It's been a tough month in the Japanese charts, with few notable winners setting the tills alight. This week continues that trend, though it brings good news for Level-5 and a return to the top for the 3DS systems.
On the software side of things it was a quiet week, with new entries to the charts failing to shift notable numbers — Ace Attorney 123: Wright Selection on 3DS ended up in fourth place with just 26,925 physical retail sales. Yo-kai Watch, however, continues to show impressive legs alongside its TV show; it's been confirmed that a million copies have been shipped, while the Media Create physical retail number now shows over 750,000 sales. The results are below, with lifetime sales in parenthesis.
1. [3DS] Yokai Watch – 34,690 (754,910)
2. [PS3] 3rd Super Robot Wars Z: Jigoku Hen – 31,724 (174,156)
3. [PS4] Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn – 31,326 (New)
4. [3DS] Ace Attorney 123: Wright Selection – 26,925 (New)
5. [3DS] Mario Party: Island Tour – 18,848 (304,835)
6. [PSV] 3rd Super Robot Wars Z: Jigoku Hen – 17,755 (145,991)
7. [3DS] Wagamama Fashion Girls Mode Yokubari Sengen! Tokimeki Up! – 12,315 (New)
8. [PSP] Juusanshi Engi Engetsu Sangokuden 2 – 8,499 (New)
9. [3DS] Meitantei Conan: Phantom Kyoushikyoku – 8,336 (New)
10. [PS3] Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes – 8,018 (198,054)
11. [PS3] Samurai Warriors 4 – 6,553 (212,619)
12. [3DS] Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi o Yobu Kasukabe Eiga Stars – 6,357 (22,766)
13. [3DS] Kirby: Triple Deluxe – 6,218 (553,578)
14. [3DS] Pokemon X and Y – 5,315 (4,034,629)
15. [PS3] J-Stars Victory VS – 4,691 (169,109)
16, [3DS] Monster Hunter 4 – 4,409 (3,260,421)
17. [Wii U] Just Dance Wii U – 4,367 (29,934)
18. [3DS] Kaseki Horider: Mugen Gear – 4,144 (140,178)
19. [3DS] Puzzle & Dragons Z – 4,115 (1,439,301)
20. [PSV] Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd – 4,102 (125,173)
There are no real winners in the hardware results, with disappointing numbers all around. Sony's PS4 was the only major system (aside from PSP and Xbox 360) to show an increase, probably helped by Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. The 3DS sales did fall for both models, but a sharp drop in Vita numbers does mean that the 3DS LL (XL) and standard 3DS, when combined, reclaim top spot. As for the Wii U it has dropped again, resting a little above 5,000 units; last week's sales are in parenthesis.
PlayStation Vita – 17,905 (24,078)
PlayStation 4 – 14,396 (13,034)
3DS LL – 14,023 (17,291)
PlayStation 3 – 6,468 (7,305)
3DS – 5,920 (6,271)
Wii U – 5,204 (5,512)
PSP – 2,094 (2,027)
PlayStation Vita TV – 1,133 (1,220)
Xbox 360 – 240 (229)
Level-5 has one of the only positives this week, showing that brand success and long-term sales are possible with a new IP. Each positive week in Japan boosts the prospects for localisation, meanwhile, which seems particularly likely with trademark filings also confirmed in North America.
[source gematsu.com]
Comments 23
Not surprising. C'mon Mario Kart !
Hang in there Wii U! Another 5-6 weeks of abysmal sales will be followed by at least one good week for MK8! This bundle needs to be announced ASAP!!
Yo-Kai WAATCH! Everybody rule!
Yo-Kai WATCHING DA WATCHERS! Everybody rule....
@memoryman3 At least this software doesn't have the legs of a penguin.
oh yea, the more it sells, the more likely a western release. god i want youkai watch so bad its going to make me crazy waiting.
I guess I don't expect much of an increase for anything in Japan for the next few weeks. Anyone wanna guess on numbers for the week of MK8 release in Japan. I'm gonna go crazy high and say:
100,000 Wii U's sold
450,000 MK8 sold
@Gerbwmu I think the hardware sales depend on what they make for a bundle and the software sales will be a bit less on week one but get to a million in Japan within 2 months. I'm still going to aim high.
75,000 Wii Us
250,000 Mk8
Christ, thats a bad week over all, but well done Vita!!!!!
Disappointing week... Except for Yokai Watch! It has longer legs than those of Sonics new design!
I'm also wondering how long until Pokémon hits the 5m mark, if it ever will that is..
@Gerbwmu if it becomes a hit like pokemon, i can see that going on those numbers, and even continue in the following weeks.
@Nintenjoe64 - I probably went a little too crazy with the numbers but might as well have fun with it. I think a bundle could push it close to what I guessed. Either way I agree with the 1 million within 2 months. MK will sell to most Wii U owners.
@ScorpionMG - It will do well but a lot depends on bundles and other release dates given for other titles. I think week 1 and 2 will be good but to keep up what ever increase MK8 gets for Wii U will depend on what else is in the pipeline. A good E3 showing and a few key release dates could keep the momentum going through summer anyway.
They've just released figures to show Japan spends more on mobile than any other country, despite a smaller population. It's really no surprise all the big names over there are making mobile games instead these days. Depressing, but it makes sense.
I'm expecting over 100,000 for Wii in the MK launch week. 100k is not some crazy big number. Didn't Wii U hit that over Christmas?
Yeah, they were above 100K a few weeks if I remember right. Still it would be a huge boost in sales to jump to that level. If the equivalent jump is made world wide it would mean half a million units sold in a week.
@Peach64 Yeah but it was during the Christmas season though. Despite people claiming that Christmas isn't big in Japan, that simply isn't true.
It really depends on how big of a console seller Mario Kart 8 really is (if it is one).
Their poor advertisement, inability to distinguish the console from its predecessor, and poor release titles (I mean it in the sense of showing the merits of the console, not necessarily the quality of the actual software) are coming back to bite them in the donkey.
They will need to have some big announcements this year (and big impact events) to get out of the rut they're currently in. But whatever they do will need to have some merit in producing future profits from the console, there's really no reason to burn money and not be able to recoup it in the future.
Perhaps opening up the controller to the PC community could pull in developers. Might give them more incentive if they have access to the controller from the get go. Could go poorly too though...well whatever they do now is going to have to have some risk if they want sales.
@Peach64 - "Japan spends more on mobile"
Stupid question - does mobile include Vita/3DS or only smartphones and tablets? It's been obvious for a few years now that mobile consoles - DS/PSP - sell better than home consoles in Japan. The fact that Vita is doing so well now I think emphasizes that point. Do tablets sell well in japan since most people have smartphones? We have 3 cheap dumb cellphones, 2 7" tablets and 3 regular 3DS in our household but I know we aren't typical of anything.
Vita and 3DS/LL battling it out at the top seems about right, but PS4 still selling triple Wii U isn't good at all. I did some quick math and at it's current rate Wii U would sell <1mil total over the next 4 years in Japan
5k x 4w x 12m x 4y = 960k
Wii U needs an MK8 bundle.
Wow, those are some crappy numbers across the board, but the PS4 managed a marginal increase while the Wii U had a marginal drop...I conclude: NINTENDOOOOOM!
That's it, throw out and burn all your Nintendo products!
Okay, got that out of the way.
What is the deal with Yokai Watch?
@rjejr That just games sold on the IOS app store and Google Play store.
Handhelds are doing better than consoles right now, but they've taken a huge hit because of mobile too. There were 80 million PSPs sold, and just over 8 million Vitas have been sold. I know it's got a few years left, but it's not even going to reach a quarter of what it's predecessor did. Not quite as drastic for 3DS, but it's still way down on DS, and it's getting slower every year. They sold 1.5 million 3DS units in Japan this time last year, but this year, it's not quite 750,000 yet.
I don't like it, but people can't call these Japanese companies stupid for favouring mobile when you see the numbers.
And yet Capcom and Square Enix are posting losses despite the mobile push.
Yikes, those are some rough numbers for Ninty. But honestly, I'm just excited for what they'll come up with next. After the Game Cube flopped they came out with these awesome motion controls and sold tons and tons of Wiis. It seems like with the Wii U they were just trying to ride on the success of the Wii instead of trying for something really new and exciting. So I have a feeling that they're putting on their creative caps and will come out with something super innovative next gen. And then Sony and Microsoft will be copying Nintendo again!
@Unca_Lz
that's very interesting, because as you point out, it's not a matter of:
step 1) put stuff on mobile platforms
step 2) profit!
Right now, it seems the industry is back to where it was in the late 80s or early 90s with the core gaming audience only capable of supporting 2 major home consoles. Escalating budgets, changing tastes, and the needs of causal gamers satisfied with mobile and device gaming have driven back the dedicated gaming device market.
There is still a very strong market for dedicated home gaming consoles...but right now it appears that either Playstation, Wii U, or XboxOne may have to fail in order for a re-balance of the market.
There are arguments for why each one of these major brands will outlast or collapse in this gaming generation, and we still have yet to see the impact of STEAM boxes and set top quasi micro-consoles like the Amazon Fire.
@Peach64 - Thank you. And nice job on the embedded chart.
I wonder how much of that was Puzzle and Dragons? I heard it was making them millions over there. I wonder if people in japan are more open minded about these things. Mobile games are so frowned upon by the western gaming community but maybe in japan they just see it as another platform to play on. And maybe they are getting a better breed of games as a result? I'm sure it's still mostly causal stuff, but some mobile games are more like console games. Not AAA retail stuff maybe, but eShop stuff. Anything Vita and 3DS can do they can do, buttons or no.
@Peach64 it hit over 150k that week
@rjejr Stuff like Final Fantasy : The After Years was originally an episodic mobile game. They had comparatively decent stuff on imode ages ago.
@Action51 Putting stuff on mobile properly (i.e supporting physical controls and high quality ports) seems to be working pretty well for Sega.
Nothing will change for the forseable future other than Sony maybe getting rid of some parts of it that are just draining money. Nintendo is not bleeding money anywhere near fast enough for it to be any genuine concern and Microsoft could give away the Xbone and it be not an issue. (They are better anyway when they are competing than on top).
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