Japanese Charts: It's Onwards And Upwards For Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Zooming in on PlayStation's physical/digital sales split (which looks at units sold rather than cash), just over two thirds (67 per cent) of software sales were digital in Q2 2023

totk no longer in the top 10 list that is a surprise

I love that poopular IP, couldn't have thought of a typo like this myself. Brilliant!

I don’t know if you guys intended it, but you’ve got an extra o in popular, just a heads up.

Nintendo just killing it

Glad to see the Switch Lite still holding up. My main preference with the next Nintendo system is that there is a handheld only model ( along with backwards compatibility of course! )

Star Ocean deserves more sales!!

@johnedwin I hope Nintendo is cooking some DLCs. Or maybe just the Hero Mode.

Good job in kicking Minecraft out of the top ten this week Star Ocean. You rock. Also good job Xbox for beating the entire PlayStation empire this week on the hardware front. It would be funny if the Slim model launch and it still sucks.

@johnedwin do you actively wait for Japanese charts articles to be posted just to post something cynical

Ouch - PlayStation getting outdone by Xbox. Oh well, at least Spiderman is hanging on in the Top 10.

Great stuff all around.

Ps4 is still getting games? Wow.

Upwards only with good marketing thanks to the movie. It’s hardly the best 2D Mario and definitely not the best platformer on switch. It’s sad that people misplace fame and hype with quality game. It has good art style, effects and great controls, but most people’s attention is taken by visuals which in many minds take attention away from depth which this game severely lacks. It has creative effects but it’s too streamlined with minimal difficulty even in the hardest levels. It’s a huge disappointment!!!!! And mainly because this should be the leading platformer. The king of platforming is still DK Tropical Freeze!

This is probably one of those rare times where Microsoft can proudly say that the Xbox had double the sales of PS5.

The PS5 hardware sales are pathetic lately in Japan. And there's not even the excuse of manufacturing/distribution issues to hide behind anymore.

@Znake I don't understand how a 2D Mario game made in 2023 still has terrible boss diversity. Especially when recent 3D games got SO creative with it.

This was supposed to be a creative break from the staleness of the NSMB sub-series, and it is to some extent, but not nearly as much as you'd expect from the godfather of the platforming game genre.

DKC: TF is certainly better, but so are games like Rayman Legends and Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. By quite a margin.

It's not a bad game at all, but there's no excuse for it not to be better than it is.

@Ryu_Niiyama PS4 will still get games for years. The device is powerful enough to run indie and mid-budget games just fine, and there's still a large built-in audience, so why not?

a week from now i expect ps5 sales to be in range it was before sony decided wind down the original model if not then i would be concerned..

@Ralizah third party games it will get but no longer first party games after 2024.

@EaglyBird that did surprise me fashion dreamer selling so much i also did not think it was the type of game japan players liked..but then again a few games in japan have surprised me and also disappointed me in terms of sales..

@Ralizah There's an article on Push explaining why the PS5 sales have dropped lower than PS4. When the new model comes out the sales will be back to 30/40 thousand weekly.

Happy to see Star Ocean Chart unlike in the UK, hopefully it does well enough for the series to continue as I know Tri-Ace were struggling.

I'm just happy Pikmin is still hanging in there!

Feels like a polished set of Mario Maker levels. Just feels off and not like Super Mario World at all, that may be the point but I feel underwhelmed by this game. The first 2D Mario game I'll likely not 100% finish.

@johnedwin For major games, at least. Wouldn't be surprised if any smaller games they potentially have in the works go to PS4 as well.

@Mauzuri its a really great game and you'll be able to jump in without having played the other games. One of the two playable characters is the son of two characters from Star Ocean First Departure, but Second Story gives you a short recap of what happened if you select that character. The story of the first game is irrelevant if you choose the other character so either way you're good to go

Shame WarioWare hasn't done so great this time, been really enjoying it. At least Star Ocean Second Story R is doing a bit better than SO6 did last year, but not by a lot considering its on Switch

@FawfulsFury yep then he does a post per sentence.

Embarrassing for the PS5 to be getting outsold by both Xbox variants. I guess Japan has abandoned Sony.

I hope PS5 Slim will boost PS5 sales.

Xbox and Switch in Japan right now:

PlayStation looking at Xbox and Switch, and then seeing the sales figures:

Great week for the Switch. Mario Wonder already closing in on 1M physical copies sold, love to see it.

@johnedwin totk has been out of top 10 for weeks, plus with 5 new entries and Wonder, where's the room? You'd already know this if you were paying attention instead of spamming PS5 stuff every other comment

It amazes me how people act like Nintendo dominating the Japanese charts is some suprising feat. Like, yeah, the clear top dog in a country is dominating in said country.

Star Ocean 2 would have sold better if SE didn’t short stock. Switch version is completely out.

@johnedwin the bigger surprise is Spider-Man 2 is barely in top 10 despite coming out way later then Tears of the Kingdom, but you conveniently left that part out V-V….

Has anyone figured out what’s up with the R in game names? Another Code R, now Star Ocean: The Second Story R

@NintendoWife short for Remake, I assume. Better than the Re: Kingdom Hearts was doing for a while at least!

It's-a-me, profit-o!

@jmvalone the reasons the console sales have been non existent the last few weeks are obvious..

I wonder if Animal Crossing got a boost from the Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth trailer.

@NintendoWife

In this content, it means "remake". It's generally included in Japanize remakes that use the full, original title, kind of how dates are generally used in the West (like Doom 2016 likely would have been Doom R if developed in Japan).

"リメイク" or ""Rimeiku" is the Japanese work for "remake" .. so by using the Romaji "R" it works in both English and Japanese. It's likely also some hilarious pun I don't understand as a non-native speaker. Japan is a pun based sociality.

@johnedwin This is the 6th week that TotK isn't in the top 10. Nothing new.

@jmvalone The PS5 doesn't have any stock in Japan. That's why it has been selling that low the last few weeks. This week the new model released so in the next charts the PS5 should be selling well again.

@NintendoWife It isn't called Another Code R, it's called Another Code: Recollection, since it's a collection of remakes.

@BTB20 @jmvalone

I don't think that's accurate. Stock levels in Japan are fine, in fact several stores have holiday bundles and discounts. There just hasn't been any real exciting releases and Nintendo keeps putting out huge titles.

As such, almost anyone who wants a PS5 is just going to wait until next week when the refresh drops. Most stores in Japan uses a lotto/reservation system for new consoles, and it looks like stock levels of the digital model are going to be very good at lunch.

@HeadPirate On Amazon Japan at least it's completely sold out except for the new model.

So unless PS can release world shocking games and new Switch coming out and 4K/DLSS/RT/RTL Sony got alot of heaving lifting to do here. And considering it's portable that no laughing matter here as well. But I need to crack open my SMBW as a start as well. But backlogs can be a royal pain here as well.

Why the heck is Fashion Dreamer on the top 10 list?

@PersianZSR
Japanese gamers especially the female audiences loves Fashion games and something Kawaii / Cute.

@BTB20

Ah, I guess I get where you are coming from, but that's not really as strong as indicator as it is in the west. Unlike the UK and US, Amazon isn't given such a huge stock priority over retail. Rakuten has them in stock, as do most brick and mortar.

Plus the new model being in stock tells the story. No one who wants a PS5 is going to wait for the old one to be in stock, and if the refresh model isn't selling out even with the huge hype it's been getting, demand just isn't that high right now. Heck, when a new COLOR of Switch comes out pre-order and lotto reserves still sell out in hours.

Star Ocean charting in the top 10 on three different platforms! Heck yeah!

@BTB20 I’m referring to one of those remade games, the Wii one. That’s called “Another Code: R”. I played it back then, it is not a remake.

@the_beaver It's a dream come true for me. Such an incredible remake.

@Mauzuri You most definitely do NOT need to have played the first Star Ocean to understand this game. I still recommend playing the fan translation of the first SO on SNES though. Really beautiful game.

@Anti-Matter @PersianZSR

I would say that's an oversimplification, and what's more at play here is the fact that in the West you're only allowed to like fashion games if you're a young girl. Anyone else expressing desire to follow this game would be met with social stigma and discouragement, told they "should" buy other games instead. Heck, if they tried to market this to boys they would likely face boycotts in the US for "promoting" a transgender agenda or some other nonsense.

In Japan, games like this can target a much wider audience, so naturally they sell much better. The game saw a huge marketing push as well, much larger then you would expect. I think they gave a review copy to every streamer with over 1000 followers! They targeted the university demographic pretty hard, and the release date was tied to the birthday of an important fashion icon (Kuromi!)

The love of Kawaii is universal!

@jmvalone

That has nothing to do with it. Sony stopped sending old PS5 shipments to Japan in preparation for the Slim, which launched yesterday. Sales should be back to normal next week.

@Mauzuri Nice. Hope you enjoy it.
As for platform, I lean harder into RPGs w a lot of systems on Switch. But my PS5 is basically a third-party port machine. And a way to catch up w all of the PS4 stuff I missed.