The Japan Preview: 2/8 Edition (Big drop) - News

by VGChartz Staff , posted on 08 February 2009 / 6,276 Views

Jacob Mazel

Summary:

After the brief surge in software sales last week, the software market has returned to its typical levels of volume. Next week should remain quiet before an upsurge in sales again at the end of February. As is usually the case in Japan, DS and PSP software accounted for more sales than console game sales in the preliminary data. DS and PSP together had twelve of the top twenty titles in the preliminary data.

Trends to Watch:

- The preorders for the Final Fantasy VII Advent PS3 bundle are rising rapidly. With Dragon Quest IX releasing in the same period hardware sales should be quite robust for April.

- Console sales over the next two weeks are crucial as PS3 could outsell Wii later in February and early March for a few weeks if it doesn’t fall off dramatically this week and the following week. Street Fighter 4 which should debut at 50,000 will have a large say in this.

- DS and Wii are slowing becoming more third party centric as Nintendo gives other companies an opportunity with a break in its release list.

Understanding the Japanese Preview:

Rather than saying x game for y platform sold between 20,000 and 28,000 units as in the past, the preliminary data will be broken down into charts by platform. Within these charts, there will two additional categories besides the rounded sales figure under ‘sales’. On the left will be ‘low end’ depicting the lowest amount the title likely sold for the week, while to the right will be ‘high end’ depicting the highest amount the title likely sold for the week. As always, this data is preliminary, and therefore, not final, but it is based on a sample. The varying platform market share the sample represents is why consistent sellers like Wii Fit do not always appear in the preliminary data. Sales for this report are for the week ending February 8, 2009

Software by Software Platform:

Wii Software – Three Wii games charted in the preliminary data. Taiko no Tatsujin sold another 21,000 units as the top selling Wii game of the week. Mario Tennis managed to sell another 13,000 units, and it now looks like the game has a shot at 200,000 units in Japan. In third place was Turbulent Haruhi with an additional 5,000 units sold. Expect Wii hardware sales to remain in the 20,000 to 30,000 unit range.

Preliminary Top Twenty Wii Software	Sales	Low End	High End
Taiko no Tatsujin Wii	21,000	19,000	23,000
Mario Tennis Wii	13,000	11,000	15,000
Turbulent Haruhi	5,000	3,000	7,000

PS3 Software – Three PS3 games were in the preliminary data. The top seller for the PS3 this week was Demon’s Soul with 40,000 units. Midnight Club: Los Angeles debuted to sales of 14,000 units in second place. Ubisoft’s Shaun White Snowboarding came in third for the PS3 with sales of 9,000 units. Expect PS3 hardware sales to remain in the 10,000 to 18,000 unit range.

Preliminary Top Twenty PS3 Software	Sales	Low End	High End
Demon's Souls	40,000	36,000	44,000
Midnight Club: Los Angeles	14,000	12,000	16,000
Shaun White Snowboarding	9,000	7,000	11,000

Xbox 360 Software – No Xbox 360 games were in the preliminary data. Expect Xbox 360 hardware sakes to remain in the 4,500 to 7,500 range this week.

PS2 Software – Two PS2 games were in the preliminary data. Winning Eleven 2009 managed to sell another 30,000 units as the top PS2 title to chart. Ryu go Gotaku 2 managed to sell another 6,000 units as well. Expect PS2 hardware sales to remain in the 4,500 to 7,500 unit range.

Preliminary Top Twenty PS2 Software	Sales	Low End	High End
Winning Eleven 2009	30,000	27,000	33,000
Ryu ga Gotaku 2 (The Best)	6,000	4,000	8,000

PSP Software – After a big week for PSP software last week, only three PSP games charted this week. Tales of the World 2 had a sharp drop this week after its debut, selling less than 50,000 units. Monster Hunter Portable 2G and Winning Eleven 2009 managed between 20,000 and 30,000 units each. Expect PSP hardware sales to drop to the 35,000 to 45,000 unit range this week.

Preliminary Top Twenty PSP Software	Sales	Low End	High End
Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2	47,000	42,000	52,000
Winning Eleven 2009	28,000	25,000	31,000
Monster Hunter Portable 2G (Cheap Edition)	21,000	19,000	23,000

DS software – Nine games for DS charted in the preliminary data. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time was the top DS game of the week once again selling 30,000 units. Rhythm Heaven Gold, Wagamama, the DS Drum Master, Penguin no Mondai, and Professor Layton were the older DS titles with legs to chart. Expect DS hardware sales to remain in the 55,000 to 65,000 unit range this week.

Preliminary Top Twenty DS Software	Sales	Low End	High End
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Echoes of Time	31,000	28,000	34,000
Rhythm Heaven Gold	20,000	18,000	22,000
Meitantei Conan & Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo	18,000	16,000	20,000
Wagamama Fashion: Gal's Mode	12,000	10,000	14,000
Chibi Maruko-Chan DS: Maru-Chan no Machi	10,000	8,000	12,000
Penguin no Mondai	9,000	7,000	11,000
Megami Ibunroku: Devil Survivor	8,000	6,000	10,000
Meccha Taiko Drum Master DS: Adventure in Seven Islands	6,000	4,000	8,000
Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel	5,000	3,000	7,000

Contact Vgchartz at jmazel@vgchartz.com

58 Comments