Switch Japan.jpg
Image: @eigotaku

After the Nintendo Switch launch hubbub we've reached the week two Media Create sales results from Japan. They tell an interesting story, mainly one of a modest follow-on demand for the Switch and its games, which sees the system slip behind the equivalent Wii U momentum.

Starting with software, a couple of new releases on PS4 push The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Switch down to 3rd place, with the Wii U version in 7th; combined, both versions have now sold well over a quarter of a million retail copies in Japan. 1-2-Switch has passed the 100,000 mark in 5th place, while Super Bomberman R clings onto a top 10 position. Some evergreen 3DS titles make the cut, as always - below is the top 20 with lifetime sales in brackets.

  1. [PS4] Ghost Recon: Wildlands (Ubisoft, 03/09/17) – 89,791 (New)
  2. [PS4] Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix (Square Enix, 03/09/17) – 62,770 (New)
  3. [NSW] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Limited Edition Included) (Nintendo, 03/03/17) – 44,483 (230,862)
  4. [PS4] Horizon: Zero Dawn (SIE, 03/02/17) – 34,292 (151,289)
  5. [NSW] 1-2-Switch (Nintendo, 03/03/17) – 20,746 (100,282)
  6. [PS4] NieR: Automata (Square Enix, 02/23/17) – 20,523 (257,068)
  7. [Wii U] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo, 03/03/17) – 17,482 (62,084)
  8. [3DS] Pokemon Sun / Pokemon Moon (Nintendo, 11/18/16) – 11,646 (3,200,916)
  9. [3DS] Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3 Professional (Square Enix, 02/09/17) – 9,795 (172,853)
  10. [NSW] Super Bomberman R (Konami, 03/03/17) – 8,550 (45,173)
  11. [NSW] Dragon Quest Heroes I•II for Nintendo Switch (Square Enix, 03/03/17) – 7,206 (32,812)
  12. [PS4] Super Robot Wars V (Limited Edition Included) (Bandai Namco, 02/23/17) – 6,331 (121,806)
  13. [PS4] Grand Theft Auto V (Low Price Version) (Take-Two, 10/08/15) – 6,220 (297,547)
  14. [3DS] Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS (Nintendo, 12/01/16) – 6,009 (989,876)
  15. [PS4] Resident Evil 7: biohazard (Grotesque Ver. Included) (Capcom, 01/26/17) – 5,523 (297,189)
  16. [PSV] Super Robot Wars V (Limited Edition Included) (Bandai Namco, 02/23/17) – 4,790 (101,336)
  17. [PS4] Nioh (Koei Tecmo, 02/09/17) – 4,577 (133,401)
  18. [3DS] Yo-kai Watch 3: Sukiyaki (Level-5, 12/15/16) – 4,558 (17,323)
  19. [NSW] Puyo Puyo Tetris (Sega, 03/03/17) – 4,469 (17,323)
  20. [3DS] Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World (Nintendo, 01/19/17) – 4,333 (101,649)

Moving on to hardware, the Nintendo Switch unsurprisingly holds top spot with a comfortable lead over the PS4. Although its week one results were higher than the Wii U launch, Nintendo's last-gen system held greater momentum in it second week and continued a decent run through the Holiday season in December 2012. The Switch sold 61,998 units in week two compared to the equivalent Media Create Wii U week 2 number of 126,916; as a result the Switch is now behind the equivalent total of the Wii U after two weeks.

Multiple factors may have contributed to this - the Wii U launching in December, and potential stock limitations with Switch. Nevertheless the bare numbers give a reminder that the Switch needs long term success, which Nintendo will need to focus on delivering.

The rest of the chart is fairly uneventful, with the New 3DS LL (XL) still in 3rd place behind PS4; results are below with last week's sales in brackets.

  1. Switch – 61,998 (329,152)
  2. PlayStation 4 – 28,902 (31,065)
  3. New 3DS LL – 18,360 (18,433)
  4. PlayStation Vita – 8,398 (9,889)
  5. PlayStation 4 Pro – 6,398 (6,742)
  6. 2DS – 4,094 (4,147
  7. New 3DS – 1,227 (1,268)
  8. PlayStation 3 – 639 (615)
  9. Wii U – 430 (565)
  10. Xbox One – 117 (147)

Intriguingly Nintendo has started trailers in Japan for the Splatoon 2 Global Testfire in a couple of weeks, trying to leverage the IP's huge popularity in the country to drive interest; after all, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is still around six weeks away.

Let us know what you think of these results in the comments.

[source gematsu.com]