It's official, Japan doesn't want traditional games, AND 3rd party games.

3rd parties will jump ship in NO TIME.

I'm not sure how much we should attribute Wii Play's success to the actual game itself. Anyone who wanted an extra remote would be dumb to buy one alone instead of with Wii Play.

I will admit I am surprised about Zelda.
In Japan isn't the Wii version the only version you can buy in a store?

Kinda weird that Wii Sports and Wii Play are selling the most...

Did the Japanese ever like Zelda as much as the rest of the world? I know they hate Metroid. Are they only lukewarm to Zelda?

I think the Japanese like Zelda just fine. I think what's happened is that Nintendo has actually changed gaming in Japan with the DS. Non-games are in.

I'm not sure how much we should attribute Wii Play's success to the actual game itself. Anyone who wanted an extra remote would be dumb to buy one alone instead of with Wii Play.

A remote is cheaper without Wii Play (10€ here). Of course I'll be getting Wii Play because it means some more stuff to do with a recently launched system (which usually doesn't have a whole lot to offer).

The sales for the third parties will probably pick up later. At launch you grab the system and a game and you'll want a game that's good. Though I think Wii Sports is more popular than Zelda because, well, you just spent a lot of money on a new console, you'll want to make use of its features instead of having them sit there unused with the possibility that a later game makes use of them. I know I felt kinda silly playing Super Mario 64 on my DS because it meant my DS wasn't really being a DS, just a glorified Gameboy. If I had a Wii and only Zelda for it I'd feel like I'm playing a glorified Gamecube instead of a completely new system.

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A remote is cheaper without Wii Play (10€ here).

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I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm still stunned to see Red Steel in the top 10, let alone beating out Tamagochi and other Japanese games.

I say that because not only do the Japanese typically dislike FPSs, but it's a game where you play as a white guy whose primary job is to shoot every Japanese person he sees in the face.

Sure, it's better than MoH: Pacific Rim, but still...

I'm not sad to see third party rush titles and minigame collections like Shin-Chan sell few copies, but I am hoping that traditional games like Gundam Scad hammers and Trauma Center have legs that earn them respectable sales (respectable in the Japanese market is about 100,000 units, right?)

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Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm still stunned to see Red Steel in the top 10, let alone beating out Tamagochi and other Japanese games.

I say that because not only do the Japanese typically dislike FPSs, but it's a game where you play as a white guy whose primary job is to shoot every Japanese person he sees in the face.

Sure, it's better than MoH: Pacific Rim, but still...

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Dude, I want Metal Wolf Chaos and it displays the US as crazy, gun toting, people who elect devil may care Presidents.



Wait...


OKAY LET'S PARTIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Welcome to the White House!

RICHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!

I'm surprised I thought some of the 3rd party stuff would have had some better numbers. For example Elebits and Tamagotchi are very Japanese like games, I would have bet they each would have sold atleast 30,000 up to 80,000.

And my prediction of atleast 3 games selling over 50,000 was pretty spot on.

I have to say though I don't like how bad the 3rd parties sold, hopefully the numbers go up as people start craving for something else besides WiiSports.

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Originally posted by: Kairon Since RS starts off in Los Angeles and your character is a security guard, my brother and I have a pet theory that the main character in Red Steel is latino.

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"I say that because not only do the Japanese typically dislike FPSs, but it's a game where you play as a white guy whose primary job is to shoot every Japanese person he sees in the face."

Well Capcom, a Japanese company, did make the 1942 series.

Honestly I think in North America a game where the main hero is Japanese and all the bad guys are American could do well. The scenario wouldn't turn people off. So the reverse seems likely. It's not like a racial cleansing game or anything.

Hell here in Vancouver I see an incredible amount of white people who are incredibly into pretty much anything Asian. The fact that it's foreign is cool to them. So I figure in Japan the same sort of thing exists with Japanese guys who think anything American is cool. In high school it seemed like every second Japanese exchange student I met wore cowboy boots... sometimes with SPURS!

I'm actually disappointed with those numbers. In the states we sold out of Wiis almost from the get go. Within the day. Your going to tell me there is actual Wiis in Japan just floating around? With there larger game selection and better VC. Something just ain't right. It looks like North America just wanted it more even with how NoA is treating us.

OMEDETOU to Nintendo. ^_^

Shops usually keep a number back, so that they can still sell consoles to latecomers a few days after launch - and so they aren't totally itemless until , the next shipment arrives. I guess that's why not all 400,000 sold out straight away, but all available Wiis did.

Remember the hoohah over Wind Waker? Officially the most pre-ordered game of all time... I guess TP going multi-platform means that can't happen.
I read that the Gamecube TP is very popular in Japan. They know what's right.

How well did the Nazi-shooting MoH games go down in Germany? ...I don't imagine a game where you play as an American and shoot up Japanese guys would go down especially well in Japan, not one set in WW2 at least as it can still be a sore spot.

It's illegal in Germany to have Nazi references.

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I'm actually disappointed with those numbers. In the states we sold out of Wiis almost from the get go. Within the day. Your going to tell me there is actual Wiis in Japan just floating around?

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Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
His name is Scott Monroe. What nationality is Monroe? French, perhaps?

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So basically, our best guess is "American", right?

Actually, I'm an idiot (srsly): I clearly remember one of the enemies in Red Steel yelling "Amerikajin" at me. "Gaijin" is foreigner, but "Amerikajin" is, obviously, American.

actually "Gaikokujin" is foreigner, and "Gaijin" is outside-person... :P but yeah both are used as foreigner. ^_^

I'm impressed they used real Japanese in the game. Is there a lot of Japanese used, and is it real Japanese? Is it subtitled?

Honestly I think in North America a game where the main hero is Japanese and all the bad guys are American could do well.

Oh come on, no game that doesn't have an American hero and has him fighting enemies that defy America sells in America!

It's illegal in Germany to have Nazi references.

No, it's illegal to promote ideals of National Socialism or include its symbols on a toy. You can have Nazis in a game just fine but you can't use the swastika or the double sun rune (SS symbol). I think you also have to avoid the Hitlergruß. For some strange reason games count as toys for that law while counting as media for other laws (media are allowed to depict Nazi symbols but not put them in a positive context).