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Japanese Weekly Software and Hardware Charts for July 21 – 27

by James Charlton - August 3, 2008, 5:54 pm EDT
Total comments: 23 Source: Media Create

Wario flops into the charts and barely makes a splash.

This was a mixed week for Nintendo with continuing high sales of Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit, but a disappointing start for Wario Land: Shake It.

In fact, if it weren't for Dragon Quest, Sony would own the top half of the charts entirely. However, Square Enix's fifth Nintendo DS remake seems to be doing very well and should easily take one million units in the next few weeks.

01. [NDS] Dragon Quest V (Square Enix) - 190,438 / 834,000

02. [PS2] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 15 (Konami) - 83,855 / New Entry

03. [PSP] Gundam Battle Universe (Namco Bandai Games) - 42,860 / 180,000

04. [PSP] Eiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki the 3rd (Falcom) - 38,805 / New Entry

05. [PS3] SIREN: New Translation (SCEI) - 34,532 / New Entry

06. [NDS] Katekyoo Hitman Reborn! DS Flame Rumble Hyper - Moeyo Mirai (Takara Tomy) - 31,546 / New Entry

07. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 29,607 / 2,410,000

08. [WII] Wario Land: Shake It! (Nintendo) - 25,377 / New Entry

09. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) - 25,359 / 1,610,000

10. [WII] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 15 (Konami) - 21,665 / New Entry

On the hardware front the PSP still remains king, while the PS3 dropped in sales significantly. This gives Nintendo a full 10,000 unit lead in combined unit sales of all their respective systems this week.

01 - PSP 67,452

02- DS Lite 56,968

03 - Wii 41,024

04 - PS3 10,692

05 - PS2 9,291

06 - Xbox 360 4,941

Talkback

AVAugust 03, 2008

i seriously wonder why Wario isn't Wiiware game. No way I'll pay $50 for that, I know Nintendo is greedy but you have to balance out greed with smart business. Wario Land might sell a good 200K in America and same elsewhere. Where it could of sold allot better as an Wiiware game and maybe even a million in each area. I would pick up the game for 2000 Wiipoints, but not for $50. Quantity.

Look at 360 sales, its half of PS3 so its not as horrible as you might expect. I don't get why Japan HATES 360 with a passion it has so many games, I would be a dual console owner if I had extra money. If I can get into Brain Training and RPG's they can get into FPS and Action.

Attitudes like that are why 2D games are so rare on consoles.

EnnerAugust 03, 2008

They couldn't fit in the animated cutscenes on to WiiWare. Hence, disk space is used!
Still, it has beautiful animations and backgrounds. That's already great leeway on something I would spend US$50 on.

As for the 360, Japan loves 360! Kinda... Hey, they bought Ace Combat 6 for it.

Luigi DudeAugust 04, 2008

I wonder if Wario Land Shake did poorly because of Master Of Disguise?  Since Master of Disguise was so poor, it might have put a bad taste in the mouth of the tradition Wario fanbase in Japan and they didn't care for this one.  If this is the case then maybe with good word of mouth, once fans hear that this Wario Land is good and not bad like Master of Disguise, sales might slowly rise.

GoldenPhoenixAugust 04, 2008

Quote:

I know Nintendo is greedy but you have to balance out greed with smart business.

Yeah because Nintendo definitely is doing poorly on the business front.

vuduAugust 04, 2008

Quote from: Mr.

Quantity.

I'd much prefer Quality, thanks.

KDR_11kAugust 04, 2008

I don't think a WiiWare version of Wario would have sold enough to offset the lower price (it would have to be cheaper, Wii Points are bought in increments of $/€20 and buying two cards for one game would be just plain nuts).

CalibanAugust 04, 2008

08. Wario Land: Shake It! (Nintendo) - 25,377 / New Entry

A big WTF at these numbers *sigh*.

Nick DiMolaNick DiMola, Staff AlumnusAugust 04, 2008

I don't care how much Wario Land releases for, day 1 purchase.

KDR_11kAugust 04, 2008

Quote from: Caliban

08. Wario Land: Shake It! (Nintendo) - 25,377 / New Entry

A big WTF at these numbers *sigh*.

Seriously? Wasn't the Wario main series pretty obscure anyway? Add the 2d-ness on a home console and you got a game with little appeal.

CalibanAugust 04, 2008

Quote from: KDR_11k

Wasn't the Wario main series pretty obscure anyway? Add the 2d-ness on a home console and you got a game with little appeal.

But, but... it's Wario  :'( .

NinGurl69 *hugglesAugust 04, 2008

but but no one cares

CalibanAugust 04, 2008

Nobody cares about Daisy either :P .

Luigi DudeAugust 04, 2008

Quote from: KDR_11k

Seriously? Wasn't the Wario main series pretty obscure anyway? Add the 2d-ness on a home console and you got a game with little appeal.

Your right.  Other then the first Wario Land, the series was never big in Japan.  Wario Land 2, 3 and 4 all averaged around 300,000 in Japan, and Master of Disguise managed somewhere over 200,000.  So this is why Shake did pretty poorly on the Wii  in Japan now, since it wasn't that big on the handhelds to begin with.

Of course in America the Wario Land games put up number close to one million and sometimes over.  So I'd imagine Wario Land Shake will do at least a few hundred thousand in America, which will actually be very good considering it's a 2d game on a home console.  I have no idea how well it'll do in Europe though.

NWR_pap64Pedro Hernandez, Contributing WriterAugust 04, 2008

Quote from: Mr.

i seriously wonder why Wario isn't Wiiware game. No way I'll pay $50 for that, I know Nintendo is greedy but you have to balance out greed with smart business. Wario Land might sell a good 200K in America and same elsewhere. Where it could of sold allot better as an Wiiware game and maybe even a million in each area. I would pick up the game for 2000 Wiipoints, but not for $50. Quantity.

Look at 360 sales, its half of PS3 so its not as horrible as you might expect. I don't get why Japan HATES 360 with a passion it has so many games, I would be a dual console owner if I had extra money. If I can get into Brain Training and RPG's they can get into FPS and Action.

I'm honestly starting to believe you are really someone's dupe account created for the sole purpose of trolling threads, much to the lulz of the users and the owner.

I agree with your logic of games being priced according to their content and genre. However, you using Wario Land as an example is downright ridiculous.

Have you even seen gameplay videos? It features some really rock solid platforming, combined with inventive puzzles and classic collect-a thons of old. Not only that, the presentation is truly something, something unexpected in a Nintendo game.

Combine that with a solid 10 hour play through along with replay value and you have a solid package that's worth the 50 dollars. Not to mention that this is one of the few 2D platformers on a console, and a true, down to Earth Wario game.

Finally...IT'S A CORE GAME FROM NINTENDO! You know, the type of games Nintendo has been ignoring lately and making people sad in their pants?

With these facts under its belt how can you dismiss Wario Land?

Oh right, you dismissed Zack and Wiki for being smarter than you.

No surprise there...

GoldenPhoenixAugust 04, 2008

Quote from: pap64

Quote from: Mr.

i seriously wonder why Wario isn't Wiiware game. No way I'll pay $50 for that, I know Nintendo is greedy but you have to balance out greed with smart business. Wario Land might sell a good 200K in America and same elsewhere. Where it could of sold allot better as an Wiiware game and maybe even a million in each area. I would pick up the game for 2000 Wiipoints, but not for $50. Quantity.

Look at 360 sales, its half of PS3 so its not as horrible as you might expect. I don't get why Japan HATES 360 with a passion it has so many games, I would be a dual console owner if I had extra money. If I can get into Brain Training and RPG's they can get into FPS and Action.

I'm honestly starting to believe you are really someone's dupe account created for the sole purpose of trolling threads, much to the lulz of the users and the owner.

I agree with your logic of games being priced according to their content and genre. However, you using Wario Land as an example is downright ridiculous.

Have you even seen gameplay videos? It features some really rock solid platforming, combined with inventive puzzles and classic collect-a thons of old. Not only that, the presentation is truly something, something unexpected in a Nintendo game.

Combine that with a solid 10 hour play through along with replay value and you have a solid package that's worth the 50 dollars. Not to mention that this is one of the few 2D platformers on a console, and a true, down to Earth Wario game.

Finally...IT'S A CORE GAME FROM NINTENDO! You know, the type of games Nintendo has been ignoring lately and making people sad in their pants?

With these facts under its belt how can you dismiss Wario Land?

Oh right, you dismissed Zack and Wiki for being smarter than you.

No surprise there...

Be nice Papster. :(

Yeah, but like somebody else said...it's Wario.  It doesn't really matter how good the game is, Wario is a minor character and his games have always been obscure gems, not blockbuster titles.  He isn't even as well-known a character as Kirby and Yoshi.

The biggest WTF for me here is the PSP sales.  Is Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G THAT GOOD?  Hell, I'm a PSP fan, and even I don't know what the Japanese are buying that much PSP hardware for.  It sure isn't big releases.

GoldenPhoenixAugust 04, 2008

Quote from: Silks

Yeah, but like somebody else said...it's Wario.  It doesn't really matter how good the game is, Wario is a minor character and his games have always been obscure gems, not blockbuster titles.  He isn't even as well-known a character as Kirby and Yoshi.

The biggest WTF for me here is the PSP sales.  Is Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G THAT GOOD?  Hell, I'm a PSP fan, and even I don't know what the Japanese are buying that much PSP hardware for.  It sure isn't big releases.

Don't they use it for homebrew? I heard there is a reason for it and it isn't to buy software!

NWR_pap64Pedro Hernandez, Contributing WriterAugust 04, 2008

Quote from: Silks

Yeah, but like somebody else said...it's Wario.  It doesn't really matter how good the game is, Wario is a minor character and his games have always been obscure gems, not blockbuster titles.  He isn't even as well-known a character as Kirby and Yoshi.

To me, it doesn't even matter if a game stars a very obscure character or God's second son. What matters is that the core gameplay and overall package is great. Isn't that what the Nintendo games stand for?

This is a very shallow way of looking at things. The game may not be a triple AAA super duper special mega awesome orgasmic event of the year, but its definitely an effort worth trying out, one built upon the foundation some people Nintendo is greatly ignoring.

Isn't that enough?

famicomplicatedJames Charlton, Associate Editor (Japan)August 05, 2008

Ok guys, who would buy Wario Land Shake without the huge anime cutscenes for say.....1000 Wii points on WiiWare?

Personally, I think this could have been a game that convinced people to buy their first WiiWare game!

SchadenfreudeAugust 05, 2008

Quote from: Silks

Yeah, but like somebody else said...it's Wario.  It doesn't really matter how good the game is, Wario is a minor character and his games have always been obscure gems, not blockbuster titles.  He isn't even as well-known a character as Kirby and Yoshi.

The biggest WTF for me here is the PSP sales.  Is Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G THAT GOOD?  Hell, I'm a PSP fan, and even I don't know what the Japanese are buying that much PSP hardware for.  It sure isn't big releases.

PSP has some good games but they usually fall under most people's radar. I've heard Monster Hunter games are very good as a portable series; easy to accomplish something in short bursts. I've heard very little about the PS2 games; I guess we'll see how the Wii games turns out...

Infernal MonkeyAugust 05, 2008

Quote from: Mr.

i seriously wonder why Wario isn't Wiiware game. No way I'll pay $50 for that, I know Nintendo is greedy but you have to balance out greed with smart business.

I hate this new fad of 2D = downloadable game.

KDR_11kAugust 05, 2008

Hell, until recently I didn't even know there was a Wario Land 2 and 3, I only saw SML3:WL and WL4 in stores and assumed they continued the numbering from the Super Mario Land series.

pap: Silks was talking about why it didn't sell big. Sales do hinge on things like popularity of the character, whether you like it or not.

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