The Japan Preview: 4/5 Edition (Quiet SW, Wii HW back over PS3 HW?)
by Jacob Mazel, posted on 05 April 2009 / 5,432 Views
Jacob Mazel
Summary:
Software sales in Japan continued to fall this week. None of the games in the preliminary data sold over 50,000 units for the week. After rising above Wii on a string of big game releases, it appears that no PS3 games sold over 15,000 units this week which should insure the console continues to drop. The releases of Monster Hunter G (with a Monster Hunter 3 demo) on Wii, and the Final Fantasy XIII demo on April 23 and April 16 respectively should set the tone for how close the PS3 and Wii will remain into May.
Trends to Watch:
- How low will PS3 drop this week and next week? There are probably going to be over 100,000 Final Fantasy XIII demos sold in Japan, either bundled with PS3 (for over $500) or just with Advent Children – so the low point in PS3 sales before the April 19 week will determine how high the system can jump back up.
- Announcements. Aside from Monster Hunter G, and the Final Fantasy XIII demo over the next month, and Dragon Quest IX in July there isn’t a whole lot of compelling software in Japan with set in stone release dates.
- How low will the Xbox 360 dip over the next few weeks?
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 April 5, 2009.
Software by Platform:
Wii Software – Only one Wii game charted in the preliminary data. Taiko no Tatsujin managed to sell another 12,000 units this week for Wii. Muramasa may chart next week, but Deca Sporta 2 and Monster Hunter G will certaintly chart for the weeks ending April 19 and April 26. For this week, expect Wii hardware sales to remain in the 17,000 to 22,000 unit range this week.
|
Preliminary Top Twenty Wii Software |
Sales |
Low End |
High End |
|
Taiko no Tatsujin Wii |
12,000 |
10,000 |
14,000 |
PS3 Software – Two PS3 games charted in the preliminary data. Musou Orochi Z sold another 14,000 units this week. Winning Post World debuted to sales of 12,000 units for the week. Resident Evil 5, which did not chart in the preliminary data will probably come in around 6,000-10,000 units in the final data. Expect PS3 hardware sales to drop into the 14,000 to 20,000 unit range this week.
|
Preliminary Top Twenty PS3 Software |
Sales |
Low End |
High End |
|
Musou Orochi Z |
14,000 |
12,000 |
16,000 |
|
Winning Post World |
12,000 |
10,000 |
14,000 |
Xbox 360 Software – No Xbox 360 games charted in the preliminary data. Expect Xbox 360 hardware sales to drop into the 2,500 to 4,500 unit range this week.
PS2 Software – Three PS2 games charted in the preliminary data. Powerful Pro Baseball sold another 14,000 units for the PS2 this week. Winning Post World debuted to sales of 9,000 units for the week on PS2. Amagami sold another 5,000 units as well. Expect PS2 hardware sales to remain in the 4,000 to 6,000 unit range this week.
|
Preliminary Top Twenty PS2 Software |
Sales |
Low End |
High End |
|
Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2009 |
14,000 |
12,000 |
16,000 |
|
Winning Post World |
9,000 |
7,000 |
11,000 |
|
Amagami |
5,000 |
3,000 |
7,000 |
PSP Software – Six PSP games charted in the preliminary data. Mobile Suit Gundam sold another 34,000 units as the top game for the week. The re-release of Monster Hunter Portable 2G sold another 25,000 units for the week in second place on PSP. Disgaea 2 sold another 12,000 units. The other three PSP titles sold between 5,000 and 10,000 units for the week. Expect PSP hardware sales to drop into the 40,000 to 50,000 unit range this week.
|
Preliminary Top Twenty PSP Software |
Sales |
Low End |
High End |
|
Mobile Suit Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna Portable |
34,000 |
31,000 |
37,000 |
|
Monster Hunter Portable 2G |
25,000 |
22,000 |
28,000 |
|
Makai Senki Disgaea 2 Portable (Normal Version) |
12,000 |
10,000 |
14,000 |
|
Shin Sangoku Musou: Multi Raid |
9,000 |
7,000 |
11,000 |
|
Hayate no Gotaku |
8,000 |
6,000 |
10,000 |
|
Harvest Moon: Sugar |
7,000 |
5,000 |
9,000 |
DS Software – Eight DS games charted in the preliminary data. Four of the titles managed to sell over 10,000 units. Mario and Luigi 3 came in first place on DS with 30,000 units sold for the week. In second place was a new baseball game with 25,000 units sold. Super Robot Wars and Yu Gi Oh tied in third place with sales of 11,000 units a piece. Interestingly, Wagamama and Pokemon Platinum returned to the preliminary top twenty joining Crayon Shinchan and 7th Dragon with sales of 5,000 to 10,000 units for the week. Expect DS hardware sales to fall into the 55,000 to 65,000 unit range for the week.
|
Preliminary Top Twenty DS Software |
Sales |
Low End |
High End |
|
Mario & Luigi 3 |
30,000 |
27,000 |
33,000 |
|
Pro Yakyuu Famista DS 2009 |
25,000 |
22,000 |
28,000 |
|
Taisen Super Robot War K |
11,000 |
9,000 |
13,000 |
|
Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator: World Championship 2009 |
11,000 |
9,000 |
13,000 |
|
Pokemon Platinum |
8,000 |
6,000 |
10,000 |
|
Wagamama Fashion: Gal's Mode |
6,000 |
4,000 |
8,000 |
|
Crayon Shinchan |
6,000 |
4,000 |
8,000 |
|
7th Dragon |
5,000 |
3,000 |
7,000 |
Contact Vgchartz at jmazel@vgchartz.com
