Topic: Japanese Weekly Software and Hardware Charts for Jan 12 - 18

[famicomplicated]

A GameCube remake tops the charts, while the DSi begins to show that it may be more than just a quick fix for DS sales.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=17603

 The Wii remake of Mario Tennis GC went straight to the top spot, probably thanks to a strong TV campaign emphasising its similarities to the tennis portion of Wii Sports  (which is still the highest-selling Wii game in Japan).  Last year’s number one seller Monster Hunter 2nd G got re-released under the ‘Best Of’ label, and shot straight back into the charts.  Will the Wii versions see the same success later this year?    

Elsewhere, Nintendo’s Rhythm Heaven refuses to leave the charts and may well turn out to be another evergreen hit for the company.    It may seem peculiar to have a predominantly western game such as Fallout 3 so high on the charts in Japan, but it’s not so strange in that the Xbox 360 version failed to enter the charts.
   

 
• 01. [WII] Play It On Wii: Mario Tennis (Nintendo) 56,000 / New Entry  
• 02. [NDS] Devil Survivor (Atlas) 55,000 / New Entry  
• 03. [PS3] Naruto: Narutimate Storm (Namco Bandai) 44,000 / New Entry  
• 04. [PSP] Dissidia Final Fantasy (Square Enix) 29,000 / 848,000  
• 05. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom) 27,000 / 332,000  
• 06. [NDS] Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo) 25,000 / 1,594,000  
• 07. [PS3] Fallout 3 (Bethesda Softworks) 24,000 / New Entry  
• 08. [NDS] Wagamama Fashion: Girl's Mode (Nintendo) 22,000 / 667,000  
• 09. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) 22,000 / 3,177,000  
• 10. [NDS] DS Uranai Seikatsu (Nintendo) 20,000 / New Entry  

   

The phenomenal sales of the DS now span three systems, but even the DSi alone beat out everything else on the hardware charts this week.  As it has been for sometime now, the Wii sits just below the PSP but just above the PlayStation 3 in weekly sales.    

(This Week Sales / Lifetime Sales) )
   

 
• NDS - 81,334 / 25,451,951  
• PSP - 42,559 / 11,575,747  
• Wii  - 32,333 / 7,640,109  
• PS3 - 20,690 / 2,711,226  
• 360 - 9,576 / 860,788  
• PS2 - 5,760 / 21,418,700  

   

  Here is a more detailed breakdown of Nintendo DS units sold.  It’s clear from this data that the DS Lite has far surpassed the sales of the original DS. Although the DSi is still far behind the sales of even the original system, after less than two months on the market it sits at nearly a million sold, indicating that it could prove to be another hit for Nintendo.    

(This Week Sales / Lifetime Sales)
 

 
• DSi  - 62,525 / 979,296  
• DSL - 18,809 / 17,416,632  
• DS - NA / 7,056,023  

[Louieturkey]

FYI, Pikmin is the first GC remake for the Wii and it came out in December.  It was fairly popular and has sold over 100,000 units, though Mario Tennis is the first one to reach the top spot on the weekly charts.

[famicomplicated]

Noted! Thanks for spotting that.

I guess Tennis is a more popular sport than herding little creatures in Japan.

[NWR_pap64]

Noted! Thanks for spotting that.

I guess Tennis is a more popular sport than herding little creatures in Japan.

Not to mention that Pikmin is a niche concept, one that is not as popular as Mario or Zelda. Mario Tennis, on the other hand,  features an universal concept (sports) and a very popular theme (Mario). So it shouldn't be surprising that the remake is so popular in Japan.

[Mop it up]

With three different versions of the DS out there, I can't help but wonder how many unique costumers own the system. Would it still be at 25 million sales if there were just one unit this whole time?

[KDR_11k]

I heard that a thought behind the DSi is that while the DSL was one per household the DSi contains many personal features so that every user in a household will want to have his own instead of using a shared one.

[Kairon]

I heard that a thought behind the DSi is that while the DSL was one per household the DSi contains many personal features so that every user in a household will want to have his own instead of using a shared one.

Yeah, that's what I'm getting from Nintendo's statements too.