS3s during its two-week launch period than Metal Gear Solid 4.While MGS4 had higher launch week sales (75,311) it dropped considerably to only 20,336 the next week. A total of 95,647. White Knight Chronicles, on the other hand, has sold a total of 106,643 during its two week launch period, almost 11,000 more. We're intrigued to see how sales of both the game and hardware continue. White Knight Chronicles has already proven a greater success than we first suspected.
Japanese hardware sales, Dec. 29 - Jan. 4: New, new media edition
We're all pretty torn up about the collapse of Electronic Gaming Monthly, a magazine that got some of us through many a dull Social Studies class during our formative years, but with the sorry economic state print publications currently find themselves in, it wasn't a completely shocking turn of events. Yes, as humanity moves closer and closer to becoming a completely interconnected hivemind, we reckon all forms of offline media will soon become but a distant memory, save for the media that's simply not that memorable.But if the ages of print and broadcast could come to such an abrupt end, couldn't the Internet Era meet a similar fate at some point down the road? Of course it could -- which has led researchers at the Japanese Hardware Sales Institute of Media Studies to discover the next big thing in broadcasting: Telepathy. Using a hot plate, six-hundred liters of Lemon-Lime gelatin, two Schottky diodes and a highly sedated Bowhead Whale, we're able to transmit thoughts directly into the minds of willing participants. We'll do the final paragraph of this post in thoughtspeak (patent pending), so open your mind up to our outgoing transmission.What, you're not getting it? Well, we guess you're not one The Susceptibles. Unless -- hold on. Yeah, we cooked another Bowhead Whale. Darn it. Those things aren't endangered are they? That was like, our fifth one. They are? They're extremely endangered? Well, isn't that a fart in the face. Sorry, nature!- DSi: 182,518 6,179 (3.27%)- PSP: 157,088 38,323 (32.27%) - Wii: 119,965 14,993 (11.11%)- PS3: 60,654 14,665 (31.89%) - DS Lite: 48,160 8,293 (14.69%) - Xbox 360: 19,694 6,683 (51.36%)- PS2: 12,548 2,144 (20.61%)[Source: Media Create] See: The susceptible archives
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]
Japanese hardware sales, Dec. 15 - Dec. 21: Resolute edition
We imagine that most of you will be spending the latter part of this coming Wednesday evening performing the same annual tradition that we've upheld for as long as we can remember -- waiting for Dick Clark to slip up, finally revealing his poorly disguised true identity as a backwards-counting robot. However, this December the 31st, we urge you to observe a different year-end tradition -- one that lends itself more to self-betterment, and less to the scrutiny of octogenarian television personalities. We're speaking, of course, of New Year's resolutions.We've actually postponed becoming better people until the end of the year, so as to include our planned self-improvements in our list of resolutions. After all, what good is drastic character reform if you can't share your lofty, altruistic goals with a captive audience? Speaking of which, our resolutions include spending the better part of 2009 building orphanages in orphan-filled countries, adopting puppies en masse from local animal shelters, and ceasing our consumption of foods made from, by or near living creatures. Aren't we just great?Below are the next-to-last hardware sales figures for the year (they're a week behind, if you haven't deduced that already) -- it seems as though the Japanese console-purchasing populous collaborated last week to provide this particular chart with a lovely row of pixelated Christmas trees. While you soak in all the quaintness, feel free to share your own philanthropic resolutions (or your unswerving vow to remain exactly the same) in the comments section.- 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] See: The philanthropic archives
Japanese hardware sales, Nov. 24 - Nov. 30: Scholastic pressure edition
It's that wonderful time of year once again -- temperatures are plummeting, houses are being adorned in blinding flecks of incandescence, folks are dressing up like Eskimos, and college students are being crushed under the terrible pedagogical strain of final examinations. Those among you who are currently pursuing your collegiate careers know the tragic side-effects of higher education during this new-release-filled season -- while your friends and colleagues are genociding zombies in Left 4 Dead, your ink-spotted nose is tucked uncomfortably in the relatively zombie-less Complete Works of Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust. While we imagine there are those who find French literature from the early 1900s to be just as, if not more, thrilling than the virtual shooting of virtual things, the vast majority of our university-bound readers are probably aching to doff their coursework, giving them time for more ludological ventures. As in most aspects of life, we prefer to take the road less traveled -- we find ample time for both activities by eschewing our pesky physiological needs, namely sleep, by using all manner of caffeinated pharmaceuticals. Best of all, there's no negative repercussions! We're so excited! We're so excited! We're so ... so ... scared!Update: Zack just came over and showed us the error of our ways with a tear-filled embrace. We're probably going to be spending the next week or so at our grandparents' place for some much-needed reflection. As we do so, you too should reflect -- on this week's sales figures. Observe the impressive doubling of PS3 purchases, and the continued rise of the DS Lite, owed largely to the scarcity of the DSi -- and, of course, to a certain tall-hatted riddle-flinger.- DSi: 87,185 1,658 (1.87%)- PSP: 55,090 6,136 (10.02%) - Wii: 49,848 14,550 (41.22%)- PS3: 34,978 17,542 (100.61%) - DS Lite: 26,851 8,271 (44.52%) - Xbox 360: 11,423 4,051 (26.18%)- PS2: 5,628 347 (6.57%)[Source: Media Create] See: The very special archives
