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Gran Turismo 6 tops weekly sales charts in Japan, moves 200,000 units
Polyphony Digital's PlayStation 3-exclusive racing sim Gran Turismo 6 ranks as Japan's biggest-selling software title in its debut week, selling over 200,000 copies since its launch on December 5, according to sales data analyst Media Create. Gran Turismo 6 takes the top chart spot in Japan with 204,784 total copies sold to date. A revised version of Square Enix's Wii MMORPG Dragon Quest X claims second place with 117,432 units sold in its first week of release. Nintendo's Pokemon X and Pokemon Y finish at third place with 111,790 copies sold this week, for a total of 3,200,919 units sold in total. Gran Turismo 6's first-place finish in Japan follows up on its sluggish start in the UK, where it sold five times fewer copies than its predecessor Gran Turismo 5 sold in its debut week in 2010. North American sales data for Gran Turismo 6 is not yet available.
3DS trumps lifetime Wii sales in Japan
The Wii may be Nintendo's highest selling console to date, but at least in Japan, it's been eclipsed by the Nintendo 3DS. The most recent figures from Japanese sales tracking authority Media Create show that the 3DS has sold 12,752,731 units in the island nation. By contrast, the Wii has sold 12,698,878 units. As GamesIndustry points out, with the 3DS enjoying its golden years and the Wii slowly fading from memory, it seems likely that the handheld will maintain its lead. There are many reasons for the success of the 3DS, but most notable is the sales juggernaut known as Monster Hunter 4. Japan apparently loves murdering giant beasts, as the game has remained in Media Create's top sales spot since its debut. Buoyed by this hyper-popular game, the 3DS managed to sell 159,388 units in Japan during the week of September 16 alone - an impressive feat, given that total hardware sales for the period were only 187,773.
Dragon Quest X Wii U has weak launch at Japanese retail
Dragon Quest X's Wii U release sold 33,302 copies at retail in its first week in Japan. Granted, that first "week" lasted two days, as Media Create's weekly ranking period ran from March 25-31, and Dragon Quest X was released on the 30th, but that's still low for a Dragon Quest game. The Wii version of the MMO, for comparison, sold over 420,000 copies at launch, and Dragon Quest IX sold over 2 million before that.Not only is that low for a Dragon Quest game, it's not exactly the boost the Wii U hardware so desperately needed. The Wii U only sold 22,829 units last week, behind both versions of the ever-popular 3DS (Luigi's Mansion 2 was the best selling game, and Animal Crossing: New Leaf is at #3, approaching 3 million copies life-to-date), and behind even the Vita, which is experiencing something of a resurgence.The sales situation for Dragon Quest X is more complicated than it may seem. While the retail sales were disappointing, there's likely a significant number of digital sales, which wouldn't show up on Media Create's charts – and which we'll never know about unless Square Enix or Nintendo decides to tell us. Square Enix offers half-price downloads of the Wii U version to anyone who owns the Wii version, so it's safe to assume at least some of the Wii buyers took advantage of that offer.Of course, that still didn't move many Wii U systems, clearly.
Vita tops Japanese hardware charts
The Vita topped the Media Create charts last week, an occurrence spurred by two events: the previous week's price drop, and the launch of Soul Sacrifice. The Vita sold 63,581 units in the week ending March 10, putting it above the combined 61,008 3DSes and 3DS XLs sold in Japan, and well above the poor Wii U, which moved only 9,454 units.Soul Sacrifice, Keiji Inafune's super grotesque Monster Hunter-style adventure, occupies both the No. 2 and No. 10 spots on the software charts. The standalone game (and hardware bundle) accounts for 92,396 copies, and the "Kyoutou Double Pack" – which is two copies of the game – sold 22,050. Together, that means Soul Sacrifice actually outsold the No. 1 game, Hatsune Miku Project Diva F for PS3. And that's not even counting the "Kyoutou Pack" as two copies sold each.
Nintendo 3DS outselling four Sony devices in Japan, now has 65 percent of the market
The latest figures from Japan's Media Create are in, showing that last year's trend has been fully reversed. Now the consumers are hungry for Nintendo's 3DS, given that it shipped 121,921 units in the week ending April 1st. That put it comfortably ahead of the PlayStation 3 (23,771), PSP (18,356) and PS Vita's (12,105) sales combined. The stats reveal that the 3DS is now accounting for 65 percent of all hardware sales in the country, a marked turnaround from when the console's future looked gloomy. Meanwhile, the biggest selling game was Kingdom Hearts 3D for Nintendo's newest handheld, which managed to shift over 200,000 units in just seven days.
Vita sales drop again in third week
Media Create data shows that the PlayStation Vita sold 42,648 units in its third week at Japanese retail, a precipitous drop from last week's already troubling 72,479. Once again, the new handheld trails behind the 3DS (at 197,952), PS3, and, yes, the PSP. Compare that to the 3DS, which was also perceived as something of a flop in its early days. In its third week on the market (from March 7 through March 13 of last year), 96,463 3DS systems were sold in Japan, with 209,623 preceding. The Vita is clearly off to a slower start. Once again, no Vita games appeared in the Media Create top 20 software charts, though we expect slow retail software sales even after the system picks up, thanks to the pervasive digital distribution of Vita games.
Vita sales drop below 3DS, PSP in Japan
The PlayStation Vita appears to be struggling to build an audience in Japan. In its second week on the market, the system sold 72,479 units, according to the Media Create numbers -- outsold by the 3DS, PSP, Wii, and PS3. The software top 20 shows why the 3DS is doing so well right now (it sold 482,200 units): three of the top five games are 3DS releases, including Mario Kart 7 (#1), Super Mario 3D Land (#3), and Monster Hunter Tri-G (#4). In fact, no Vita games at all appear in the top 20 -- though that makes sense, given the relatively lacking hardware sales and the availability of all retail games on PSN at lower prices.
Modern Warfare 3 tops Japanese charts, Saints Row: The Third debuts at number 5
It's got the rooster, it's got the crow, Modern Warfare 3 is big in Japan. For the week of November 14, according to Media Create, the PS3 version of Activision's latest blockbuster topped the charts at number one with over 180,000 units sold. The Xbox version, incidentally, is in the seventh spot with over 30,000 copies sold. Meanwhile, Super Mario 3D Land has slipped from the top spot to number four, with over 62,000 copies sold. Perhaps the most surprising of all, however, is that the PS3 version of Saints Row: The Third managed to debut at number five with over 36,000 copies sold. As good as Saints Row: The Third is, we can't help but think Professor Genki had something to do with its success.
Yakuza: Of the End hits the top of slow Japanese sales chart
After an earthquake-prompted delay, Yakuza: Of the End has been officially released in Japan, to ... pretty good sales. Not the best sales of the series, but the best sales of the very slow week. According to 4Gamer's report of Media Create sales, the gangsters vs. zombies shooter sold 298,717 copies in its first week, fewer than Yakuza 4 moved last year (384,000) or Yakuza 3 before (372,000). It wasn't enough to boost hardware sales appreciably, as PS3 sales only increased 594 units over the previous week, to 17,104. Fans of low numbers will enjoy the rest of the sales chart -- the number two game behind Yakuza was Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, which earned its position by selling 15,551 copies. See the rest of the "top" ten after the break, and start formulating your plan to revitalize the Japanese game industry. Nintendo's thinking "release the 3DS again in a new color." Sega's plan is, of course, Of the End costume DLC (as seen above!)
PSP overtakes 3DS in weekly Japanese hardware sales ranking
The 3DS launched in Japan a little over a month ago, but already, the handheld seems to be losing a bit of steam. The deep-screened device slipped to second place in the weekly Media Create rankings, falling behind the PSP by a margin of about 15,000 units. What's more, according to a report from Japanese news site Inside Games, only around 836,000 3DS units have been sold in Japan so far -- a little over half of the initial Japanese shipment. The earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan on March 11 are likely a huge contributing factor to the device's slow start, and could be tied to the lack of a strong post-launch software lineup, which is certainly hurting sales. Only one 3DS title, Namco's Pro Baseball Famista 2011, made it into the Top 10 in software sales for the week of March 28, compared to six PSP games.
3DS outsold by PSP in Japan, gets dumped for a dating sim
When a new console launches you expect it to hit the ground with a big "thwomp" that knocks the competition aside. Nintendo's 3DS, however, has had something of a softer landing. It released in Japan on February 26th and had been positioned high and proud at the top of the sales charts. However, it's already been usurped by the humble PSP, which according to Media Create sold 58,075 units in the week of March 28th to April 3rd. The 3DS, meanwhile, sold 42,979. This is in large part thanks to PSP dating sim Amagami, an old PS2 game that's just been re-released for the portable. It seems nostalgia trumps 3D wizardry again, and with the PSP getting cheaper in Europe this week, the competition is even getting tougher.
Edgeworth investigates the top of Japan's sales chart
The weekly Media Create rankings make a strong case for the continued existence of the Ace Attorney Investigations series. In its first week of release in Japan, the sequel topped the chart with 132,266 copies sold. It's not quite the start the first Investigations got -- it sold 172,000 copies in its first week back in 2009 -- but it's still first place. Overall, it was a strong week for new games, and for handheld games. The top four games are all DS or PSP titles, and all came out on the same day, February 3: Macross Triangle Frontier (PSP), White Knight Chronicles: Dogma Wars (PSP) and Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butouden (DS).
The 3rd Birthday debuts at sixth on Japanese charts, Monster Hunter still king
Whether it's due to its significant lack of collectible monsters, or the considerable length of time since the last installment in the Parasite Eve franchise, Square Enix's The 3rd Birthday didn't have the strong debut showing on the Japanese sales charts to which the publisher is likely accustomed. The game placed sixth on the weekly Media Create rankings, pulling in 140,000 during its first week on Japanese store shelves. The game was buried under continuing top-sellers Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, which placed first with 404,000 units sold, and Pokémon Black and White, whose 165,000 units sold pushed the twin titles dangerously close to the five million mark. That's a whole lot of monochromatic monsters.
Gran Turismo 5 speeds past 430K sold to top weekly sales in Japan
Not quite Pokémon numbers, Gran Turismo 5's launch week sales were still plenty enough to land the long-awaited racing sim firmly in first place atop Japan's bestsellers list for the week ending November 28. With 430,707 units sold (by Media Create's count) in its first four days at Japanese retail, GT5 is well on its way to recouping development costs that were estimated at $60 million a year ago and becoming a commercial success for Sony. But slow down, tiger -- Yamauchi's latest "game" is still far from topping the series' standout entry, Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, which has amassed lifetime sales of 1.89 million units in Japan (14.89 million worldwide), according to developer Polyphony Digital. Back to the present: Sony also enjoyed a tremendous spike in PS3 hardware sales last week in Japan, with 68,840 units sold -- nearly a 140-percent increase from the previous week. Complete Japanese software and hardware sales for the GT5 launch week are listed after the break. %Gallery-99681%
Kinect sells 26,000 in Japanese launch weekend
Kinect had what most people would call a successful launch, moving over one million units worldwide during its first week on store shelves; however, the device wasn't met with quite as warm a reception in Japan. According to Media Create, Microsoft's new all-seeing eye had a "quiet start" in the region, moving just 26,000 units during its launch weekend of November 20 -- that includes both standalone and 360-bundled Kinects. Also troubling is that no Kinect games made it onto Media Create's Top 20 software sales chart. The highest-selling launch title was DanceMasters, which managed to sell 6,000 copies. On the other hand, four PlayStation Move launch titles made it onto the Top 20 during the controller's launch week, with a combined total of 50,000 copies sold. There's a lot of factors at play, here -- the data coming from a two-day period, the lower install base for the 360, and so on -- but Microsoft's going to have to make a concerted effort if it wants to get the peripheral off the ground in Japan.
Call of Duty: Black Ops debuts at #1 (and #7) in Japan
Call of Duty: Black Ops launched in Japan last week, and though it wasn't the major cultural phenomenon it was here, it managed to top the Media Create sales charts for the week of Nov. 15-21. Well, the PS3 version did, anyway, with 128,922 copies sold. The Xbox 360 version came in at #7 with 30,279 copies. This is just the subtitled release -- it'll get another sales boost in December when the dubbed version arrives. Other success stories in Japan last week include the sequel to Fossil Fighters on DS at #2, Pokemon Black/White at #3, Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition at #4, and Tactics Ogre on PSP at #5. Black Ops trumped Colors last week, as Sonic raced to a #33 finish on Wii and #49 on DS.
Monster Hunter Frontier Online boosts Xbox 360 sales in Japan
The combination of new hardware and a "newish" Monster Hunter gave the Xbox 360 a considerable sales bump in Japan last week. Media Create reports that 17,000 Xboxes were sold in that time (versus 2,060 the previous week); 15,000 being the new model. That hardware sales rise coincides with the sale of 92,807 copies of Monster Hunter Frontier Online Beginner's Package. Neither the new Xbox owners nor the existing ones saw any need to round out their game collections with additional games -- there were no other 360 games among the top 50 bestselling software for the week. Though Xbox 360 sales were much higher last week relative to the console's typical performance in Japan, the clear winner was the DSi LL, thanks to a combination of several factors: a price cut, the release of three new colors of the system, and Love Plus+, the latest version of Konami's breakout hit dating game ... which also coincided with three more special-edition DSi LL systems. See the rest of the top ten bestsellers after the break. Update: changed "Freedom" to "Frontier" in the headline. [Image credit: GAME Watch]
Nier sold far more than anything else in Japan last week
Japan may be as confused by Square Enix's Nier as we are -- but it would appear that PS3 owners are answering their questions about the action RPG title firsthand, by purchasing it. The PS3 version, Nier Replicant, is the best-selling title for the week of April 19.25, with 60,000 units sold, according to Gpara's early estimate of Media Create sales rankings. Nier Gestalt, the version released for Xbox 360 (and also the version released on both consoles in North America) didn't perform quite as well, coming in at number 11 -- possibly due to the older, more gruff main character, but probably due to the fact that it's on Xbox 360. There's no mention of how many copies were sold, but it's fewer than the 12,000 with which Pokemon Ranger: Path of Light achieved the number ten position. To see how games that aren't Nier performed, check the list after the break. [Via Kotaku]
No More Heroes remakes outsold the original by a little
We're not going to say that No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise is a hit, but those of us in constant fear of Marvelous running out of money can breathe a sigh of relief, as the remake has brought a little cash in (more considering that the game is a port and therefore probably less expensive to produce). In fact, both versions managed to make it into the Media Create top ten, with the PS3 version's 16,000 copies securing a #7 position and the Xbox 360 version's 15,000 copies at #8. Both of these actually outperformed the Wii original, which sold 11,700 copies in its debut week back in 2007. Now that we think about it, however, the real story might be that 15,000 people in Japan bought an Xbox 360 game in a single week. %Gallery-78530%
Bad Company 2 in good company on Japanese sales chart
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has cracked the Japanese sales chart in its first week of release -- the only Western title to appear in the top ten -- having amassed 28,353 unit in sales of the PS3 version to reach #7 in the weekly rankings. In addition to being the only Western game in the top ten, it's also the only PS3 game! The Media Create chart is heavy on new games this week. In addition to Battlefield, the third game in what used to be the Badman series debuted at #4, Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce 2 on PSP entered the chart at #5, and NIS's Absolute Hero Modding Project gave the publisher a much-needed source of income at #6. RPG Maker DS is the other new title on the chart, at #8. See the full top ten after the break.
