Japan Sales Thread

[obonicus]

they do have the weekly top 40 though + plus also various game lifetime to date sales numbers every month, i.e more info than we see from NPD in the US

I don't follow Chart-Track week to week, but isn't that top 40 just relative ranking, rather than raw sales?

 

[catisfit]

I don't follow Chart-Track week to week, but isn't that top 40 just relative ranking, rather than raw sales?

Yes, publicly.

 

[rabidrabbit]

There's the Famitsu 2008 top 100, that's linked for example here.

http://www.ps3hyper.com/news/famitsus-top-100-best-selling-software-in-2008/

 

[obonicus]

From GAF, who again got it from some blog. Not the actual numbers yet.

NDS Mario & Luigi RPG 3 220k
PS3 SFIV 85k
360 SFIV 36k
SFIV Total 121k

Fighting games first week comparison

Virtua Fighter 5 PS3 52k 360 13k TOTAL 65k
Soul Calibur IV PS3 74k 360 35k TOTAL 109k
Street Fighter IV PS3 85k 360 36k TOTAL 121k

 

[zed]

I don't follow Chart-Track week to week, but isn't that top 40 just relative ranking, rather than raw sales?

they IIRC elspa (or some similar acronym) once a month publish when a list when a title hits cumulatively 100k,200k,300k,600k,1000k,2000k (something like that).

this is much better info than NPD lets out, as thats only numbers for a months top10/20

 

[catisfit]

they IIRC elspa (or some similar acronym) once a month publish when a list when a title hits cumulatively 100k,200k,300k,600k,1000k,2000k (something like that).

this is much better info than NPD lets out, as thats only numbers for a months top10/20

Yeah that's right, ELSPA give the following awards for LTD performance, updated on a monthly basis:
Silver (100k-200k)
Gold (200k-300k)
Platinum (300k-600k)
Double Platinum (600k-1m)
Diamond (1m+)

Nobody releases sales charts though. Until a game hits 100k, nobody has any idea how it is selling.

 

[obonicus]

Away from Europeans and back to the thread's topic:

From this GAF post:

Famitsu Sales: 02/09 - 02/15

01. [NDS] Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!! (Nintendo) - 220,000 / NEW (90%)
02. [PS3] Street Fighter IV (Capcom) - 85,000 / NEW
03. [PSP] Kidou Senshi Gundam: Giren no Yabou - Axis no Kyoui V (Bandai Namco Games) - 39,000 / NEW
04. [360] Street Fighter IV (Capcom) - 36,000 / NEW
05. [PS2] Kidou Senshi Gundam: Giren no Yabou - Axis no Kyoui V (Bandai Namco Games) - 32,000 / NEW
06. [PS2] Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (Konami) - 25,000 / 165,000
07. [PSP] Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (Konami) - 23,000 / 165,000
08. [PSP] Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 (Bandai Namco) - 23,000 / 278,000
09. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, PSP the Best (Capcom) - 22,000 / 410,000
10. [NDS] Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (Square Enix) - 21,000 / 158,000

11. [PSP] Tenchu 4 (From Software) - 20,000 / NEW
12. [PS3] Demon's Souls (SCE) - 19,000 / 56,000
13. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 18,000 / 3,161,000
14. [WII] Taiko no Tatsujin Wii (Bandai Namco) - 16,000 / 394,000
15. [NDS] Rhythm Heaven (Nintendo) - 16,000 / 1,572,000
16. [NDS] Meitantei Conan & Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo: Meguri au 2-Jin no Meitantei (Bandai Namco) - 14,000 / 38,000
17. [WII] Wii de Asobu: Mario Tennis GC (Nintendo) - 12,000 / 130,000
18. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) - 11,000 / 2,155,000
19. [NDS] Wagamama Fashion: Girl's Mode (Nintendo) - 10,000 / 745,000
20. [NDS] Pokemon Platinum (Pokemon) - 8,300 / 2,334,000
21. [WII] Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo) - 8,100 / 1,070,000
22. [NDS] Kirby Super Star Ultra (Nintendo) - 7,400 / 1,022,000
23.
24. [WII] Wii Sports (Nintendo) - 6,800 / 3,434,000
25. [NDS] Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo) - 6,600 / 4,927,000
26. [NDS] Little Magician's Magic Adventure (Konami) - 5,700 / 294,000
27. [PS3] Midnight Club: Los Angeles (Spike) - 5,500 / 18,000
28. [NDS] Momotarou Dentetsu: 20th Anniversary (Hudson) - 5,500 / 222,000
29. [NDS] Penguin no Mondai: Saikyou Penguin Densetsu! (Konami) - 5,300 / 216,000
30. [NDS] Inazuma Eleven (Level 5) - 5,300 / 282,000

__. [PS3] Skate 2 (Electronic Arts) - 3,800 / NEW
__. [NDS] Hidamari Sketch: Doko Demo Sugoroku x 365 (Idea Factory) - 2,900 / NEW
__. [360] Skate 2 (Electronic Arts) - 2,700 / NEW

DSL　15000
DSi　46000
PSP　32000
Wii　21000
PS3　19000
PS2　6100
360　10000

http://dubai.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/ghard/1234972374/101
http://dubai.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/ghard/1234972374/102

Most notable is how low the Wii is.

 

[catisfit]

The 360 ticked over to 900k units this week, as expected, while at the same time the PS3 got the little boost it needed to reach 2.8m (it was more likely to do so next week).

LTDs as of 15/2/09:
PS3 2,801,767
360 904,278

 

[Rangers]

Star Ocean 4 had a solid debut of 131k first day sales (could be 180-200k first week) while dead rising chop till you drop claimed bomb status in Wii with just 6.4k first day sales.

Wii seems to really be in some trouble in Japan..last week PS3 was only 2k behind it (19k vs 21k) and PS3+360 (29k) easily topped it. Morever, I'm certain Wii is far lower than PS2's sales rate at this point in it's life.

 

[PARANOiA]

What's on the horizon for Wii over the next few months in Japan?

 

[obonicus]

What's on the horizon for Wii over the next few months in Japan?

The immediate future, not that much. Wii Sports Resort is their next big title, and they'll be getting MH3 in June, I think, but I think it's far from a given that Monster Hunter 3 will perform like the handheld iterations.

 

[obonicus]

Early results, may not be entirely accurate. SO4 pushed the 360 above the Wii and PS3 this week, and it seems like SO4 is the best launch for any 360 game to date (Blue Dragon was 86k, ToV was 101k, IU 86k, TLR 101k). It'll also probably be the best-selling 360 game in Japan, which is currently BD at 200k.

Famitsu Sales: 02/16 - 02/22

01. [360] Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope (Square Enix) - 166,000 / NEW
02. [PSP] Idolmaster SP: Perfect Sun/Missing Moon/Wandering Star (Bandai Namco) - 121,000 / NEW
03. [NDS] Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!! (Nintendo) - 59,000 / 279,000
04. [NDS] Shining Force Feather (Sega) - 30,000 / NEW
05. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, PSP the Best (Capcom) - 19,000 / 430,000
06. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 18,000 / 3,179,000
07. [PS3] Street Fighter IV (Capcom) - 18,000 / 103,000
08. [PS2] Sacred Blaze (Flight Plan) - 17,000 / NEW
09. [WII] Taiko no Tatsujin Wii (Bandai Namco) - 13,000 / 407,000
10. [NDS] Rhythm Heaven (Nintendo) - 13,000 / 1,584,000

11. [PSP] Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (Konami) - 13,000 / 177,000
12. [PS3] Demon's Souls (SCE) - 13,000 / 68,000
13. [PSP] Kidou Senshi Gundam: Giren no Yabou - Axis no Kyoui V (Bandai Namco) - 13,000 / 52,000
14. [PS2] Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (Konami) - 12,000 / 177,000
15. [NDS] Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (Square Enix) - 12,000 / 171,000
16. [PSP] Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 (Bandai Namco) - 11,000 / 289,000
17. [360] DoDonPachi Daioujou Black Label Extra (5pb) - 11,000 / NEW
18. [WII] Dead Rising: Chop Til You Drop (Capcom) - 9,200 / NEW
19. [PSP] Tenchu 4 (From Software) - 8,900 / 29,000
20. [PS2] Kidou Senshi Gundam: Giren no Yabou - Axis no Kyoui V (Bandai Namco) - 8,700 / 40,000
21. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) - 8,100 / 2,163,000
22. [NDS] Wagamama Fashion: Girl's Mode (Nintendo) - 7,300 / 752,000
23. [NDS] Penguin no Mondai: Saikyou Penguin Densetsu! (Konami) - 7,300 / 223,000
24. [NDS] Pokemon Platinum (Pokemon) - 7,100 / 2,342,000
25. [NDS] Chou Gekijouban Keroro Gunsou: Gekishin Dragon Warriors de Arimasu! (Bandai Namco) - 7,000 / NEW
26. [WII] Wii de Asobu: Mario Tennis GC (Nintendo) - 6,800 / 137,000
27. [360] Ace Combat 6: Kaihou e no Senka, Platinum Collection (Bandai Namco) - 6,600 / 81,000
28. [360] Beautiful Katamari Damacy, Platinum Collection (Bandai Namco) - 6,500 / 79,000
29. [WII] Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo) - 6,500 / 1,077,000
30. [NDS] Kirby Super Star Ultra (Nintendo) - 6,200 / 1,032,000

__. [WII] Wii de Asobu: Metroid Prime (Nintendo) - 5,200 / NEW
__. [PS2] Clear: Atarashii Kaze no Fuku Oka de (Sweets) - 3,300 / NEW
__. [360] Shooting Love 200X (Triangle Service) - 3,200 / NEW
__. [PS3] Sonic Unleashed (Sega) - 2,800 / NEW
__. [PS2] Shinjuku no Ookami (Spike) - 2,400 / NEW
__. [NDS] The World of Golden Eggs: Nori Nori Uta Dekichatte Kei (AQ Interactive) - 2,000 / NEW
__. [360] Sonic Unleashed (Sega) - 1,700 / NEW
__. [NDS] Machi no Pet-Ya-San DS 2: Wannyan 333-Hiki Daishuugou! (E-Frontier) - 1,000 / NEW
__. [NDS] SimAnimals (Electronic Arts) - 960 / NEW
__. [NDS] Saru Saru DS (D3 Publisher) - 760 / NEW
__. [NDS] Lock's Quest (THQ Japan) - 610 / NEW
__. [NDS] Simple DS Series Vol. 46: The Hikyou Tankentai: Choutoko Special (D3 Publisher) - 500 / NEW

DSL　10000
DSi　37000
PSP　30000
Wii　19000
PS3　16000
PS2　5100
360　25000

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Early results, may not be entirely accurate. SO4 pushed the 360 above the Wii and PS3 this week, and it seems like SO4 is the best launch for any 360 game to date (Blue Dragon was 86k, ToV was 101k, IU 86k, TLR 101k). It'll also probably be the best-selling 360 game in Japan, which is currently BD at 200k.

Wow, that is an impressive showing for X360 in Japan. MS has got to be happy about that for securing SO4 as an exclusive (even if it may turn out to be only a timed exclusive).

I'm still not seeing it overtaking PS3 in Japan however, but it certainly gets them a bit closer. If they can launch a few more JRPGs to pull in more customers, they may make a respectable showing in Japan this generation.

I think the one thing I find most amazing at this point in time is that there's currently more RPGs on X360 than PS3.

On the disappointing side for them. SFIV has already dropped off the charts for X360 after only a week.

Regards,
SB

 

[obonicus]

Wow, that is an impressive showing for X360 in Japan. MS has got to be happy about that for securing SO4 as an exclusive (even if it may turn out to be only a timed exclusive).

MS is happy, but I bet Tri-Ace and Square Enix aren't so thrilled and are probably seeing the wisdom in Capcom's strategies. Especially with how WKC, a poorly-reviewed new IP RPG sold as much as the two top 360 sellers (a main game in the Tales series and an Toriyama, Sakaguchi and Uematsu collab) and performed on par with the studio's last venture on the PS2.

I'm still not seeing it overtaking PS3 in Japan however, but it certainly gets them a bit closer. If they can launch a few more JRPGs to pull in more customers, they may make a respectable showing in Japan this generation.

Barring new announcements, and really, we haven't heard much from Mistwalker in ages, this is it. Even FFXIII is probably only coming to 360 in Japan extremely late, if it comes. Maybe RE5 will move some 360s, but it'll also give the PS3 a big push. PS3 is closing on 3 million, 360 is nearing 1 million. 360 will probably get to 1 million first, but don't expect these sales to continue next week.

I doubt any publishers in Japan will be announcing any exclusive, big-budget HD games from now on.

I think the one thing I find most amazing at this point in time is that there's currently more RPGs on X360 than PS3.

Yeah, SCEJ doesn't seem that interested in releasing games this generation. WKC did pretty well for a console RPG this generation, but the two biggest Japan titles don't even have announced release dates. I'd be really surprised if they were even out this year.

On the disappointing side for them. SFIV has already dropped off the charts for X360 after only a week.

Only sold 18k for PS3, too.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

MS is happy, but I bet Tri-Ace and Square Enix aren't so thrilled and are probably seeing the wisdom in Capcom's strategies. Especially with how WKC, a poorly-reviewed new IP RPG sold as much as the two top 360 sellers (a main game in the Tales series and an Toriyama, Sakaguchi and Uematsu collab) and performed on par with the studio's last venture on the PS2.

I'm not sure how sad they may be about being an X360 exclusive (timed or not) depending on how sales go in the US/Europe. The same could also be applied to something like MGS4 and it's exclusivity on PS3.

True they would probably have still sold more overall, but it's always hard to tell with cross platform titles how much of sales on differing consoles cannibalize sales on one console.

Although I suppose that's less of a factor this generation considering it's a much higher financial burden to own both a PS3 and an X360.

Likewise it's possible that whatever money MS offered them for the exclusivity might fully or partially offset any profit from simultaneous release on PS3.

Overall though, for a 3rd party, Capcom seems to have the better plan with its multiplatform plans. And their MT engine is certainly making it easier to develope for both now, although I'm sure the costs and difficulty up front were greater than if they focused on one platform.

Regards,
SB

 

[obonicus]

I'm not sure how sad they may be about being an X360 exclusive (timed or not) depending on how sales go in the US/Europe. The same could also be applied to something like MGS4 and it's exclusivity on PS3.

Not really, apples and oranges. JRPGs that aren't Final Fantasy tend to sell best in Japan. The Last Remnant, Tales of Vesperia all performed poorly. I'm pretty sure no-one other than Microsoft is happy about sales of all these HD JRPGs. Lost Odyssey was the best-selling JRPG this gen in the US and I don't think it did more than a few hundred thousand in the US. Maybe Europe unbalances this somewhat, but I don't think I've seen these games (ToV, TLR) chart in the UK -- please, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

MGS4 though, sold 4 million copies. They might've done better, certainly, by going multiplat, but I really don't think Konami's unhappy with MGS4's performance. MGS4 is such a massive game that it actually managed to sell PS3s -- none of the tiles we're mentioning is even close to MGS.

True they would probably have still sold more overall, but it's always hard to tell with cross platform titles how much of sales on differing consoles cannibalize sales on one console.

The PS3 has about 3 times the install-base of the 360 in Japan; sure, the 360 version may sell less, but that's what the foreign market is for.

Likewise it's possible that whatever money MS offered them for the exclusivity might fully or partially offset any profit from simultaneous release on PS3.

It's possible, but I doubt it. Supposing Tales of Vesperia, a hyped, mainline, well-reviewed game in a successful series sold at least as well as WKC, it'd have doubled its sales. If MS even actually 'moneyhatted' Bandai-Namco (which I'm not sure about), would it have been enough to make up for what would otherwise be double the revenue?

 

[Zassk]

It's possible, but I doubt it. Supposing Tales of Vesperia, a hyped, mainline, well-reviewed game in a successful series sold at least as well as WKC, it'd have doubled its sales. If MS even actually 'moneyhatted' Bandai-Namco (which I'm not sure about), would it have been enough to make up for what would otherwise be double the revenue?

It really depends on whether there was a significant savings in development costs for those who released on the 360. There have been so many small games released for 360 in Japan that I'm guessing there are a lot of cost savings to support the business case.

 

[fearsomepirate]

Is MS just paying Square straight cash to make these JRPGs exclusive? Because it seems awfully illogical for them to be so doggedly pursuing the 360 over there.

 

[obonicus]

Is MS just paying Square straight cash to make these JRPGs exclusive? Because it seems awfully illogical for them to be so doggedly pursuing the 360 over there.

People say that, but I doubt it. Probably it's a question of cheaper software development plus Microsoft making concessions (if the 'per disc tax' Carmack mentioned has any truth to it, I imagine JRPGs would get some sort of exemption).

It really depends on whether there was a significant savings in development costs for those who released on the 360. There have been so many small games released for 360 in Japan that I'm guessing there are a lot of cost savings to support the business case.

Well, sure, if we're talking about a game like Idolm@ster, or all the visual novel/ADVs that will probably never break 100k in lifetime sales (and will usually do much worse) then yeah, those savings are a big deal. But these are much bigger franchises. Tales of the Abyss sold over half a million, Tales of Symphonia before it sold 700k over two platforms. Star Ocean 3, despite apparently game-breaking bugs, sold over 700k over all its releases. I don't think selling 300k for a high-profile, main-line Tales game over two platforms would be that far-fetched. I think WKC tells us what should be obvious: neglected Japanese PS3 owners are starved for Japanese games (and like everywhere else, there's probably little overlap between HD console ownership). And assuming they do reach those numbers, do you really think that development savings would make up for such a big difference? Star Ocean will probably peak at over 200k, I highly doubt it'll reach 300k. Coming in from over 500k from the first release, that has to be fairly disappointing.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Is MS just paying Square straight cash to make these JRPGs exclusive? Because it seems awfully illogical for them to be so doggedly pursuing the 360 over there.

It could also be that they are hoping to grab a larger chunk of the US market. Added to that the easier developement on the X360, especially in the first couple years of each console's lifetime.

Now that there is more middleware for PS3 (thus easing developement on PS3), it's possible we'll see the next efforts from these companies be dual platform.

Regards,
SB