Japanese hardware sales, Oct. 1 - Oct. 7: Best served cold edition

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Oct 13th 2007 at 11:40AM }

Well, it was interesting while it lasted.

Unwilling to let the PSP reign supreme a fourth week, the DS Lite just barely clambers its way back onto the Japanese sales chart throne, still warm from the months of prior supremacy. If role-playing games have taught us anything, defeating the final boss is but a prelude to his second and much more powerful form. And if there's any knowledge to be gained from movies, it's that a foiled villain is rarely foiled so much as he is inconvenienced.

"From hell's heart, I stab at PSP!"

- DS Lite: 87,445

14,550 (19.96%)
- PSP: 86,895

15,914 (15.48%)
- Wii: 20,704

3,439 (14.24%)
- PS3: 10,822

2,283 (17.42%)
- PS2: 10,446

2,534 (19.52%)
- Xbox 360: 1,547

3,668 (70.34%)
- GBA SP: 195

146 (297.96%)
- Gamecube: 109

36 (49.32%)
- DS Phat: 90

60 (200.00%)
- Game Boy Micro: 47

182 (79.48%)
- GBA: 0

41 (100.00%)

[Source: Media Create]

See: Previous Japanese hardware sales charts

Tags: JapaneseHardwareSales

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

ferrarimanf355 @ Oct 13th 2007 12:05PM

... and what's the point to these charts, anyways? We don't live over there...

TwEE @ Oct 13th 2007 12:22PM

Where do we live?

Psaakyrn @ Oct 13th 2007 12:29PM

We live here, duh.

ferrarimanf355 @ Oct 13th 2007 12:31PM

Screw you both...

Lemmiwinks @ Oct 13th 2007 12:48PM

You read it. You cannot un-read it. Perhaps you should avoid reading it in the future.

sheppy2.0 @ Oct 13th 2007 1:43PM

Many of Joystiq's writers live all over the world. Also, sales in this region do directly effect game development from Japanese markets. Examples? Certainly.

Wii's massive success in Japan and low cost of development diverted Monster Hunter 3 from being a system exclusive. Personally, I feel it was the latter as an added bonus to being able to reuse a large amount of already developed assets but that's just me.

360's amazing inability to move units even with Rockstar level JRPG projects were want spurned NamcoBandai to take Eterna Sonata multiplat. Likewise, PS3's slow adoption rate was what made Capcom develop DMC4 for multiplat. Exclusive content this war will likely be related to what console has it's strengths in what region.

Moofree @ Oct 13th 2007 4:07PM

We live everywhere.
Welcome to the internet.

3cubed minus 3squared plus1 @ Oct 13th 2007 5:24PM

Sheppy, you also forgot to point out that DQ is now going to the DS thanks to its massive success.

sheppy2.0 @ Oct 13th 2007 6:41PM

No I didn't. I simply refuse to acknowledge Crystal Chronicles: Dragon Quest Edition as an ACTUAL Dragon Quest game.

Noshino @ Oct 13th 2007 9:32PM

@3cubed minus 3squared plus1

I thought you guys that love the DS liked it because of its "pick up n play"...so if you tell me that you can consider the new DQ a full fledge game, then ya, just like sheppy said, its stupid...It wont really get to be as deep as it would on a platform (mainly if it goes the "pick up n play" path)

So, if you come and tell me that a game of that kind would be better on teh DS, I ll tell you "BS" and that you are being a hypocrite, becasue somewhere along the line, you MUST have said "I don't like long gaming sessions" to protect the DS to be compared from the PSP....

sheppy2.0 @ Oct 13th 2007 10:20PM

c'mon, Noshino. PSP and DS both have a great selection of pick up and playable games. Likewise, both have their lengthy adventures. Whatever excuse a fanboy uses to bash a system, that mark can easily be leveled at the system they defend.

Regardless, my comment comes from the fact that anytime DQ9 info drops, Yugi Naka is always going on about how it will be a community style game with your friends and how each player serves a role in the party. Also, graphically, the whole thing looks to be taking a massive step backwards. If they desired DS release, I would have prefered they NOT make it 3D. And the entire decision for this game to be made the way it was? "Because we see people playing them all the time." That's... well, special. They're going to tear apart a long running franchise to cater to a system that hasn't been kind to hardcore gamer games. Granted, if more would actually release, but I digress.

But, I could be wrong on this and time will tell. After all, I hated the idea of FFXII and now I consider the Gambit system something I desire in other RPGs.

blooh (CDF - Nipple Ring) @ Oct 14th 2007 12:49AM

yeah the gambits were the only good part of ff12

3cubed minus 3squared plus1 @ Oct 14th 2007 11:16AM

Noshino, at what point was I defending the DS?
And when the hell did I compare it to the PSP?
Never I just stated another franchise moving to Nintendo hardware because of its success.
Just STFU next time and quit being a fanboy.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 15th 2007 11:18AM

DQ 9 done in the artistic style of Phantom Hourglass will look amazing.

That said, I've never really played any DQ games, so I'm not exactly thrilled or disappointed by a DS release.

WTangoFoxtrot @ Oct 13th 2007 12:06PM

KHAAAAAAAANNN !!!!!!!

Taco_Hell @ Oct 13th 2007 12:15PM

And now all is right in the world. Though, I wonder why all of the home systems sales have been dropping.

Psaakyrn @ Oct 13th 2007 12:16PM

Maybe they're *gasp* waiting for games to come out on them?

blooh (CDF - Nipple Ring) @ Oct 13th 2007 12:29PM

360 has tons of games...

Psaakyrn @ Oct 13th 2007 12:34PM

They buy consoles when the games are released, not because of existing game libraries. Or at least, when games are released, there's always an exceptional surge of purchases.

blooh (CDF - Nipple Ring) @ Oct 13th 2007 10:11PM

guess there are some anti-360 fanboys in here. jeez, it's not like i like microSHAFT but the 360 has a bunch of good games

Psaakyrn @ Oct 14th 2007 12:02AM

Anti, where? I'm just merely noting the tradition of consoles being sold in exceptional numbers when games are released, and that the sales of consoles is almost directly tied to the popularity of said released games.

For note: I do like the 360, mainly for it's XBox Live potential for independant developers. (Hmm.... a potential way to boost sales is to encourage dojin developers to use the XNA framework. Even if they'll likely release mainly shooters and fighters, it's still likely to be shooters and fighters that the Japanese can appreciate.)

Psaakyrn @ Oct 13th 2007 12:17PM

You know, the analogy would be better if we actually know whether you meant the PSP or the DS as the final boss..

blooh (CDF - Nipple Ring) @ Oct 13th 2007 12:33PM

ds, duh

anti-emo @ Oct 13th 2007 12:19PM

Meanwhile, PS3 and Wii are still dropping.

Methinks they need some games...NOW.

Negativecool @ Oct 13th 2007 1:16PM

A simple yet inarguable observation that will no doubt light the fires of fanboy hostility. Kudos.

i_hate_mtv @ Oct 13th 2007 12:19PM

Oh, and how do I register?

playwhutyalike @ Oct 13th 2007 12:24PM

The GameCube is on the way back, baby!

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Noshino @ Oct 13th 2007 12:28PM

I wonder how the hell is the DS Phat being outsold by GBA SP....seriously....isn't the price difference like a few bucks (or yens)?

Psaakyrn @ Oct 13th 2007 12:35PM

I'd say form factor. GBA SP looks better than DS original by a reasonable margin.

unfriendly_cat @ Oct 13th 2007 4:40PM

GBA plays old GB and GBC games, while the Phat offers nothing extra in addition to the Lite.

chris @ Oct 13th 2007 7:09PM

GBA SP also has a better screen than the DS Phat. If I had a spare $100 lying around I'd go buy a new SP, as I sold mine when I got a DS, remembering about a month later my 40+ Game Boy and Game Boy Color games are now utterly useless.

ruibing @ Oct 13th 2007 12:29PM

Wii needs Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart, and Super Smash.
PS3 needs MGS4, R&C, Uncharted, and GT 5.
360 needs Halo 4.
PSP needs more FF and MGS.

Psaakyrn @ Oct 13th 2007 12:36PM

Halo 4 isn't gonna sell in Japan. Now, Blue Dragon 2, on the other hand...

sheppy2.0 @ Oct 13th 2007 1:30PM

...is still not gonna sell in Japan?

I mean, seriously. Largest surges that console got were from Dead Or Alive 4, Gears Of War, and Halo 3. Eterna Sonata and Blue Dragon both minorly increased sales and even then, it was for a couple weeks.

SJ @ Oct 13th 2007 12:30PM

Nintendo should really start getting concerned about the Wii. There is just not enough steady flow of good games. Hopefully Galaxy and Wii Fit will change that.

Guybrush Threepwood (Sega Defense Force - Infallibility Ring) @ Oct 13th 2007 12:39PM

"Good games"

"Wii Fit"

lol

Galaxy does look like a mighty good game, though.

Admiral_Mike @ Oct 13th 2007 12:42PM

If the fact that NSMB is still in the japanese charts is anything to go by, Galaxy should be all nintendo need.

phattie @ Oct 13th 2007 12:47PM

Well, if you compare DS to Wii sales of pokemon... its about 1000:1 in units sold. What does well on the handheld tells you nothing about how it sells on the console. The same is basically true for all the DS to Wii ports so far; brain training, pokemon, zelda (not direct port, but DS zelda outsells console zelda consistently), cooking mama, etc.

phattie @ Oct 13th 2007 12:41PM

This is like the 6th week of wii decline, they were consistently pushing 70-100k units a week only a few weeks ago. Guess the hype train to pulling into the station.. Galaxy might spike sales for a week, but, Wiifit is a gimmick that anyone can see through.

Maybe they are sending those region locked units to North America.. lol

Psaakyrn @ Oct 13th 2007 12:45PM

Inaccurate statement. It's obvious they can't be sending over Japan region-locked units. What they could do however, is to divert production from Japan region-locked units to units locked to other regions.

Admiral_Mike @ Oct 13th 2007 12:45PM

Hey guess what else is declining?. Every sony console. Xbox too, but thats expected in japan.

phattie @ Oct 13th 2007 12:49PM

Its one thing to go from 100k units a week to 20k .. compared to consistently hovering around 10-20k due to high costs, dearth of games, toxic pr environment, etc... something larger is going.

Fatass of Kickassness @ Oct 13th 2007 1:16PM

And yet, it still outsells its competitors, pretty easily too.

A decline from a massive lead to a decent lead is still better than consistently selling quite a bit less than your competition.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Oct 13th 2007 1:28PM

Oh man, the Wii iz doomz!!!! Lol to anyone who really thinks that this means the Wii is doomed in Japan. Seriously was this a surprise? Of course sales of the Wii are going to go down, it happens to anything that sells an amazing amount of hardware in a short amount of time. But the reason why no one who's intelligent(not phattie) is complaining is because it's still doing much better than any other console on the Japanese market.

Also I'll adopt a phrase that is used commonly by the SDF(idiots). Just wait until Super Smash Bros and Mario Galaxy hit the Wii. Only difference between what I say and the SDF says is that the games I listed will actually help the console.