Japanese sales charts

[Jonathan Blow]

http://kotaku.com/gaming/it.s-a-wild-world/simple-2000-the-japanese-software-chart-258475.php

Sony doesn't have a single game on any platform until ... wait for it ... #17.

There are no PS3 games in the top 30. At all. There are 2 Xbox 360 games!

Discuss.

[Rimbo]

Business schools are going to make a case out of the rise, fall, and rebirth of Nintendo for many years. Not to mention the cautionary tale of the rise and fall of Sony.

Wow... And #17 isn't even a PS2 game; it's a PSP game.

[Chris Nahr]

Nintendo occupies the first sixteen spots. That's incredible. 17 DS titles and 5 Wii titles in the top 30 if I'm counting correctly. Sadly, most of them aren't games I'd want to play, and at least 8 titles are just minigame collections. Nintendo takes over gaming but also changes it into something I no longer care for. :(

[EvilIdler]

It seems the Japanese care for just that sort of gaming, though. Nice to see
R6V on the chart at all, though, and a non-Japanese driving game.

[Hanzii]

Nintendo occupies the first sixteen spots. That's incredible. 17 DS titles and 5 Wii titles in the top 30 if I'm counting correctly. Sadly, most of them aren't games I'd want to play, and at least 8 titles are just minigame collections. Nintendo takes over gaming but also changes it into something I no longer care for. :(


This is a really good point.
While people are raving about how Nintendo is capturing casual gamers and how this will open up gaming to millions of new customers (without actually showing the numbers to back up the claim, though) mot many are talking about the kind of games these casual gamers want.

I'm sorry but I'd take Motorstorm over allmost anything in the Wii library right now if I were to pick solely based on my own taste (please note that I still own a Wii and not a PS3 because I have kids and a mortgage).

I see a future of Sims, Wii Sports and WoW-clones if casual gamers are the sole target... and while I like two of those games I wouldn't like if they dominated everything.

[roguefrog]

I'm sorry but I'd take Motorstorm over allmost anything in the Wii library right now

What about...EXCITE truck?

[Hanzii]

I prefer HD graphics and deformable mud (and Chemical Brothers on the soundtrack) to wacky trucks in 480p - sorry...

[fuzzyslug]

I prefer HD graphics and deformable mud (and Chemical Brothers on the soundtrack) to wacky trucks in 480p - sorry...

I too am digging Motorstorm. Yeah, the single player game looks like it might be a little short but the complete chaos and very nice track design in Motorstorm are quite impressive. The first person view, complete with some next-gen level graphics, looks great. Multiplayer is pretty good as well (I think it's 10 at a time), something Nintendo may never bother with.

I had a lot of fun Excite Truck but it doesn't really scratch the racing itch for me. It isn't as much a racing game as a platformer with wheels.

[Damien Neil]

I prefer HD graphics and deformable mud (and Chemical Brothers on the soundtrack) to wacky trucks in 480p - sorry...

But not enough to pay $600 for a game console, apparently.

And that's really Sony's problem in a nutshell, isn't it? Of course the Wii would be sexier with 1080p graphics. But at $250, people can buy it--and the console you own is a hell of a lot more fun than the one you can only look at in the store.

[Rimbo]

But not enough to pay $600 for a game console, apparently.

And that's really Sony's problem in a nutshell, isn't it? Of course the Wii would be sexier with 1080p graphics. But at $250, people can buy it--and the console you own is a hell of a lot more fun than the one you can only look at in the store.

Oh, if only we could find a Wii in the store!

[Hanzii]

But not enough to pay $600 for a game console, apparently.

And that's really Sony's problem in a nutshell, isn't it? Of course the Wii would be sexier with 1080p graphics. But at $250, people can buy it--and the console you own is a hell of a lot more fun than the one you can only look at in the store.


I agree completely, which is why I added the fact, that I own a Wii but play Motorstorm on a borrowed PS3.

I still think a lot of "casuals" (ie giftgiving parents) balk at $250 which is why the PS2 is still selling like gangbusters - I'm sure that once the Wii gets readily avaliable the sales will level of (it's allready happened here).
But $250 for family fun beats $600 for sure.

[intruder]

I see a future of Sims, Wii Sports and WoW-clones if casual gamers are the sole target... and while I like two of those games I wouldn't like if they dominated everything.

That is what happens when Sales monkeys team up with marketing monkeýs and see "business opportunities". They destroy everything they touch like the internet around 1995-1998...
WoW might be seen as the doom of real gaming in a few years when looking back.

That's why I can't put a personal website online anymore without huge disclaimers etc. without fearing to be sued by some legal monkey with too many time on his hands.

A shame but a natural thing of life. :p

[JD]

Current hardware charts, while we're at it: (previous week / 2007 total)

NDS Lite: 255,971 / 2,601,305
Wii: 102,522 / 1,350,752
PSP: 33,860 / 804,223
PS3: 12,791 / 404,082
PS2: 12,584 / 309,789
Xbox 360: 3,162 / 90,345
GB Micro: 630 / 18,010
GBA SP: 495 / 16,046
GC: 167 / 6,369
NDS: 92 / 1,895

-Julian

[ScurvyPig]

Nintendo occupies the first sixteen spots. That's incredible. 17 DS titles and 5 Wii titles in the top 30 if I'm counting correctly. Sadly, most of them aren't games I'd want to play, and at least 8 titles are just minigame collections. Nintendo takes over gaming but also changes it into something I no longer care for. :(

The PC hasn't changed and hasn't forgotten you. Why have you forgotten her?

[Chris Nahr]

The PC? Oh, you mean the WoW/Sims console. :p

Actually there are plenty of released and upcoming games that keep me busy, I just hope people will keep making them and not do World of Cooking Mama instead.

Also, the PS3 finally managed to outsell the PS2 for another week. It's not dead yet!

[quatoria]

Hmmm. I might just play World of Cooking Mama. Depends on how interactive she is.

[Ben Sones]

Also, the PS3 finally managed to outsell the PS2 for another week. It's not dead yet!

12,000 sales in a week is pretty damn dead. At that rate, it would take the PS3 about 34 years to catch up to where the PS2 is right now in Japan. By contrast, the PS2 sold between 80,000 and 132,000 (Japan alone) each week in April 2000. The only reason the PS2's sales are that low now is because everyone already owns one.

[Chris Nahr]

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. In last week's Japanese sales charts (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6170684.html), Nintendo Wii and DS titles occupy the first 21 places exclusively! Only four Wii titles, by the way; the rest are all DS titles. Developers might just as well stop making games for any other platform.

[chet]

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. In last week's Japanese sales charts (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6170684.html), Nintendo Wii and DS titles occupy the first 21 places exclusively! Only four Wii titles, by the way; the rest are all DS titles. Developers might just as well stop making games for any other platform.

Let me fix this.

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. In last week's Japanese sales charts (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6170684.html), Nintendo Wii and DS titles occupy the first 21 places exclusively! Only four Wii titles, by the way; the rest are all DS titles. In Japan, developers might just as well stop making games for any other platform.

[Moggraider]

Nahr and others shouldn't be blaming Nintendo for "turning gaming into casual gaming." Gamers are on average getting older, have less free time, are starting or have long ago started families, and can't sink the hours into epic games that they used to. Nintendo saw things like this and the burgeoning popularity of casual PC games and seized the opportunity to capture the market, bringing out games suitable for both older gamers and their kids. Other long-form, more mature games still have their place, but most developers and publishers have shifted priority away from them - not just Nintendo.

[CustodianV131]

Nahr and others shouldn't be blaming Nintendo for "turning gaming into casual gaming." Gamers are on average getting older, have less free time, are starting or have long ago started families, and can't sink the hours into epic games that they used to. Nintendo saw things like this and the burgeoning popularity of casual PC games and seized the opportunity to capture the market, bringing out games suitable for both older gamers and their kids. Other long-form, more mature games still have their place, but most developers and publishers have shifted priority away from them - not just Nintendo.

Good point!

I also fall in that category (starting family/having kids) now and have been picking up quite a few "play for 10 minutes" casual games. I also still buy non-casual games (fewer though) and play an mmorpg, so I'm not totally lost yet :D But it sure is changing :)

Also I think we're seeing a wave of new gamers in there 40 to 60's At least that what I'm noticing here. Quite a few granddads who see their grandchildren playing with a DS and now own them themselves. Wives with DS'es to play Braintraining and Sudoku ect ect are becoming a real demographic factor.

Those guys that did the marketing research at Nintendo are worth their weight in gold for sure.

Last numbers in:
Japanese hardwarecharts 30 april t/m 6 may '07
Pos./Platform/this week/last week/Totaal '07/Totaal since launch
1. NDS - 285,192 | 256,063 | 2,888,392 | 16,894,071
2. WII - 101,320 | 102,522 | 1,452,172 | 2,371,815
3. PSP - 35,172 | 33,860 | 839,395 | 5,371,524
4. PS2 - 14,815 | 12,584 | 324,604 | 20,479,463
5. PS3 - 12,974 | 12,791 | 417,056 | 874,614
6. 360 - 3,205 | 3,162 | 93,550 | 358,252
7. GBA - 653 | 1,125 | 35,307 | 15,333,386
8. NGC - 394 | 167 | 6,763 | 4,176,231

[runesword forger]

The whole "different casual kinda games" thing is just a bit overblown. If you look at Nintendo's catalog, they aren't exactly abandoning their traditional gametypes. Theoretically, you'd think that they were leaving plenty of room for 3rd parties, but the audience has been difficult for 3rd parties in the past.

But... viva le diff.

I'm not interested in some of the casual games... but I have to admit, Wii Sports and Wii Brain Training are probably buys.

[chet]

Before anyone or in this thread EVERYONE tries to extapolate some proof of their pet theory based on this data. here is the latest numbers I could find in the USA.

Overall Top 10 Games for March
1. CRACKDOWN - 360
2. PLAY W/ REMOTE - WII
3. DIDDY KONG RACING - NDS
4. LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS - WII
5. GUITAR HERO 2 W/GUITAR - PS2
6. GEARS OF WAR - 360
7. LOST PLANET: EXTREME CONDITION - 360
8. MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 2K7 - 360
9. WARIOWARE: SMOOTH MOVES - WII
10. NBA STREET HOMECOURT - 360


http://www.interactive.org/top-ten.php