The Japan Preview: 12/19 Edition (Exceptional Week for SW) - News
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 19 December 2010 / 6,293 Views
Summary & A Look Ahead:
Major releases for DS, PSP, and PS3 in addition to large increases for big Wii and DS software, and good holds for titles like Monster Hunter Portable 3, and Donkey Kong Country: Returns amounted to a huge week for software sales in Japan. Despite the overall strength of the market, some major games were noticably absent from the preliminary top twenty - Gran Turismo 5 for PS3, and Final Fantasy XIII for X360. Overall though, four titles topped 100,000 units, and a dozen games topped 50,000 units. The top twenty cut off at a very high level this week as well, so the upswing of the market is benefiting many titles - not just the top few as we see sometimes with lesser holidays in Japan.
The major games for the week were Shining Hearts (PSP), Gundam Musou 3 (PS3), Monster Hunter Portable 3 (PSP), and Inazuma Eleven 3: Sekai e no Chousen! The Ogre (DS). Gundam Musou 3 opened to figures similar to Gundam Musou 2. Monster Hunter Portable 3 is now tracking well ahead of its PSP predecessor with week one to three going 2m to 630k to 400k, rather than going from something like 880k to 550k to 220k. The older game had slightly better legs though, as week three was less of a drop off on a percentage basis from week one. Inazuma Eleven and Shining Hearts both had pretty strong openings and should continue to sell well into January with hardware at peak levels for the forseeable future.
Hardware sales were strong for the week, but the week does seal two fates: Wii and PS3 are both assured to be down in Japan in 2010 against 2009 levels. Both systems sold over 200,000 units during this week in 2009, as Final Fantasy XIII, the PS3 Slim, NSMB Wii, recent price cuts, and seasonality were pushing the systems. PS3 is set to be down nearly 200,000 units against this week in 2009 alone, and is now well over 150,000 units off the 2009 pace. Wii is going to be down less than 100,000 units against this week in 2009, but will also be around 150,000 units behind its 2009 pace after this week. DS, PS2, and X360 are also set to have down years against 2009 in Japan, but for those systems, the drop offs were more widely anticipated. Moreover, sales this week put Wii back ahead of PS3 in Japan for 2010 even though PS3 was ahead for much of the year. DS and PSP 2010 figures are set to be very close. It looks like a battle that could go down right to the final week of the year.
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 Plus do not always appear in the preliminary data. Sales for this report are for the week ending December 19, 2010.
Software by Platform:
Figures are listed by the age of the platform, for the top twenty sku information that we recieve early.
Wii Software - Wii didn't have a huge game to push it this week, but alot of more modest sized hits continue to lift and are doing well. Mario Sports Mix, the top Wii game of the week, is at nearly 300,000 units now. With several holiday weeks left in Japan, the game should easily clear 500,000 units lifetime in Japan. Wii Party is also a pretty big hit - it will top 1.5m units in Japan by year end and should eventually approach 2m units in Japan. Donkey Kong Country: Returns held nicely and should top 500,000 in Japan by the time it stops selling. Mario Collection continues to amaze, selling better than 95% of new games as a port of a 17 year old Super Famicom game. Kirby's Epic Yarn and Wii Sports Resort continue to benefit from the holidays as well - with a growing or steady pace each week. In addition to the games above, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Taiko 3, Mario Kart Wii, Kamen Riders, Wii Fit Plus, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Naruto Shippuden and perhaps one or two others - should all be over 5,000 units for the week in the final data. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is actually on the verge of becoming the biggest home console game in Japan since the original Super Mario Bros - it will pass Dragon Quest on PS1 quite soon if it hasn't already. Expect Wii hardware sales to rise into the 110,000 to 130,000 unit range for the week on seasonal lifts.
PS3 Software - Gundam Musou 3 opened a bit better than Gundam Musou 2 which isn't too surprising as the fanbase is clearly on PS3 now. Konami's Castlevania title (3D) which did somewhat well in the West, opened to somewhat decent figures in Japan. Black Ops also increased a bit to 15,000 units for the week. The preliminary data cut off at 15,000 units for the week, so Gran Turismo 5 likely sold less than that in its fourth week on the market - its not looking leggy. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Beat Sketcher, Winning Eleven, and Tales of Graces should all end up over 5,000 units in the final data as well. Expect PS3 hardware sales to rise into the 45,000 to 55,000 unit range for the week on seasonal lifts.
X360 Software - Kinect Adventures and Final Fantasy XIII (Dec 16 release) likely topped 5,000 units for the week - although neither charted in the preliminary data. Interestingly, Final Fantasy XIII released Dec 17, 2009 in Japan for PS3, and Dec 16, 2010 for X360 in Japan. Square-Enix likely had promised Sony exactly one year of exclusivity - although that is just speculation. In any case, with Final Fantasy XIII opening to 1.4m or so in Japan, the game had the potential to be fairly big on X360. Instead, it looks like it sold less than 30,000 units on X360, and possibly fewer than 15,000 units. Expect X360 hardware sales to rise into the 5,000 to 9,000 unit range for the week on FFXIII & seasonality.
PS2 Software - No games charted. Expect PS2 hardware sales to rise into the 2,500 to 3,500 unit range for the week.
PSP Software - Shining Hearts opened well for PSP. If the PSP is to outsell the DS this year in Japan, Shining Hearts will be a key reason - as sales for that game are large enough to offset much of the Monster Hunter Portable 3 drop off. Monster Hunter Portable 3 also continues to perform well - it was the biggest game in Japan again - selling about 400,000 units for the week. Danganronpa, Kamen Rider, Winning Eleven, God Eater: Burst, Tactics Ogre, and Monster Hunter Portable 2G should all top 5,000 units in the final data in addition to the games above. Expect PSP hardware sales to remain in the 150,000 to 170,000 unit range as seasonality and Shining Hearts offset the MHP3 decline.
DS Software - The new version of Inazuma Eleven 3 and Ninokuni made it a strong week for Level 5 on DS. Mario vs. DK had a nice seasonal lift for the week, as did much of the Nintendo software that charted. Tongari Boushi also continues to show huge legs for Konami, and will likely get to 300,000 units or more in Japan. Pokemon Black / White looks like it will reach 5m units by the end of January, a massive feat for any game in Japan. In addition to the games that charted above, Shiren 5, Momotarou, Penguin no Mondai, NSMB DS, Tamogatchi Challenge, Friend Collection, Power Pro Kun Pocket 13, Crayon Shinchan, Art Academy, Super Robot Taisen L, Heart Precure, One Piece: Gigant Battle, Taiko DS, Minna no Kimi, and Mario Kart DS should all top 5,000 units for the week in the final data. Obviously its a strong week for DS software, with two dozen or more games to top 5,000 units. Expect DS hardware sales to rise into the 140,000 to 165,000 unit range for the week on seasonality and the new IE3 - DS vs. PSP is really going to come down to the end in Japan this year.
Contact Vgchartz at jmazel@vgchartz.com
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I find it amazing how the way more expensive console is so close to outselling the cheaper one this year...
"GT5 and Donkey Kong sales are horrendous"
Thanks to MC, GT5 sales remain horrendous, but DKCR sales have transformed into FAB-U-LOUS!!!
wow big disappointment for FF13 x360 but i guess everyone bought it already for ps3...
Yeah cuz rare is japanese to the blood? Of course im pissed! I expected much much more of DK. At least to ease its way beyond 500k. But kirby and DK have disappointed up to now
@ salnax
So what's your excuse for Donkey Kong 64 being a million seller in Japan?
GT5 is a DRIVING game on a CONSOLE in JAPAN, these sales are excellent! See how easy it is to spin like that?
@ Salnax
Yeah, because the other Donkey Kong Country games weren't made by a wester publisher, right?
@ProdigyBam They also had the distinction of being some of the best looking games the world had ever seen, and the SNES was more popular than the Wii is. Plus, if I remember correctly, Japan's critics didn't receive DKCR as well as NSMBW. Famitsu gave them 32 and 40 for example.
PSP will outsell DS this year????... Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo... :P
Wii will outsell PS3 this year AGAIN... :)
Ninokuni sales are horrible...
On the other hand, I want a MH for 3DS...
@Salnax
The other DK games were from western developers, too and still sold well over 1 million.
Why the crying over DKCR? For a WESTERN game on a CONSOLE in JAPAN, these sales are excellent.
:( at DK :(
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"Donkey Kong Country: Returns held nicely and should top 500,000 in Japan by the time it stops selling"
In other words, it will be a complete flop there.
"--OkeyDokey--
2 hours ago
Japan is becoming more and more irrelevant."
Tell that to PSP, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Monster Hunter, Mario...
ROFL. GT5 and DKCR are just very bad.
And FFXIII on Xbox 360...what gargantuan waste.
GT5 and Donkey Kong sales are horrendous. Japan is becoming more and more irrelevant. I don't think I'll even bother reading the preview anymore.
Gundam Musou 3! I can't wait for that to come over!
ROFL? less than 30k for ff13 360.......
GT5 underperformed in japan so did DK.
The PS3 had some new games this wekk, it will be closer to 60k while wii gets 100k
GT5 was in dead in Japan after week 2. Seems Japan doesn't like the stupid monkey! Good to see that Mario Sports Mix has legs. It should hit 1 million in Japan alone. It's a very fun multiplayer game.
GT5 already dead in Japan?
It looks like PSP will edge the DS out this year, as it still has like 8 new games this year including The 3rd Birthday and AKB 1/48. DS doesn't have more games until January.
@iasta: you make it sound like it was surprising :-P
It's MH
Wow at MHP3... Still selling well for its 3rd week.
Yay for Shining Hearts. Here's hoping Sega will give us a new Shining FORCE game soon.
GT5 out, DK selling less than expected, what is going on Japan?
Good legs for Ninokuni... Dk less than expected... Epic legs for Kirby.
Horrible, terrible, atrocious sales for DK, there is no excuse for it to be outsold by Mario this week, nor many other titles, Anyway DK bombed in Japan.
Also goooooo Wii!!!!!!!
C'mon DS, show PSP who's boss!!!!
...Well I think it's safe to say Final Fantasy Versus XIII is staying exclusive
Well nice hold for DK... I'm just sad it won't be as much of a major hit in Japan as Donkey Kong Country was ;(
