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[Labadal]

74% 2nd drop.

Not unexpected, but not good either.

I was expecting worse after what happened to Tales of Xillia. But then again, it is a Final Fantasy game, and I guess it will hang on for another 2 weeks.

 

[manueldelalas]

Really small numbers for Slime no Mori 3... Mario sales are OK I guess, but it should have legs, so no analysis there yet.

Good numbers for U3, but good for western titles only; Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter sold much better IIRC...

Surprising that Kirby went up, but it has a long way to go if they want to reach the 1m+ numbers of older Kirby games (lol, not going to happen).

 

[NIghtWolf]

Guess this is why shipments of MH3G were scaled down.
There's no way it would outsell Mario in its first week, right?

Even though I don't believe MH3G will do as good as most people thinks, I do believe it may do better then mario, in its first week.

 

[walking fiend]

Guess this is why shipments of MH3G were scaled down.
There's no way it would outsell Mario in its first week, right?

Are you serious?

---
-both BF3 and U3 did as expected, that is very good. I think BF3 is already the best selling fps?
- Kirby number is wrong, typo

 

[Daschysta]

Really small numbers for Slime no Mori 3... Mario sales are OK I guess, but it should have legs, so no analysis there yet.

Good numbers for U3, but good for western titles only; Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter sold much better IIRC...

Surprising that Kirby went up, but it has a long way to go if they want to reach the 1m+ numbers of older Kirby games (lol, not going to happen).

slime mori mori's debut is almost identical to the DS release, despite the smaller userbase, plus it has the holiday rush coming up, it did pretty well actually.

 

[Road]

Dissidia had a 2nd week drop of 64%. I'd consider that good.

Of course, Dissidia was helped by being released on the holiday window of Japan, but FFXIII also was and still dropped 88%.

 

[idwl]

pretty good for Mario.. When can we expect hardware?

 

[slaughterking]

pretty good for Mario.. When can we expect hardware?

In two and a half hours from now.

 

[walking fiend]

I just can't get over the fact that it did more in Japan than in the UK. That's just nuts! (if the numbers are true of course...)

Can't say if it is exactly this, but definitely U3 did 'really' good, no reason to think that numbers are incorrect

 

[BurntPork]

We need a "it regurgitates money!" gif for 3DS. :lol

 

[Road]

...But there seems to be something wrong with Kirby.
Probably, it did 60k, but the article reported Type 0's week total also for it.

The Inside-Games article was rushed and it was already pulled down. We'll know for sure with 4Gamer.

 

[Erethian]

Good numbers for U3, but good for western titles only; Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter sold much better IIRC...

Uncharted 3 has already outsold the LTD sales of Uncharted 2.

Same for Battlefield 3 compared to Bad Company 2.

 

[Spiegel]

Dissidia had a 2nd week drop of 64%. I'd consider that good.

Of course, Dissidia was helped by being released on the holiday window of Japan, but FFXIII also was and still dropped 88%.

Also Dissidia is a fighting game and retailed for 6090Y.
The second week drop percentage is good, not great, but in total sales it will probably end below Crisis Core or even KH:BBS depending on what the third week % drop is going to be.

Hard to know if the game is meeting expectations for S-E in Japan. On one hand there's the higher price and releasing the game this late on the platforms life, but on the other hand this is seemingly their biggest effort yet on the platform.

I'm guessing that if it does similar numbers to the first KH game, it will be not bad for a new ARPG series.

 

[Jonnyram]

-both BF3 and U3 did as expected, that is very good.

You must have missed the predictions in last week's thread if you think these sales were expected.

 

[BurntPork]

Hm. Perhaps U:GA really is a killer app for Vita in Japan. Now I really can't wait to see Vita's first week number...

 

[duckroll]

Those are some pretty crazy sales for U3 and BF3. The mentality that western games don't sell in Japan is definitely starting to crumble as the 3D shooter genre picks up in popularity.

 

[cvxfreak]

Those are some pretty crazy sales for U3 and BF3. The mentality that western games don't sell in Japan is definitely starting to crumble as the 3D shooter genre picks up in popularity.

The best example of this is going to end up being Just Dance Wii.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

Predictions

[PSP] Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Extend (Sega) - 240,000
[PSP] Ore no Shikabane o Koete Yuke (SCE) - 75,000
[WII] Sengoku Basara 3: Utage (Capcom) - 25,000
[PS3] Sengoku Basara 3: Utage (Capcom) - 165,000
[PS3] Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD Edition (Konami) - 33,000
[WII] PokePark 2: Beyond the World (Pokemon Co.) - 40,000

 

[Labadal]

Also Dissidia is a fighting game and retailed for 6090Y.
The second week drop percentage is good, not great, but in total sales it will probably end below Crisis Core or even KH:BBS depending on what the third week % drop is going to be.

Hard to know if the game is meeting expectations for S-E in Japan. On one hand there's the higher price and releasing the game this late on the platforms life, but on the other hand this is seemingly their biggest effort yet on the platform.

I'm guessing that if it does similar numbers to the first KH game, it will be not bad for a new ARPG series.

And as you mentioned in your earlier post: Downloads. We don't know how many bought the game digitally.

I am also guessing that if Type-0 is released on PSVita in the west, Japan will get a version too.

 

[duckroll]

The best example of this is going to end up being Just Dance Wii.

But that's the thing, people don't generally think of a game like that as being either "Japanese" or "Western", which is why it rarely comes up. I feel that a lot of the perceived prejudice that Japanese consumers have against "western games" is in fact simply an indication that the majority of popular western games that people think of, are simply in genres which were not that popular in Japan to begin with.

But with shooters getting more popular in Japan, we're starting to see this change as well. Crash Bandicoot was a mascot character platformer on the PS1, and it sold really well in Japan, because such games are generally popular. Over the years though, western developers didn't really make quality games like that anymore, so naturally there were no such western games to sell to Japanese audiences. The market also got more crowded, so sales in general started to drop for most games.

It'll be interesting to see how high sales for big shooters can go in Japan as major franchises find solid footing in the region. I wonder if MW3 will be able to perform significantly better than UC3 and BF3, given that it has been steadily building up the audience with the last few entries.

 

[BishopLamont]

The best example of this is going to end up being Just Dance Wii.

Wouldn't DKCR be a better example? Or does Nintendo's name attached excludes it?

 

[walking fiend]

You must have missed the predictions in last week's thread if you think these sales were expected.

I didn't miss mine:

BF3 may pretty well turn out the best fps seller in Japan in past years, unless I have missed some major hit.

 

[test_account]

Wouldn't DKCR be a better example? Or does Nintendo's name attached excludes it?

Nintendo is also the publisher in Japan for Just Dance.

 

[BishopLamont]

Nintendo is also the publisher in Japan for Just Dance.

True.

 

[Spiegel]

Wouldn't DKCR be a better example? Or does Nintendo's name attached excludes it?

Just Dance is published by Nintendo too and has AKB48 songs (I think), which proves how incompetent SCEJ has been this gen.

Singstar + AKB48 + more japanese singers should be a no brainer.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

There has never really been much of a bias against western developers per say (just look at the sales of games like Rachet & Clank, Art Academy, Mario VS DK, DKCR or most of Rareware's games), it's more of a matter of the genres that are popular in the west, such as FPS and TPS games, that have never been popular in Japan.

 

[test_account]

But that's the thing, people don't generally think of a game like that as being either "Japanese" or "Western", which is why it rarely comes up. I feel that a lot of the perceived prejudice that Japanese consumers have against "western games" is in fact simply an indication that the majority of popular western games that people think of, are simply in genres which were not that popular in Japan to begin with.

But with shooters getting more popular in Japan, we're starting to see this change as well. Crash Bandicoot was a mascot character platformer on the PS1, and it sold really well in Japan, because such games are generally popular. Over the years though, western developers didn't really make quality games like that anymore, so naturally there were no such western games to sell to Japanese audiences. The market also got more crowded, so sales in general started to drop for most games.

It'll be interesting to see how high sales for big shooters can go in Japan as major franchises find solid footing in the region. I wonder if MW3 will be able to perform significantly better than UC3 and BF3, given that it has been steadily building up the audience with the last few entries.

I think this is a good point. It would at least make sense why Donkey Kong Country sold so well, because it is a 2d platformer. It was in a way pretty much like the Mario games, just with Donkey Kong instead

 

[Grimmy]

I just can't get over the fact that it did more in Japan than in the UK. That's just nuts! (if the numbers are true of course...)

When I was in Tokyo last week, I saw so many Uncharted 3 billboards. Sony really splurged to advertise the game in Japan.

 

[Cygnus X-1]

I don't think Amazon took 2m+ pre-orders for 3rd either smh.

This week's numbers are out. Great sales for Uncha 3!

1. Mario 343,000 343,000
2. Uncha 125,000 125,000
3. BF3 PS3 123,000 123,000
4. FF type-0 122,000 594,000
5. Kirby 122,000 192,000
6. WE2012 PSP 45,000 45,000
7. Slime Mori Mori 3 39,000 39,000
8. BF3 360 28,000 28,000
9. Just Dance 26,000 189,000
10. Go Vacation 17,000 89,000

Good start for Mario. It is in line with expectations.

I think there is something wrong with Kirby though

Those are some pretty crazy sales for U3 and BF3. The mentality that western games don't sell in Japan is definitely starting to crumble as the 3D shooter genre picks up in popularity.

Can't say I'm happy though. Not because of the games themselves, but because it's a sign Japan is not happy with their own games.

 

[airmangataosenai]

Good start for Mario, about in line with most (Reasonable) expectations, those thinking 500k+ were insane.

BF3 numbers were pretty surprising, Uncharted I expected to do well but the fact that the PS3 version came so close and the combined platform sales beat it by a decent margin I didn't see coming. They've built the franchise and marketed it well in Japan, BF3 had none of those advantages.

 

[duckroll]

Can't say I'm happy though. Not because of the games themselves, but because it's a sign Japan is not happy with their own games.

But Japanese games are still selling. In fact, Japanese developers are also trying to make more games in the shooter genre now. I don't think this is a sign at all that Japan is not happy with Japanese games, only that shooters are becoming more popular in recent years.

 

[beril]

Great number for Mario. Interesting to see a 3D mario do this well with such a small installbase. Wonder if the 2D-isation will pay off and bring it closer to NSMB numbers in the end.

What are the chances of it reaching a million before the end of the year? Mario 64DS launched in early december and almost quadrupled its initial sales before the year was over, but that had a much smaller opening and it was a launch title.

 

[AranhaHunter]

But that's the thing, people don't generally think of a game like that as being either "Japanese" or "Western", which is why it rarely comes up. I feel that a lot of the perceived prejudice that Japanese consumers have against "western games" is in fact simply an indication that the majority of popular western games that people think of, are simply in genres which were not that popular in Japan to begin with.

But with shooters getting more popular in Japan, we're starting to see this change as well. Crash Bandicoot was a mascot character platformer on the PS1, and it sold really well in Japan, because such games are generally popular. Over the years though, western developers didn't really make quality games like that anymore, so naturally there were no such western games to sell to Japanese audiences. The market also got more crowded, so sales in general started to drop for most games.

It'll be interesting to see how high sales for big shooters can go in Japan as major franchises find solid footing in the region. I wonder if MW3 will be able to perform significantly better than UC3 and BF3, given that it has been steadily building up the audience with the last few entries.

That's just not true. Western developers have been making quality games for years from even before Crash Bandicoot and since then as well. It's just that, like you said, the TPS and FPS genres are starting to become a little more popular in Japan. It's still nowhere near as popular as in the west, MW3 or GTAV won't sell 1 million in Japan alone like it does in the UK, but maybe they can get up to what GTA SA did (which IIRC it did ~400 or 500k or so).

 

[Chris1964]

del.

 

[Chris1964]

Full Famitsu Media Create top 30

01./00. [3DS] Super Mario 3D Land <ACT> (Nintendo) {2011.11.03} (¥4.800) - 343.000 / NEW
02./00. [PS3] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception # <ADV> (Sony Computer Entertainment) {2011.11.02} (¥5.980) - 125.000 / NEW
03./00. [PS3] Battlefield 3 <ACT> (Electronic Arts) {2011.11.02} (¥7.665) - 123.000 / NEW
04./01. [PSP] Final Fantasy Type-0 <RPG> (Square Enix) {2011.10.27} (¥7.770) - 122.000 / 594.000
05./02. [WII] Kirby's Return to Dream Land <ACT> (Nintendo) {2011.10.27} (¥5.800) - 55.000 / 192.000
06./00. [PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 <SPT> (Konami) {2011.11.03} (¥4.980) - 45.000 / NEW
07./00. [3DS] Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3 <RPG> (Square Enix) {2011.11.02} (¥6.090) - 39.000 / NEW
08./00. [360] Battlefield 3 <ACT> (Electronic Arts) {2011.11.02} (¥7.665) - 28.000 / NEW
09./04. [WII] Just Dance Wii <ACT> (Nintendo) {2011.10.13} (¥5.800) - 26.000 / 189.000
10./05. [WII] Go Vacation <ETC> (Bandai Namco Games) {2011.10.20} (¥5.800) - 17.000 / 89.000
11./00. [WII] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 <SPT> (Konami) {2011.11.03} (¥4.980)
12./00. [WII] Wii Sports Resort <SPT> (Nintendo) {2009.06.25} (¥4.800)
13./03. [PS3] The Idolmaster 2 # <SLG> (Bandai Namco Games) {2011.10.27} (¥7.980)
14./00. [PS3] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 <SPT> (Konami) {2011.10.06} (¥7.980)
15./00. [PS2] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 <SPT> (Konami) {2011.11.03} (¥4.980)
16./00. [PSP] AKB1/48: If I loved an Idol in Guam... # <ADV> (Bandai Namco Games) {2011.10.06} (¥5.229)
17./00. [WII] Rhythm Heaven: Fever <ACT> (Nintendo) {2011.07.21} (¥5.800)
18./10. [PS3] Gekijouban Macross F: Sayonara no Tsubasa - Hybrid Pack # <ETC> (Bandai Namco Games) {2011.10.20} (¥7.140)
19./00. [PSP] Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Impact <ACT> (Bandai Namco Games) {2011.10.20} (¥5.230)
20./00. [3DS] Nicola Kanshuu: Model Oshare Audition 2 <SLG> (Alchemist) {2011.11.03} (¥5.980)
21./00. [NDS] Kirby Mass Attack <ACT> (Nintendo) {2011.08.04} (¥3.800)
22./00. [PS3] Dead Island <ADV> (Spike) {2011.10.20} (¥8.190)
23./00. [3DS] The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D <ACT> (Nintendo) {2011.06.16} (¥4.800)
24./00. [PSP] Monster Hunter Freedom 3 (PSP the Best) <ACT> (Capcom) {2011.09.22} (¥2.990)
25./06. [PSP] Ro-Kyu-Bu! # <ADV> (Kadokawa Games) {2011.10.27} (¥6.090)
26./00. [3DS] Nintendogs + Cats: French Bulldog / Shiba / Toy Poodle & New Friends <ETC> (Nintendo) {2011.02.26} (¥4.800)
27./00. [WII] Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary: Famicom & Super Famicom Dragon Quest I-II-III <RPG> (Square Enix) {2011.09.15} (¥4.440)
28./00. [WII] Family Fishing # <SPT> (Bandai Namco Games) {2011.08.04} (¥5.040)
29./00. [NDS] Pokemon Black / White <RPG> (Pokemon Co.) {2010.09.18} (¥4.800)
30./00. [PS3] FIFA 12 <SPT> (Electronic Arts) {2011.10.22} (¥7.665)

Top 30

WII - 8
PS3 - 7
PSP - 6
3DS - 5
NDS - 2
360 - 1
PS2 - 1

 

[beril]

That's just not true. Western developers have been making quality games for years from even before Crash Bandicoot and since then as well. It's just that, like you said, the TPS and FPS genres are starting to become a little more popular in Japan. It's still nowhere near as popular as in the west, MW3 or GTAV won't sell 1 million in Japan alone like it does in the UK, but maybe they can get up to what GTA SA did (which IIRC it did ~400 or 500k or so).

I don't think he meant to say that western developers hasn't been able to make anything as good as Crash Bandicoot since or before that. But not like that, as in that they've pretty much given up on mascot platformers, except for crappy movie tie-ins

 

[Spiegel]

Full Famitsu top 30

You mean Media Create.

 

[weeaboo]

so... 3D Land good? bad? weak? :\

 

[Mpl90]

Famitsu top30 !?!

Already? How?? O_O

 

[thestopsign]

so... 3D Land good? bad? weak? :\

Best debut for a 3D Mario? (That is a rhetorical question.)

 

[Chris1964]

You mean Media Create.

Isn't the leak from Famitsu?

Edit: No, just saw Type-0

 

[Exterminieren]

so... 3D Land good? bad? weak? :\

Considering the userbase and performances of past 3D Marios? Very good indeed.

 

[Truth101]

so... 3D Land good? bad? weak? :\

Best opening for a 3D Mario ever, with the small 3DS userbase.

 

[StealthGoblin]

Uncharted 3 did great in Japan.

Is it the highest first week for a 'Dudebro' game there yet this gen?

 

[Spiegel]

Isn't the leak from Famitsu?

Type 0

Famitsu -> 502 + 122 = 624
Media Create -> 472 + 122 = 594

 

[Erethian]

Isn't the leak from Famitsu?

Nope. You can deduct the second week numbers from the total sales and see how they match up to the numbers in the OP.

 

[weeaboo]

Best debut for a 3D Mario? (That is a rhetorical question.)

lol nice, I forgot about the crazy legs of the Mario games and thought they were weak sales

 

[KingDizzi]

Uncharted 3 did great in Japan.

Is it the highest first week for a 'Dudebro' game there yet this gen?

Pretty sure Black Ops did much better, if nothing else MW3 will pass 125k first week with no issues. I'm more in awe at BF3, it sold at 2000 yen more than UC3 as well yet managed 123k first week! Good Mario numbers, captain obvious would like to end with saying 3DS numbers this week will be 6 figures.

Sorry, I meant for a single platform release, or sales for just one platform. COD should outdo it across all platforms.

99% sure Black Ops PS3 alone was higher than UC3 so..........yeah

 

[duckroll]

That's just not true. Western developers have been making quality games for years from even before Crash Bandicoot and since then as well. It's just that, like you said, the TPS and FPS genres are starting to become a little more popular in Japan. It's still nowhere near as popular as in the west, MW3 or GTAV won't sell 1 million in Japan alone like it does in the UK, but maybe they can get up to what GTA SA did (which IIRC it did ~400 or 500k or so).

I was referring to quality games in genres which appealed to the Japanese masses. I don't mean western games dropped in quality at all, just that the marriage of appeal + quality was not something that western developers tapped into much with the Japanese market after Crash Bandicoot.

 

[StealthGoblin]

Pretty sure Black Ops did much better, if nothing else MW3 will pass 125k first week with no issues. I'm more in awe at BF3, it sold at 2000 yen more than UC3 as well yet managed 123k first week! Good Mario numbers, captain obvious would like to end with saying 3DS numbers this week will be 6 figures.

Sorry, I meant for a single platform release, or sales for just one platform. COD should outdo it across all platforms.