The Japanese Media Create results are out, and remind us of the power of brands with two versions of a massive Square Enix title still leading the way. There's good news for Nintendo in both the software and hardware results, too.
Starting with the software top 20, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is still number one and two with terrific week two sales; the 3DS version continues to out-perform the PS4 equivalent. With brief remarks reportedly made recently to confirm the Switch version is still coming, the sheer volume of sales for these initial versions does make us wonder whether there'll be much of audience left once it eventually arrives on Nintendo's latest system.
It's great news for 3DS, though, and it's worth also noting that The Great Ace Attorney 2 has also made its debut, though its sales are well below the 130,000+ numbers for its predecessor. Splatoon 2 continues its steady march towards a million retail sales in Japan as it leads Switch titles. Check out the top 20 with lifetime sales in brackets below.
- [3DS] Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Square Enix, 07/29/17) – 300,714 (1,456,601)
- [PS4] Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Square Enix, 07/29/17) – 200,798 (1,151,113)
- [NSW] Splatoon 2 (Nintendo, 07/21/17) – 74,235 (827,646)
- [3DS] The Great Ace Attorney 2 (Limited Edition Included) (Capcom, 08/03/17) – 69,848 (New)
- [PS4] Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (SIE, 08/03/17) – 30,384 (New)
- [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 04/28/17) – 13,764 (615,633)
- [3DS] Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and The Millionaires’ Conspiracy (Level-5, 07/20/17) – 12,699 (108,057)
- [3DS] The Great Ace Attorney 1&2 Limited Edition (Capcom, 08/03/17) – 9,651 (New)
- [3DS] Hey! Pikmin (Nintendo, 07/13/17) – 8,493 (107,887)
- [NSW] Arms (Nintendo, 06/16/17) – 5,472 (189,417)
- [NSW] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Limited Edition Included) (Nintendo, 03/03/17) – 5,304 (554,123)
- [3DS] Sumikko Gurashi: Koko, Doko Nan Desu? (Nippon Columbia, 07/20/17) – 34,107 (5,197)
- [3DS] Pokemon Sun / Pokemon Moon (Nintendo, 11/18/16) – 4,321 (3,304,705)
- [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf Amiibo+ (Nintendo, 11/23/16) – 4,293 (212,998)
- [PS4] Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age (Square Enix, 07/13/17) – 4,217 (132,188)
- [PS4] Gundam Versus (Limited Edition Included) (Bandai Namco, 07/06/17) – 3,948 (153,086)
- [PSV] Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition (SIE, 03/19/15) – 3,297 (1,187,447)
- [PS4] Grand Theft Auto V (Low Price Version) (10/08/15) – 2,852 (372,514)
- [3DS] Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo, 12/01/11) – 2,832 (2,799,235)
- [3DS] Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS (Nintendo, 12/01/16) – 2,711 (1,069,884)
Moving on to hardware, we see notable fall-offs for PS4 and the New 2DS LL, the latter of which topped the chart last week courtesy of a DQXI limited edition. With sales down across the board, it's the Nintendo Switch that holds momentum the best to take top spot; results are below with last week's sales in brackets.
- Switch – 61,933 (89,314)
- PlayStation 4 – 43,862 (82,368)
- New 2DS LL – 33,871 (110,963)
- New 3DS LL – 22,200 (26,587)
- PlayStation 4 Pro – 9,077 (10,988)
- PlayStation Vita – 4,773 (4,967)
- 2DS – 3,740 (3,680)
- New 3DS – 1,078 (1,370)
- Wii U – 158 (142)
- PlayStation 3 – 96 (121)
- Xbox One – 90 (94)
Another strong week for Nintendo and games on its system, with Dragon Quest XI being another example of how dedicated the 3DS audience is in Japan.
[source gematsu.com]
Comments 86
Wow, great.
Now localize the Dragon Quest switch and 3ds games for the west!
Nice hold for dragon quest and splatoon.
I imagine Splatoon is only being held back by the lack of enough switches. It will be over a million soon enough.
Nice hold for Dragon Quest, Splatoon and the Switch (60k is much higher than the average 25k it was selling in April-June).
Shame that Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 didn't do as well as the original, but given that it launched at a bad time (with the Dragon Quest hype), I can see why. I hope it picks up some steam too, because, the worse it sells in Japan, the lower the chances are that it'll be localised.
No such thing as Switch shortages in my opinion, certainly not in Japan. Sure there's some localised issues in urban areas but I think Nintendo liked the hype that the stories of queueing up almost Lottery style in the hope of buying a Switch. People always want what they can't have.
Good follow up sales for DQ XI but those Crash sales are like his name.
Edit: My work here is done. I've pulled the pin and dropped the grenade.
Sigh... Looks like no chance of a Great Ace Attorney localization...
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Lol, stop mate. you are talking out of the wrong hole there!
Seems like it didn't take long for 3DS sales to fall below Switch sales.
Nevertheless, these are great hardware sales across the board, especially for the Switch; stock is holding up really well 3 weeks after Splatoon 2's launch. Next week should see increases in hardware sales across the board thanks to the summer Obon holidays.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE
I don't understand why you keep doing this. Please remove your head out of your you-know-where and stop spreading conspiracy theories.
So will the Switch version of the new Dragon Quest be like the PS4 version?
@Agent721 Yes.
@westman98 Leave him be. If you starve him of attention he'll go away because he is, most of the time (not all the time), a troll.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE dude they are still doing lotterys for switchs there.
@westman98 Everyone loves a good conspiracy theory.
And it's happened far too often with Nintendo for it to be an accident at this point.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Then why are there still lotteries being held, if there is more than enough Switches? Here is a source if you don't believe me: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1416564
Next to that, every store in Japan still reports the Switch as sold out or only available during lotteries: https://gamewith.jp/gamedb/article/show/43620?from=ios
At first I thought you were just ignorant, but I guess you're just a troll.
@DrkBndr I know there are lotteries, in built-up areas though. Those people should try and go outside the pale.
Capcom is like "Eh, needs more time. Numbers could be a fluke."
That's it, Japan is officially Switch territory now. Even the two PS4s failed this time.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE I don't know about Japan other than what the media releases which seems to back up that it is pretty hard to just walk in any retailer and pick up a Switch, but I can say where I live in the US the Nintendo Switch is like spotting a unicorn in the wild, it has remained sold out at every retailer in my surrounding area we have two Nintendo Switch units that we obtained through preorder when the console was released in March and since then we have tried and tried to pick up another Switch for my mother in law with no luck . I know we could get one on ebay for 450.00 to 500.00 but I can't bring myself to reward a scalper I know eventually we will surely find another Switch out in the wild or hopefully I guess I should say.
Wow, nice hold for Switch. I honestly expected a bigger drop than that. It's had a good three weeks since Splatoon 2 launched.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE exactly. it's mind game that Nintendo plays. People are thinking that they need it since they influence each other as well. People must have it because it's a thing. If you would ask one of those people they would say "i got it because a friend got it" LMAO
Nintendo publicly apologised. That is rather humbling if not humiliating. So...no, I don't think Nintendo are appreciating the hype scarcity is causing.
@Alucard83 That tactic has worked for Sony for many years now LOL..
Yikes, Nintendo is DOMINATING Japan.
The only current gen exclusive for Sony in the list this week is Gundam Versus in spot 16.
The rest is rereleases, remakes and multiplatforms.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Haha, you're a Nintendo Switch truther too? I guess that's fitting.
No, sweetie, the multinational corporation is not undersupplying Switches and losing out on hundreds of thousands of sales because of the perceived value of articles about console lotteries in Japan. Nintendo undersupplied them because they were burned by the epic disaster that the Wii U turned out to be, and now they're contending with shortages of materials they need. Unless the people writing about said materials shortages are also... paid off by Nintendo?
Wow thats great news
@Ralizah I would ❤️ your comment twice if I could.
In reading some of the comments on here I have to say if that is Nintendo's tactic to make the Switch hard to get in my opinion it's a very dumb one , people are not gonna wait forever for a Switch when they have so many other console and gaming choices, I don't believe it is intention on Nintendo's part that would be really dumb in this day and age .
People are still making huge lines to buy a switch even with the increased stock
This is going pretty crazy (and well) for nintendo
@faint @Ralizah
What you have observed is a coping mechanism used to rationalize and explain away the trauma of seeing Switch continue to dominate and remain the center of attention, despite one's deepest desires to see it fail so they can feel justified in their Switchless, Wii U-only gaming regimen.
I can only imagine what it will be like once the Super Nintendo Classic gets released.
I'm starting to really want the Switch version of Dragon Quest. I hope it comes out soon.
@JaxonH, Hahaha LOL your comment made me laugh . In that retrospect I always tell people the Switch is what the Wii U should have been .
@faint Aww! I'll give you a ❤️ too!
I try to ignore most of Slig's trollish comments, because roasting him has practically become a popular past-time on this website and I don't particularly like calling people out anyway, but, after 2016, I have very little patience for patently ridiculous conspiracy theories, because leaving them alone only allows them to grow unchecked until you can't ignore them any more.
@JaxonH I... kind of understand the impulse. Before Nintendo revealed that the NX was actually a hybrid video game console, I had invested heavily into the Wii U and its games and could only greet speculation about the NX with irritation. I wasn't about to replace one home console with another home console only three years after getting it. I swore I wasn't getting an NX before 2020.
Thankfully, the super-cool functionality of the system partially won me over, and the January presentation (which everyone else seemed to be disappointed with, for some reason) sealed the deal for me. I'm so enthusiastic for the console now that I border on being a complete fanboy. It's probably the coolest piece of tech I've ever owned.
But yeah, your diagnosis of the situation seems right on!
The Wii U is dead and STILL outperforms X Box One... I wonder why people hate Microsoft so much over there...
@Ralizah Sliggy Stardust does decent post too...occasionally
@MattFox Why does that have to equal hate? I don't get it.
Fantastic week, I'm personally happy to see Hey! Pikmin sell over 100k in Japan, it's not a bad game it all, it's not Pikmin 4 but it ain't claiming to be. Over 60k in a week for the 3DS family, wow. I know a number of people now here in the North of Ireland looking for Switch with no luck. I have a friend in the South looking out for me on their behalf but as yet, not a sniff of them anywhere in the wild. Had to jump through a few hoops but I am so happy I have the limited edition Splatoon 2 hardware Bundle safely put away for my son for Christmas.
@MartyFlanMJFan Best parent ever award in t minus 5+ months!
@SLIGEACH_EIRE
So Nintendo is lying to its shareholders, it got the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Bloomberg and Nikkei News to all support the lie that parts, are in fact, hard to find, and then, they got all the stock trading agencies to back up this lie. Its a giant conspiracy over a video game console, involving multiple firms, the media and stock analysts.
Yup, its a grand conspiracy, but you, the wisest of the wise, grand master of all computer supplies in the world, know the truth.
@Wexter nah Santa Claus still gets the credit mate! I cannot wait to see him that morning though, we love our Wii U but he is buzzing about the Switch and Splatoon2, he'll go ballistic!
@SLIGEACH_EIRE You may not realize this, but you seem to be in denial.
@Romeo-75 come to Florida, there's plenty brah.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE
Artificial demand isn't a good or interesting conspiracy at all.
Just a few days ago there were 3 different locations in Japan with at least 5000 folk waiting in line,the biggest queues since launch.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE marketing folk call this "false scarcity" and it's been out to good use by a lot of companies over the years, so you may be right.
@GrailUK That poster stay talking out of the the wrong hole.
Switch momentum holding good in Japan. It's been perfectly designed for the Japanese market (and plenty of people in other markets too, but that's Off Topic) and will dominate there. Should lead to some interesting software.
@Equinox
I know what you mean, garbage is trash, can't understand why ppl buy garbage like Kirby, Yoshi, even mario party games, very trashy indeed just like crash
@EDF Eh, Kirby has always been about fun, adorable platforming. It's not for everyone, but it certainly doesn't mean it's "trash". IMO, Kirby is known for its superb controls, something a game like Crash, however, could never claim. They're not in the same league by far.
"[3DS] Sumikko Gurashi: Koko, Doko Nan Desu? (Nippon Columbia, 07/20/17) – 34,107 (5,197)"
There's a typo on this article, you should flip these numbers around.
Nintendo should send out a PSA to those who are struggling to find a Switch, informing them that their is plenty of Switch stock in Ireland and Florida
Just waiting for the The Great Ace Attorney 1 localization.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Troll
@MattFox
I think it's about Japanese culture itself.
Since today, there are some Japanese people keep treating foreign people or tourist like a Stranger. They might smile at you when you talk to them But they keep the distance, stay away from strangers or people who they think not really important.
I called it an Individualistic mindset for some Japanese people. In extreme case, there are some Japanese people have syndrome "Hikikomori", a disorder mental that withdraw from social life by extreme isolation. They don't even want to socialize with other people because they think being alone is safe and not wasting time by talk to stranger.
Back to xbox one case, same like I said above. They might still consider xbox like a Strange product, though Japanese people adore to use English words for their catchphrases, song title, etc but they still don't like to embrace a Western product like that. Maybe, from I heard, No a lot of JRPG inside xbox = No Buy.
Well.... I guess it explain why Japanese (almost) never cares about xbox products.
@MattFox They don't hate it. They just don't like it more than other consoles.
@JaxonH
"What you have observed is a coping mechanism used to rationalize and explain away the trauma of seeing Switch continue to dominate and remain the center of attention, despite one's deepest desires to see it fail so they can feel justified in their Switchless, Wii U-only gaming regimen."
They'll be claiming the Switch stock shortages and sales are made up soon.
To be fair, given Nintendo's history it's not difficult to believe Nintendo would artificially create scarcity of one of their products. I don't think it's the case this time, but it wouldn't shock me. This time I believe they messed up by being too afraid Switch would go the same way and now they're caught short. It's like the boy who cried wolf though.
Splatoon 2 will reach 1 million copies sold in Japan alone (physical + digital) at the same time it took the first Splatoon to sell 1 million copies worldwide.
Interesting to observe the case of Crash. The game has been leading in western charts. In UK have been the top game for various weeks. In Japan is barely registered.
I think the main reason is the game art. According to my explanation, the characters are unappealing to Japanese consumers. Meanwhile UK gamers find the character funny. I personally, a western with Japanese tastes, find the characters repulsive. Can't stand to even try the game.
The gameplay is swallow, according to what I have read. Why the game succeeds in the west then? I think that the people buying, got attached in the PS1 days, when there were lesser expectations about gameplay. Or some just want simple game mechanics, with what they perceive as fun graphics. On the other hand, Japanese gamers disliked the graphics from the beginning, and never got attached to the game.
What I would like to ask, to all these people buying this game on the West is, haven't you ever played Mario? it is like 1000x better! How can someone play this game after playing a few Marios? This is something that I don't understand well.
That is my perception of what is happening with this game.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Switches are selling for 47000 yen on Amazon when the suggested retail price is 30000 yen. Shortages are very real.
@MattFox It's not hate though, it's just not what most Japanese would prefer. Also a lot of those numbers goes to the many foreigners who went to live there and was probably the few that bought them Xbox.
@JaxonH @Ralizah I think my favourite piece of squirmery is:
"I know there are lotteries, in built-up areas though. Those people should try and go outside the pale."
Firstly, it's great to hear this from our man on the ground - in, err... Ireland - confidently informing us of the geographical distribution of Switch supplies across Japan. And secondly, he's talking about a country with a 94% urban population. If you say, "it's only people in urban areas who are missing out", you mean, "practically the entire population".
And as bemusing as it is to imagine the Switches piling up among the rice paddies and long-forgotten temples of rural Japan, I don't buy it for an instant. Apparently the Japanese just need to "get outside the pale", and presumably head into the magical forests where the mushi play amongst the ginko trees, for there they shall find the stockpile of forgotten games consoles that Nintendo has - for some reason - been accumulating.
I mean, there's holding a contrarian viewpoint, and then there's downright lying; literally making up information that you have no way of knowing because it suits your bizarre conspiracy theory, which in turn suits your ongoing, tiresome agenda.
It's times like this when my Slig-ometer flips from the chartitable end of 'poor, misunderstood, slightly grumpy chap who loves his Wii U*' to the rather less charitable end of 'common or garden troll'.
*Even though he did nothing but complain throughout the entire Wii U era.
@Reignmaker I like your optimism I was picturing more like ... a bunch of headless chicken running around a run-down office building, screaming at each other and slowly but steadily picking each other to death - bit by bit.
If they are still doing market-research and stuff ... I mean, then technically there is still hope I guess. That would be some good news indeed. As long as there is capacity and willingness for rational thought, all things should still be considered possible.
So Nintendo said they would be able to ramp up production around this time, and they've ramped up production around this time.
It's almost as if a company tells the truth to its shareholders and internet conspiracy theorists make things up!
@GrailUK It doesn't. That was wild guessing on my part, but they don't love it
@crackafreeze I get it. I had to choose a second company to support and I chose PS4 because of the games, not because I don't like the Xbox.
In retrospect, my question wasn't the best lol
@Anti-Matter That was a nice answer. That's a bit true everywhere. In these parts we call foreign people "gringo", and not in a loving way. People just don't trust what's strange, as you said it.
Well, I'll buy it on the Switch, not the 3DS. I'm just loving my Switch. Already have Zelda, I am Setsuna, NBA Playgrounds. What a lovely gaming beast the NS is!
@Maxz During the Wii U era I believe his user avatar was the Wii logo in the colors of the Irish flag. He changed it to the Wii U logo when the Switch was announced. If the trend continues, he'll have a green, orange and white Switch logo when the eighth Nintendo console launches in a few years.
And excellent post, by the way. You write in a compelling and entertaining way, backing up your arguments with real facts instead of blind emotion and I really admire that, especially with so much senseless trolling on this site as of late. It's funny, I never saw this level of negativity when Nintendo was doing poorly last generation. Go figure; Nintendo starts to turn things around and now everyone is prophesying doom and gloom.
SLLAAAYYY Splatoon
RIP Great Ace Attorney. Thine hopes for a localization long buried. T.T
@thesilverbrick
There were plenty of people dooming Nintendo when the Wii U was failing.
The only people dooming Nintendo here right now are salty Wii U owners who are pissed that Nintendo is finding success without building a "Nintendo-branded PS4."
@DarkKirby I'm rotting along with ya!
@Ralizah That takedown was so brutal you might've violated the ToS.
@westman98 Don't get me wrong; I don't mean to say that people weren't negative at all during the Wii U's failure. But I almost feel like now people are more negative than they were before, which is odd given Nintendo's upward trend. And I think you're absolutely right. These are people that wanted Nintendo to do exactly what Sony and Microsoft are doing, and they are embittered that Nintendo once again went their own direction and are actually finding some success. What these people fail to see is that Nintendo does poorly when they try to directly compete with Sony and Microsoft. The lukewarm performance of the GameCube proves that. The GameCube was architected similarly to the PS2 and original Xbox, had graphical and technological parity and initially received many of the same ports. And it landed squarely in third place. Bottom line is that Nintendo can't simply release a "me-too" console. They need to think outside the box if they plan to succeed. I think they're doing that quite well with the Switch.
@JaxonH "remain the center of attention, despite one's deepest desires to see it fail so they can feel justified in their Switchless, Wii U-only gaming regimen".
Lol so true, that guy/girl doesn't want the Switch so he/she is salty is doing well.
Sure, let's find a way to distract everyone from the fact that Nintendo are selling every Switch they ship as fast as they can make them, for the last five months.
Let's try to bury the fact that it's no longer even remotely plausible to claim that every game on Switch is a port or a remake.
Let us definitely try to make people forget that every time we talked about how no third parties would support the Switch, another third party announced an upcoming game for the Switch.
Hmm, what can we do? Oh, snap, I got it! Let's claim that the sales mean nothing, because it's all part of Nintendo's nefarious plan to BRAINWASH people into wanting a Switch!
We've gone from "it's all a lie, the Switch isn't selling at all, and I know it because I saw three of them in a shop in Ireland once" to "it's all a lie, the Switch isn't selling at all and I know it because I heard you can totally buy Switches in Japan if you just leave the urban centers".
Of course, not one of these silly Japanese people is smart enough to realise that the only thing keeping them from owning a Switch is a half-hour train ride into the countryside. And apparently Nintendo got their addresses all mixed up and sent thousands of Switches to tiny village shops scattered through the wilderness of Japan, instead of the urban centers where people are literally queuing up by the thousands for the chance to buy one.
Because, apparently, Nintendo abhor making money.
@onex
Yep, it's all about opinions and for me Kirby is very trashy just like crash but each to their own, hope you enjoy them but for me platformers don't do it
@Ralek85 Hmm, yes... rational thought and Capcom. I guess we can still dream, right?
@buildz
Well, The Great Ace Attourney games will never be localized anyway, because Capcom is so great.
@Nolan420, the Gamestops here do offer the bundles and they sell out as well, though you are right if you are desperate for a Nintendo Switch this is the best chance to get one as the bundles take a week or two before they are sold out. I just can't bring myself to support this behavior from Gamestop they are doing the same thing scalpers are charging 450.00 to 600.00 for a Switch and yes they throw in a game or two and a couple gaming items but they can't sell just a system . This has made me think a lot less of Gamestop they forcing their inventory on consumers through the success of the Nintendo Switch.., Shameless behavior on Gamestops behalf .
Japanese Nintendo eShop Charts
Nintendo Switch
1. Strikers 1945 for Nintendo Switch
2. Splatoon 2
3. Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition
4. Gunbarich for Nintendo Switch
5. Issho ni Chokitto Snippers
6. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
7. Sonic Wings 2
8. Namco Museum
9. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
10. Rei-Jin-G-Lu-P
Nintendo 3DS
1. Dragon Quest XI: Sugisarishi Toki o Motomete
2. Kirby no Suikomi Dai Sakusen
3. Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2: Naruhodou Ryuunosuke no Kakugo
4. Tobidasu! Nyanko Daisensou
5. Brave Dungeon
6. Ice Station Z
7. Maido Hebo Shogi
8. Sayonara! Hako Boy!
9. Charisou DX
10. Daikaitaku Jidai: Machi o Tsukurou
Wii U
1. Splatoon
2. Minecraft: Wii U Edition
3. Cube Life: Pixel Action Heroes
4. Tallowmere
5. Super Mario World
6. Mario Kart 8
7. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
8. Block Builder
9. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
10. Egokoro Kyoushitsu: Sketch
@Kolzig But it's alright, since they'll pump out another port of Apollo Justice!
/s
@gatorboi352 Now, are you sure there's plenty? Are you gonna prove it with nonexistent photos like last time? On, wait.....
@SLIGEACH_EIRE well, I actually live in Japan and, unfortunately, there are NO Switches anywhere to be seen, be it big city or small town. Though you can buy some on second hand stores if your are willing to pay more for a second hand unit than for a new one...
@Reignmaker As they say ... hope dies last
@Maxz quality post...
@maruse I think you'll find he knows more than you about Japan and the worldwide sales and distribution of the Switch.
Farewell, Ever Oasis, ye shall be missed.
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