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[Chris1964]

Media Create July 26-August 1

01. / 00. [PS3] Sengoku Basara 3 (Capcom) - 242.698 / NEW
02. / 00. [PSP] Hatsune Miku: Project Diva 2 (Sega) - 241.467 / NEW
03. / 01. [WII] Wii Party (Nintendo) - 82.713 / 529.019 (-16%)
04. / 00. [NDS] Kamen Rider Battle: Ganbaride Card Battle Taisen (Bandai Namco) - 64.268 / NEW
05. / 00. [WII] Sengoku Basara 3 (Capcom) - 49.821 / NEW
06. / 00. [NDS] Metal Max 3 (Kadokawa Shoten) - 46.954 / NEW
07. / 03. [NDS] Inazuma Eleven 3: World Challenge!! Spark / Bomber (Level 5) - 34.049 / 727.402 (-23%)
08. / 00. [PSP] Ys Vs. Sora no Kiseki: Alternative Saga (Nihon Falcom) - 30.047 / NEW
09. / 06. [PSP] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2010 (Konami) - 22.132 / 103.094 (-24%)
10. / 04. [NDS] Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem - Hero of Light and Shadow (Nintendo) - 21.340 / 197.166 (-46%)

11. / 05. [WII] Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road Victory (Square Enix)
12. / 07. [PS3] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2010 (Konami)
13. / 08. [WII] Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo)
14. / 12. [NDS] Taiko Drum Master DS: Dororon! Battle With the Ghouls!! (Bandai Namco)
15. / 00. [PS3] ModNation Racers (SCE)
16. / 15. [NDS] Friend Collection (Nintendo)
17. / 13. [NDS] Harvest Moon: Twin Villages (Marvelous Entertainment)
18. / 09. [PSP] Last Ranker (Capcom)
19. / 00. [NDS] Kaidan Restaurant: Ura Menu 100-Sen (Bandai Namco)
20. / 14. [PS3] White Knight Chronicles: Awakening of Light and Darkness (SCE)
21. / 02. [PSP] Fate/Extra (Marvelous Entertainment)
22. / 11. [NDS] Quiz! Hexagon II (Bandai Namco)
23. / 18. [NDS] Art Academy (Nintendo)
24. / 26. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo)
25. / 22. [WII] New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo)
26. / 21. [WII] Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo)
27. / 25. [PSP] Monster Hunter Freedom Unite [PSP the Best Reprint] (Capcom)
28. / 00. [360] Strike Witches: Shirogane no Tsubasa (CyberFront)
29. / 00. [360] Memories Off: Yubikiri no Kioku (5pb.)
30. / 19. [PSP] Momotaro Railway Tag Match: Friendship - Cooperation - Winning Volume! (Hudson)
31. / 00. [PSP] Koisuru Otome to Shugo no Tate Portable (Alchemist)
32. / 10. [NDS] Katekyoo Hitman Reborn! DS Flame Rumble XX: Kessen! Real 6 Chouka (Takara Tomy)
33. / 33. [NDS] New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo)
34. / 24. [NDS] Digimon Story: Lost Evolution (Bandai Namco)
35. / 00. [PSP] S.Y.K.: Journey to the West Portable (Idea Factory)
36. / 28. [NDS] Tokimeki Memorial: Girl's Side 3rd Story (Konami)
37. / 00. [PSP] GA - Geijutsuka Art Design Class: Slapstick Wonder Land (Russel)
38. / 32. [NDS] Love Plus + (Konami)
39. / 27. [PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010: Blue Samurai Challenge (Konami)
40. / 34. [NDS] Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 (Square Enix)
41. / 35. [NDS] Pokemon Heart Gold / Soul Silver (Pokemon Co.)
42. / 00. [PSP] Busou Shinki: Battle Masters (Konami)
43. / 31. [PSP] Naruto Shippuden: Kizuna Drive (Bandai Namco)
44. / 20. [NDS] TV Anime: Fairy Tale Gekitou! Madoushi Kessen (Hudson)
45. / 40. [WII] Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo)
46. / 36. [NDS] Tamagotchi no Pichi Pichi Omisecchi (Bandai Namco)
47. / 38. [PSP] Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (Konami)
48. / 37. [PSP] Hatsune Miku: Project Diva [Dekkai Ohaidoku-han / Ohaidoku-han] (Sega)
49. / 42. [PS3] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010: Blue Samurai Challenge (Konami)
50. / 00. [PSP] Second Novel: Kanojo no Natsu, 15-Bun no Kioku (Nippon Ichi Software)

00. / 00. [ALL] Weekly Software Sales (All Publishers) - 1.444.713 / 32.332.754 (+51%)


NDS - 19
PSP - 16
WII - 8
PS3 - 5
360 - 2
PS2 - 0


HARDWARE

__________________________________________________________________
|System |  This Week  |  Last Week  |        YTD  |         LTD  |
------------------------------------------------------------------
|  PSP  |     49.380  |     29.578  |  1.234.032  |  14.977.120  |
|  PS3  |     45.224  |     19.420  |    858.787  |   5.360.154  |
|  NDS  |     45.128  |     47.450  |  1.371.159  |  30.650.239  |
|  WII  |     20.038  |     21.092  |    906.918  |  10.512.117  |
|  360  |      6.929  |      6.056  |    130.578  |   1.340.250  |
|  PS2  |      1.444  |      1.475  |     51.356  |  21.661.533  |
------------------------------------------------------------------
| DSiLL |     23.120  |     24.189  |    730.225  |   1.237.132  |
|  DSi  |     17.950  |     18.202  |    505.209  |   4.844.155  |
|  DSL  |      4.058  |      5.059  |    135.725  |  17.983.481  |
------------------------------------------------------------------
|  PSP  |     48.603  |     28.747  |  1.192.462  |  14.859.795  |
| PSPgo |        777  |        831  |     41.570  |     117.325  |
------------------------------------------------------------------

D a t a b a s e
Media Create Sales: Japanese Sales database

Previous Media-Create Threads
2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010


Media Create Sales: 07/19 - 07/25
Media Create Sales: 07/12 - 07/18
Media Create Sales: 07/05 - 07/11
Media Create Sales: 06/28 - 07/04

 

[dragonflys545]

That's a huge gap between 2 version of sengoku basara 3.

 

[duckroll]

Pretty insane sales. Huge growth for both the Basara series and for Miku. Sega and Capcom should be very, very happy.

 

[Khrno]

02. / 00. [PSP] Hatsune Miku: Project Diva 2 (Sega) - 241.000 / NEW

Great opening.

 

[Sohter.Nura]

Welp, that about wraps it up for third party support on the wii in Japan, right?

Good numbers for Sengoku Basara 3 PS3 though, I think.

 

[MidnightScott]

That's a huge gap between 2 version of sengoku basara 3.

Well it's primarily a PlayStation franchise IIRC. Guess we'll have to see what happens in the US, though I predict bomba. :/

 

[Shadow780]

WOOT SB3!

should be a new high for the series!



and PA still haven't ship my order ((

PROFOUND SADNESS!!!11

 

[Vic]

The Wii is quite the oddball, software wise.

 

[Jigsaw]

anyone knows how many copies of the wii version they shipped?

 

[sprsk]

Finally nice to see Basara get the sales it deserves. I believe this is more than double the first week sales for 2 and 1?

 

[VOOK]

Where did it all go wrong....

Oh wait, Day 1.

 

[Delio]

I really dont understand the Wii 3rd party stuff. But it does appear like there is no point releasing any huge 3rd party stuff anymore. Good sales on the PS3 version though.

 

[duckroll]

Finally nice to see Basara get the sales it deserves. I believe this is more than double the first week sales for 2 and 1?

PS3+Wii first week here is more than the total sales of any other title in the series.

 

[Chris1964]

PS3+Wii first week here is more than the total sales of any other title in the series.

If you add budget re-releases not yet.

 

[duckroll]

If you add budget re-releases not yet.

Why would anyone do that?

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

Huge uptick for Basara.

 

[cvxfreak]

Why would anyone do that?

Because it's one possible explanation as to why sales have risen from the previous "entry."

 

[duckroll]

This week probably has 2 of the biggest franchise growth explosions in recent memory. The last time something like this happened would be... Inazuma Eleven 2?

Because it's one possible explanation as to why sales have risen from the previous "entry."

Well let's put it this way then: The first week sales of PS3+Wii is about 30-40k away from the LTD of Basara 2 PS2 + Basara 2 PS2 Best. :lol

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

I think the situation on the Wii should be held up as a lesson to third parties - you need to foster and build up an audience for your content via a stream of steady releases. Otherwise, your audience will get sick of waiting and move on.

Capcom especially is guilty of this - they raked in the cash with RE4 Wii, building up the audience for RE games at launch and followed it up with... what? A few lazy ports and two on-rail shooters. An in-genre spinoff using the RE4 engine could have sold a lot of copies had they struck when the iron was hot. Instead, Wii owners saw the games they wanted headed to other consoles and adjusted accordingly.

Make no mistake - third parties were wholly responsible for creating the current environment on the Wii. Unfortunately, they'll just interpret this result in the typical "You can't compete with Nintendo" kind of way.

When 3DS comes around, they'll need to change their approach - come out with guns akimbo at launch and capture as big an audience as they can (you can increase the size of your audience this way as you don't have a lot of competition at launch) and follow it up with some solid and regular sequels.

What makes the Sengoku Basara situation worse is that the series is by all accounts very popular with women and this should have weighed in the Wii version's favour... unless the people buying the game are dudes, but since we can't get that kind of data, I'm having to assume that women are the ones buying the game.

 

[cvxfreak]

This week probably has 2 of the biggest franchise growth explosions in recent memory. The last time something like this happened would be... Inazuma Eleven 2?



Well let's put it this way then: The first week sales of PS3+Wii is about 30-40k away from the LTD of Basara 2 PS2 + Basara 2 PS2 Best. :lol

Monster Hunter on home consoles :lol

 

[Chris1964]

This week probably has 2 of the biggest franchise growth explosions in recent memory. The last time something like this happened would be... Inazuma Eleven 2?

Lost Planet 2.

 

[jj984jj]

Go Basara!

Both versions exceeded my expectations but the PS3 version is just insane.

 

[vareon]

A DS Kamen Rider game outsells Wii version of Basara? D:

 

[duckroll]

I think the situation on the Wii should be held up as a lesson to third parties - you need to foster and build up an audience for your content via a stream of steady releases. Otherwise, your audience will get sick of waiting and move on.

Capcom especially is guilty of this - they raked in the cash with RE4 Wii, building up the audience for RE games at launch and followed it up with... what? A few lazy ports and two on-rail shooters. An in-genre spinoff using the RE4 engine could have sold a lot of copies had they struck when the iron was hot. Instead, Wii owners saw the games they wanted headed to other consoles and adjusted accordingly.

Make no mistake - third parties were wholly responsible for creating the current environment on the Wii. Unfortunately, they'll just interpret this result in the typical "You can't compete with Nintendo" kind of way.

When 3DS comes around, they'll need to change their approach - come out with guns akimbo at launch and capture as big an audience as they can (you can increase the size of your audience this way as you don't have a lot of competition at launch) and follow it up with some solid and regular sequels.

What makes the Sengoku Basara situation worse is that the series is by all accounts very popular with women and this should have weighed in the Wii version's favour... unless the people buying the game are dudes, but since we can't get that kind of data, I'm having to assume that women are the ones buying the game.

I'm not sure any of what you said even matters. Why should third parties care specifically about selling on any one console? If they can only make Wii games, and have failed to build on audience, sure it's a problem to them. But Capcom on the other hand has found huge success for titles which don't perform well on the Wii, on other platforms.

I can't see any reasonable logic in saying that Sengoku Basara 3 is in any way a "mistake" at all. Capcom realized early on that making the game a Wii exclusive would be the real mistake, so they developed two versions and released it into the market. It has exploded beyond all expectations. How is this a mistake for Capcom?

 

[ZoddGutts]

With those sales makes you wonder if Capcom next release of a home console Monster Hunter will be on the PS3 as well.

 

[sprsk]

The most important lesson is that Capcom can sell a game that looks like a Wii game on the PS3 for 10 dollars more than the Wii version.

 

[duckroll]

Lost Planet 2.

I don't think we should really count Japanese titles that go from 360 -> Any_other_platform from on installment to the next. Due to the nature of the 360 market, it cannot be said that any title would have achieved its true potential in sales. I'm generally looking at stuff which sustains a fanbase and expands on it either on the same platform, or from one (successful) generation to the next generation.

Stuff like Love Plus -> Love Plus +, or MH Dos -> MH Tri.

 

[Boney]

I think the situation on the Wii should be held up as a lesson to third parties - you need to foster and build up an audience for your content via a stream of steady releases. Otherwise, your audience will get sick of waiting and move on.

Capcom especially is guilty of this - they raked in the cash with RE4 Wii, building up the audience for RE games at launch and followed it up with... what? A few lazy ports and two on-rail shooters. An in-genre spinoff using the RE4 engine could have sold a lot of copies had they struck when the iron was hot. Instead, Wii owners saw the games they wanted headed to other consoles and adjusted accordingly.

Make no mistake - third parties were wholly responsible for creating the current environment on the Wii. Unfortunately, they'll just interpret this result in the typical "You can't compete with Nintendo" kind of way.

When 3DS comes around, they'll need to change their approach - come out with guns akimbo at launch and capture as big an audience as they can (you can increase the size of your audience this way as you don't have a lot of competition at launch) and follow it up with some solid and regular sequels.

What makes the Sengoku Basara situation worse is that the series is by all accounts very popular with women and this should have weighed in the Wii version's favour... unless the people buying the game are dudes, but since we can't get that kind of data, I'm having to assume that women are the ones buying the game.

It's not as if they're too sad about it. I mean look, that's the best opening in the series by far. People in these consoles still buy a lot of games.
Maybe they would buy these same games on Wii if they cultivated it, but as it stands, the only ones really losing is Nintendo.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

A DS Kamen Rider game outsells Wii version of Basara? D:

There will be no dissing of Kamen Rider on my watch.

 

[Bebpo]

The most important lesson is that Capcom can sell a game that looks like a Wii game on the PS3 for 10 dollars more than the Wii version.

hehehe

Tales of Graces will sell very well

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

I'm not sure any of what you said even matters. Why should third parties care specifically about selling on any one console? If they can only make Wii games, and have failed to build on audience, sure it's a problem to them. But Capcom on the other hand has found huge success for titles which don't perform well on the Wii, on other platforms.

I can't see any reasonable logic in saying that Sengoku Basara 3 is in any way a "mistake" at all. Capcom realized early on that making the game a Wii exclusive would be the real mistake, so they developed two versions and released it into the market. It has exploded beyond all expectations. How is this a mistake for Capcom?

My post wasn't about SB3 in particular. Yes, the smart thing to do in this case was to make two versions, but this is only as a result of a larger trend that had already been happening for a while.

The ratio of PS3 to Wii version sales would never have happened had the Wii received the kind of support the market leader typically gets. A proper ecosystem on the system would also have meant they could have sold more games, but spent less money making them. The Wii could have been the PS1 mk II, but for this effect.

It's not as if they're too sad about it. I mean look, that's the best opening in the series by far. People in these consoles still buy a lot of games.
Maybe they would buy these same games on Wii if they cultivated it, but as it stands, the only ones really losing is Nintendo.

I honestly see it as wasted potential. They could have sold more titles that each cost less money on average to produce had they followed up on what they did at launch.

Of course, we can't wind back the clock and see what these hypothetical titles would have been like or how well they'd have done, but yeah. Here we are.

 

[Takao]

With those sales makes you wonder if Capcom next release of a home console Monster Hunter will be on the PS3 as well.

Watch them add some PSP linkage so that it's not even fair...

 

[Eteric Rice]

Yup, I think it's time for Nintendo to make a new console.

The Wii is like the Benjamin Button of consoles.

Or maybe the reverse of Benjamin Button?

Fuck this it's to late at night for analogies.

Fake Edit: I think it's the reverse, and the other consoles are like the Benjamin Buttons.

Or something.

The ratio of PS3 to Wii version sales would never have happened had the Wii received the kind of support the market leader typically gets. A proper ecosystem on the system would also have meant they could have sold more games, but spent less money making them. The Wii could have been the PS1 mk II, but for this effect.

Pretty much. To late now, time for a new system.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

Very nice opening numbers for both SB3 and HMD2 .

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

Yup, I think it's time for Nintendo to make a new console.

The Wii is like the Benjamin Button of consoles.

Or maybe the reverse of Benjamin Button?

Fuck this it's to late at night for analogies.

Fake Edit: I think it's the reverse, and the other consoles are like the Benjamin Buttons.

Or something.



Pretty much. To late now, time for a new system.

Maybe you're a Benjamin Button.

 

[Boney]

I can see Wii2 launching late next year.. with Pikmin 3 being Wii's swan song.

I think you mean threat duckroll

 

[duckroll]

My post wasn't about SB3 in particular. Yes, the smart thing to do in this case was to make two versions, but this is only as a result of a larger trend that had already been happening for a while.

The ratio of PS3 to Wii version sales would never have happened had the Wii received the kind of support the market leader typically gets. A proper ecosystem on the system would also have meant they could have sold more games, but spent less money making them. The Wii could have been the PS1 mk II, but for this effect.

I completely disagree. There is no way the Wii could ever have been like the PS1 or PS2. It's very clear from what we have seen over the years that there are many more factors than third parties simply not building a better userbase. The existence of competing hardware with much more appeal to core gamers in general has always been a treat to the Wii, and that would never have changed.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

This has definitely been an awesome, fun gen for sales-watchers. There's no way the next gen can top this!

 

[cvxfreak]

This has definitely been an awesome, fun gen for sales-watchers. There's no way the next gen can top this!

Not even Sega coming back and triumphing over all?

 

[Takao]

If Wii2D2 comes out next year (I swear we say this every year), Dragon Quest X is gone. Handheld or even PS3 confirmed.

 

[Chris1964]

The first time I think I read that Wii is dead for third parties is the week of Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 14 in July 2007.

[PS2] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 14 (Konami) - 153.266 / NEW
[WII] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball Wii (Konami) - 47.995 / NEW

 

[Ignis Fatuus]

If Wii2D2 comes out next year (I swear we say this every year), Dragon Quest X is gone. Handheld or even PS3 confirmed.

A lot of people don't seem to understand how Dragon Quest works.

 

[Eteric Rice]

I completely disagree. There is no way the Wii could ever have been like the PS1 or PS2. It's very clear from what we have seen over the years that there are many more factors than third parties simply not building a better userbase. The existence of competing hardware with much more appeal to core gamers in general has always been a treat to the Wii, and that would never have changed.

If the franchises had been put on the Wii in the first place, the core would have complained, sure. But they would have really had no choice if that were the only place those games were available.

Think of it like this. If DQX were coming to both the PS3 and Wii, I would wager that the PS3 version would sell more because the core would want the better graphics. But since it's being released only on one system, they really don't have a choice.

They're pratically being dragged kicking and screaming. They could protest by not buying it, but it's Dragon Quest, so they'll probably buy it anyway.

 

[cvxfreak]

My post wasn't about SB3 in particular. Yes, the smart thing to do in this case was to make two versions, but this is only as a result of a larger trend that had already been happening for a while.

The ratio of PS3 to Wii version sales would never have happened had the Wii received the kind of support the market leader typically gets. A proper ecosystem on the system would also have meant they could have sold more games, but spent less money making them. The Wii could have been the PS1 mk II, but for this effect.

This gen has changed the rules. The Wii is not a PlayStation or Famicom-style market leader because it took the sales lead through a completely different path. We've been finding out through the sales of games like Basara 3 and the Tales series that there's relatively small overlap between the traditional PlayStation fanbase and that of the Wii's. The only system that can be considered the FC or PS's successor this gen would be the DS, but even that's not true because the DS can't host most of the games that made the PSP popular.

It is what it is, basically. When the PlayStation Move comes out and the family friendly game sales pale in comparison to the Wii's first and probably third party game sales, we'll have the same answer here. The correlation between userbase size and game sales means less than it used to.

By the way people, this is Basara's second Wii entry, not first.

 

[duckroll]

If the franchises had been put on the Wii in the first place, the core would have complained, sure. But they would have really had no choice if that were the only place those games were available.

Think of it like this. If DQX were coming to both the PS3 and Wii, I would wager that the PS3 version would sell more because the core would want the better graphics. But since it's being released only on one system, they really don't have a choice.

They're pratically being dragged kicking and screaming. They could protest by not buying it, but it's Dragon Quest, so they probably wont.

Okay, I see how this conversation is going. Basically, Nintendo fans are not interested in reality or actual business sense, and they want companies to go "Alright guys, let's fuck Sony and all the fans, and make all our games on the Nintendo Wii! Fuck yeah!" before the generation ever started, expecting that the PS3 would be a huge failure and that the Wii would be a huge successful regardless of anything, and then they would build this great paradise where everyone will be FORCED to play games on the Wii only, because there are no games released on any other platform.

Right? :lol

 

[Chris1964]

If the franchises had been put on the Wii in the first place, the core would have complained, sure. But they would have really had no choice if that were the only place those games were available.

Think of it like this. If DQX were coming to both the PS3 and Wii, I would wager that the PS3 version would sell more because the core would want the better graphics. But since it's being released only on one system, they really don't have a choice.

They're pratically being dragged kicking and screaming. They could protest by not buying it, but it's Dragon Quest, so they probably wont.

Dragon Quest isn't Final Fantasy.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

I completely disagree. There is no way the Wii could ever have been like the PS1 or PS2. It's very clear from what we have seen over the years that there are many more factors than third parties simply not building a better userbase. The existence of competing hardware with much more appeal to core gamers in general has always been a treat to the Wii, and that would never have changed.

Not with HD adoption in Japan being what it was at the start of the gen (pitiful compared to even the US). Certainly the perception of the hardware could have been an issue, but the PS3's adoption rate and meagre software sales from the start of the generation through to its middle tell me that it really wasn't a factor.

Don't forget that two years ago, we were talking about console gaming being dead in Japan and about third parties being stuck between a rock and a hard place. The situation now is partly a result of both Nintendo and third parties mishandling the Wii and the release of the slim.

Had third parties (and Nintendo) done with the Wii what they did with the PS1, the PS3's resurgence would've been a non-event as sales would already have been healthy rather than been built up from nothing. All that would've happened would have been the addition of more revenue for third parties.

Okay, I see how this conversation is going. Basically, Nintendo fans are not interested in reality or actual business sense, and they want companies to go "Alright guys, let's fuck Sony and all the fans, and make all our games on the Nintendo Wii! Fuck yeah!" before the generation ever started, expecting that the PS3 would be a huge failure and that the Wii would be a huge successful regardless of anything, and then they would build this great paradise where everyone will be FORCED to play games on the Wii only, because there are no games released on any other platform.

Right? :lol

Third parties should have diverted more resources to building up a userbase on the market leader as soon as they realised what was happening. Instead, they spent years languishing with horrible software sales on the PS3. That was not good business.

Their situation now with the Playstation resurgence is because of happenstance

 

[Bebpo]

I'd love to see DQX on Wii/PS3 for a sales breakdown.

I have the feeling it'd be really neck and neck between the versions. Will never happen, but would make excellent sales discussion if it did.

 

[Eteric Rice]

Okay, I see how this conversation is going. Basically, Nintendo fans are not interested in reality or actual business sense, and they want companies to go "Alright guys, let's fuck Sony and all the fans, and make all our games on the Nintendo Wii! Fuck yeah!" before the generation ever started, expecting that the PS3 would be a huge failure and that the Wii would be a huge successful regardless of anything, and then they would build this great paradise where everyone will be FORCED to play games on the Wii only, because there are no games released on any other platform.

Right? :lol

I'm saying that wherever a franchise goes, the fans will follow, regardless of platform.\

You're right though, developers couldn't have predicted the future. But after a year or so they should have figured out what was happening.

It doesn't matter now, time for a new system.

 

[Beth Cyra]

I'd love to see DQX on Wii/PS3 for a sales breakdown.

I have the feeling it'd be really neck and neck between the versions. Will never happen, but would make excellent sales discussion if it did.

I don't see how this is the case. The only thing that would do is point out just how strong a brand the mainline Dragon Quest Titles are, and I think at this point we don't really need any more evidence of this.