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Nintendo 3DS hits 5 million units faster than DS, the world goes 'huh?'
While it had a rocky moment in the middle, some heavy price-cutting and top-drawer games helped the system sell five million within a year in its native homeland. According to Nintendo, these are legitimate sell-through figures and as predicted, make the 3D-capable console Nintendo's fastest selling console to date. You can take a look at some (translated) self-congratulatory backslapping from Nintendo below.
3DS to beat out original DS' first year sales, land killing blow during holiday season
First 3DS sales were great, then not so much, and now things seem to be evening out somewhere around "normal." According to numbers released by Nintendo, the fledgling handheld is poised to break the original DS' first year sales numbers -- closing out its 8th month with 1.65 million units sold, or roughly 69 percent of its predecessor's 2.37 million first year sales. Noting that half of the old DS' year one sales were made during the holiday season, Nintendo is confident the 3DS will surpass its predecessor's numbers before hitting the one year mark. We'll let you make your own predictions -- Nintendo's press release is after the break, if you want to compare notes.
Nintendo finally sells millionth 3DS unit in Japan, lives in the shadow of older brother
A million in (Japanese) sales is a far cry from failure, but even big daddy Satoru Iwata admits the 3DS isn't quite living up to expectations. Nintendo's tenderfoot handheld finally hit the mark after 13 weeks, a snail's pace when compared to the original dual-screen wunderkind, which reportedly made the grade in a mere four. The 3DS' predecessors will undoubtedly forgive it for being a late bloomer, it's the competition it ought to worry about; the PSP sold its first million in about seven weeks. The 3DS could still plow its way to the top -- but with the PlayStation Vita looming large on the horizon, and the fledgling handheld having already lost a round the PSV's predecessor, Nintendo could be in for a rough ride.
Wii outsells the PS3 4-to-1 in Japan, Sony execs "not psyched"
Sony, we know you're trying hard, which is why we think it must sting all the worse when you wake up to sales figures like this. According to a report, the Wii outsold PS3s in Japan 4-to-1 in the month of February, and its games dominated bestseller lists. What does that look like in cold, hard numbers? Nintendo moved 331,627 consoles over the month, while Sony only managed 89,131 units in the same time. But wait, there's more: in January, the ratio was 3-to-1, which means that Nintendo's lead seems to be growing as the year moves forward. Still, Sony could have it worse, the Xbox 360 only scraped up a paltry 14,079 Xbox 360 sales in that same span of time.
Blue Dragon busts into Japanese sales charts
The first thing you should do when this sort of thing happens is somehow confirm that you're still in the same dimension you were in moments before. Examine newspapers, have a look in the mirror and make doubly sure that nobody is sporting an angry orangutan for a head. With that out of the way, you can return to the matter at hand -- there's an Xbox 360 game sitting in the fourth position of the weekly Japanese software sales chart. With a healthy 80,348 copies sold, it would appear that Microsoft's Blue Dragon is at least making some strides in the publisher's continuing battle against apathy in Japan.Examining the other bits of the chart on GamesAreFun, it's easy to imagine some of the cheaper headlines that could have been used for this post. "Blue Dragon crushes Zelda in Japanese sales!" While Blue Dragon enters the chart in fourth place, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has since slid down to 17th in its second week. Post-launch Wii shortages could be to blame, as Wario Ware: Smooth Moves also fails to make it past the 23rd spot. The fact that Tales of Destiny and Final Fantasy VI Advance wind up below Blue Dragon, however, could be seen as more reassuring. Ah, but what about "Blue Dragon defeated by Pokemon?" In its tenth week, Pokemon Diamond occupies the third slot, with second and first place going to Sega's Yakuza 2 and Gundam SEED: Federation vs ZAFT II respectively. The install bases of the PS2 and DS make those games particularly tough opponents, so to snag fourth spot seems like a solid accomplishment. Keep an eye out for the infamous Japanese hardware sales later today to see how effective Blue Dragon is at shifting consoles.
Japanese hardware sales, 4 September - 10 September: completely wiidiculous edition
Shocking reports from Japan indicate that Nintendo's entry into the next-gen console wars (with Xbox 360 and Japan itself being the only combatants thus far) has shown absolutely no progress in the closely monitored sales ranking. - DS Lite: 113,831 115,108 (50.28%)- PSP: 29,141 1,642 (5.97%)- PS2: 19,882 2,821 (12.43%)- GBA SP: 2,104 647 (23.52%)- Game Boy Micro: 1,801 10 (0.56%)- Xbox 360: 1,094 156 (12.48%)- DS Phat: 1,058 738 (230.63%)- Gamecube: 696 159 (18.60%)- GBA: 13 9 (40.91%)- Xbox: 5 5 (infinite%)- Wii: 0 0 (0%)Esteemed analyst, Excelsior Bluffington, pointed out that "the Wii has shown little to no sales growth in the past few weeks. It's even been bested by the Xbox, and people only buy that thing to mess with the charts. Judging by my elaborate series of pie charts and lucid, LSD-induced dreams, it becomes painfully clear that the Wii will only see a marked improvement sometime in December."A local psychoanalyst was quick to refute these claims, however, calling Bluffington a "delusional psychopath." With experts in conflict, we felt it best to enquire directly with Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata. His entirely cryptic response suggested that "Nintendo hasn't launched the system yet, you freaking [sic] imbeciles." A likely story. A likely story indeed. [Source: Media Create]
Tales of Phantasia wins in Japan
Chris loves reporting the Japanese sales numbers, especially when not a single PSP title appears on the list. I, on the other hand, love to report the sales numbers when we win. The PSP hasn't had too many first place victories. In fact, it's only had one so far: SD Gundam (which I reported to you guys). This week, Sony's handheld manages to secure another first place victory amongst a plethora of DS games. Check out the sales data: 1. (PSP, Bandai Namco) Tales of Phantasia Full Voice Edition - 66,263 2. (DS, Nintendo) New Super Mario Bros. - 53,011 / 3,027,038 3. (DS, Square Enix) Final Fantasy III - 49,475 / 598,476 4. (DS, Nintendo) Mogitate Tingle no Bara Iro Rupee Land - 32,792 5. (DS, Nintendo) More Brain Age - 32,054 / 3,151,912 6. (DS, Nintendo) Shaberu! DS Cuisine Navi - 25,458 / 445,191 7. (GBA, Nintendo) Rhythm Tengoku - 24,676 / 148,108 8. (DS, Nintendo) Animal Crossing Wild World - 24,027 / 3,205,762 9. (PS2, Sega) Phantasy Star Universe - 20,431 / 140,633 10. (DS, Nintendo) Mario Basket 3 on 3 - 20,372 / 288,136I'm surprised that a port of a port of an old NES game did so well, but the Japanese sure do love their Tales games. IGN wasn't too fond of the game, saying there aren't enough improvements in the game to make it a worthwhile port. And when you consider that the amazing-looking Tales of the World is heading to the PSP soon, I'm surprised by the strong sales of this game. Well, at least it beat the new Tingle RPG which I may or may not have imported. Check after the cut to see some videos from Tales of Phantasia in action.[Via NeoGAF; Thanks ldd!]
Japanese hardware sales, 31 July - 6 August: heavy meta
Though we may frequently appear to be aloof, apathetic or altogether addicted to awe-inspiring alliteration, the Joystiq crew is actually attentively attuned to the needs of its readers and commenters. We know what you want, and what you want is what we know -- that is to say, we'll teach you how to make an official Joystiq Japanese sales chart post in the comfort of your very own home! Step 1: Create a terrible introductory paragraphThe introductory paragraph helps ease the reader into the wealth of information provided by one of these posts. It functions like a soft mattress placed in-between the reader and the pit of rusty nails that is the weekly onslaught of numbers. Make sure that the introductory paragraph is self-referential, wildly incoherent and not even remotely related to the actual sales numbers. You may introduce a second paragraph if you feel the mattress needs to be thicker, though it's recommended that you implement a silly allegory to maintain interest and "humor."A third paragraph, however, is most certainly not recommended. It will only serve to anger those that are eager to reach the actual information. Step 2: Insert the sales information obtained from Media Create:The ranking, according to number of units sold:- DS Lite: 163,572 13,281 (7.51%)- PSP: 49,352 6,748 (15.84%)- PS2: 25,987 464 (1.75%)- GBA SP: 2,784 555 (24.90%)- Game Boy Micro: 1,928 162 (9.17%)- Xbox 360: 1,389 857 (38.16%)- DS Phat: 1,159 371 (24.25%)- Gamecube: 904 135 (12.99%)- GBA: 34 25 (277.77%)- Xbox: 14 3 (27.27%)Step 3: Create a final paragraph (must be worse than introductory paragraph)In your final paragraph, you may opt to analyze the week's sales trends (the Xbox is always a hilarious topic), possibly referring to coinciding NPD reports or pointing out how the DS Lite outsells everything, in the universe, ever. Alternatively, you may use it as a denouement to any running jokes you regrettably started in Step 1. [Source: Media Create]
Japanese hardware sales, 3 July - 9 July: paging Rod Serling
There are times when reading the Japanese sales charts can be a decidedly odd and disturbing experience, as if your mind suddenly becomes aware that all is not right in the universe. Like a homicidal clown lurking in a dark corner, this week's situation is certainly amusing, but it's not something you want to come into contact with on a regular basis. It's just wrong. The ranking, according to number of units sold:- DS Lite: 149,454 4,112 (2.68%)- PSP: 31,959 6,024 (23.23%)- PS2: 23,332 199 (0.86%)- GBA SP: 2,818 101 (3.46%)- Xbox 360: 1,610 287 (15.13%)- Game Boy Micro: 1,379 64 (4.44%)- DS Phat: 1,009 2,495 (71.20%)- Gamecube: 934 68 (6.79%)- GBA: 20 3 (17.65%)- Xbox: 13 5 (62.50%)Looking at the opposite ends of the list is like glancing into the cackling face of madness (it bears a vague resemblance to Groucho Marx). The DS Lite endures a minor slip, its older sibling takes a complete fall down a set of stairs and the original Xbox experiences the biggest improvement percentage-wise out of the whole lot. Did we enter into some sort of zone where normal things don't happen very often?[Source: Media Create]
Japanese hardware sales, 26 June - 2 July: You've got red on you
Oh, the horror. Be sure to keep angry fanboys and dubiously trained pet bulls away from the monitor this week, as it displays an awful lot of red. Even the mighty DS Lite experiences the strange sensation of slipping, possibly caused by the tight grip of an overweight sibling. The ranking, according to number of units sold:- DS Lite: 153,566 3,456 (2.20%)- PSP: 25,935 1,198 (4.84%)- PS2: 23,133 2,334 (9.16%)- DS Phat: 3,504 6,628 (65.42%)- GBA SP: 2,919 829 (21.91%)- Xbox 360: 1,897 728 (62.28%)- Game Boy Micro: 1,443 59 (3.93%)- Gamecube: 1,002 195 (16.29%)- GBA: 17 8 (32.00%)- Xbox: 8 2 (20.00%)As a commenter jokingly suggested last week, it's awfully difficult to resist the temptation of traveling to Japan and purchasing 10,000 Xbox consoles, just to ... exacerbate things. [Source: Media Create]
Japanese hardware sales, 12 June - 18 June: Phat's back
Quite possibly the only sane thing we've received from Japan this week, the Japanese hardware sales charts show it like it is -- no silly comparisons, half-truths or fuzzy mathematics in sight. The ranking, according to number of units sold:- DS Lite: 141,487 9,460 (7.17%)- PSP: 24,653 2,997 (13.84%)- DS Phat: 22,748 21,377 (1559.23%)- PS2: 20,737 1,756 (9.25%)- GBA SP: 4,642 526 (12.78%)- Xbox 360: 1,407 307 (27.91%)- Game Boy Micro: 1,294 360 (21.77%)- Gamecube: 1,002 41 (4.27%)- GBA: 20 10 (33.33%)- Xbox: 15 5 (25.00%)Aside from the soothing abundance of green, the most noticeable aspect of this week's chart is undoubtedly the DS Phat's performance, indicating either a surge in its popularity or a surge in desperation amongst those who couldn't track down a DS Lite. Perhaps it's time to import a black one from Europe?[Source: Media Create]
Japanese hardware sales, 5 June - 11 June: outnumbered
The sheer volume of words being displayed on the front page of this blog is, quite frankly, entirely ridiculous. It's time for a change. It's time we inundate you with the accountant's best friend and the alphabet's greatest foe. It's time we unleash the Japanese hardware sales charts for the week ranging from 5 June to 11 June and thoughtfully observe their effects on the human body. The ranking, according to number of units sold:- DS Lite: 132,027 3,587 (2,65%)- PSP: 21,656 2,939 (11,95%)- PS2: 18,981 468 (2,53%)- GBA SP: 4,116 248 (5,68%)- Game Boy Micro: 1,654 384 (30,24%)- DS Phat: 1,371 212 (18,29%)- Xbox 360: 1,100 145 (11,65%)- Gamecube: 961 163 (20,43%)- GBA: 30 6 (20,00%)- Xbox: 20 23 (53,49%)For those perplexed by the friendly arrows, rest assured that their intention is only to indicate whether a platform's sales have increased or decreased since the last week (followed by the exact difference and a percentage). For those perplexed by the previous sentence, we politely suggest that you try attending school for once.[Source: Media Create]
