The Japan Preview: 11/9 Edition (DS thinks pink, LBP ~ 14k, GTAIV 19k/7k)
ShareThis
Posted by: TheSource
10th Nov 2008, Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, PC, 867 views
Nintendo's roundest mascot has consumed nearly half the total sales volume in the preliminary top twenty. Little Big Planet and GTAIV sales have fallen fairly sharply from last week.
Jacob Mazel
Summary:
Kirby headlines what is otherwise a down week compared to last week. The Kirby Super Star Ultra launch was enough to push software totals in the preliminary data 15% up from last week. Riding the Kirby coat tails, nine other DS titles charted. The other platforms fought for the remaining scraps. No game not found on DS topped 20,000 for the week. This trend should largely continue until November 20, when the Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Gundam bundles for PSP, and Animal Crossing Wii debuts stir things up a bit.
Key Points:
- Kirby Super Star Ultra debuted even stronger than its million selling predecessor did on the SNES way back in 1996. The original version went on to top 1m on a 252k debut, even though the SNES had a smaller base, and had been on the market longer than DS currently has.
- Both versions of GTAIV, as well as Little Big Planet charted this week despite sharp drop offs from last week.
- The Last Remnant (Xbox 360) has more preorders at the moment than White Knight Story (PS3) does in Japan. However, with more highly preordered games on PS3, it is going to be difficult for Xbox 360 to top PS3 for an extended period again.
Understanding the Japanese Preview:
Rather than saying x game for y platform sold between 20,000 and 28,000 units as in the past, the preliminary data will be broken down into charts by platform. Within these charts, there will two additional categories besides the rounded sales figure under sales. On the left will be low end depicting the lowest amount the title likely sold for the week, while to the right will be high end depicting the highest amount the title likely sold for the week. As always, this data is preliminary, and therefore, not final, but it is based on a sample. The varying platform market share the sample represents is why consistent sellers like Wii Fit do not always appear in the preliminary data. Sales for this report are for the week ending November 9, 2008.
Software by Platform Breakdown:
Wii Software Wii Music was the only Wii game to chart. It sold an additional 15,000 units. Perhaps more significant is that with the exception of Wii Music launch week; the game seems to have cannibalized Wii Fit sales a bit. The upcoming debut of Animal Crossing: Wild World, which should push Wii hardware sales above 50,000 for an extended period should shed some light on whether Wii Fit is still seen as an essential Wii experience. If the game bounces back up to 30,000 or so, then the answer is probably yes. For this week, expect Wii hardware sales to drop to the 18,000 to 28,000 unit range.
Preliminary Top Twenty Wii Software
Sales
Low End
High End
Wii Music
15,000
13,000
17,000
PS3 Software Little Big Planet and Grand Theft Auto IV both charted again this week for PS3. The former dropped to about 14,000 units, while the latter dropped to 19,000 (from a much higher week one total). The flow of PS3 games has now become more of a flow than a trickle in Japan, so hardware sales should not drop to the sub 4,000 range they were briefly in for months or years. For this week, expect PS3 hardware sales to drop into the 12,000 to 24,000 unit range.
Preliminary Top Twenty PS3 Software
Sales
Low End
High End
Grand Theft Auto IV
19,000
17,000
21,000
Little Big Planet
14,000
12,000
16,000
Xbox 360 Software Grand Theft Auto IV charted again. It sold another 7,000 units. The next big Xbox 360 push should also come on November 20, when Last Remnant launches. For this week, expect Xbox 360 hardware sales to drop into the 4,000 to 8,000 unit range.
Preliminary Top Twenty Xbox 360 Software
Sales
Low End
High End
Grand Theft Auto IV
7,000
5,000
9,000
PS2 Software PS2 actually sold the most software of the consoles this week in the preliminary data as developers continue to micro target niches. This week, sports and music were the targets, with a wrestling game charting in the five digit range. Expect PS2 hardware sales to fall into the 4,000 to 8,000 unit range.
Preliminary Top Twenty PS2 Software
Sales
Low End
High End
Wrestling Angels: Survivor 2
19,000
17,000
21,000
Zero no Tsukai: Maigo no Period to Ikusen no Symphony (Ltd. Edition)
9,000
7,000
11,000
Winning Eleven 2008
4,000
2,000
6,000
Wrestling Angels: Survivor 2 (Special Edition)
4,000
2,000
6,000
PSP Software PSP software totals continue to drop, despite the release of the PSP 3000 recently. Monster Hunter Portable 2G (the cheap re-release) sold another 13,000 units. The other title to chart, Yuusha no Kuse, sold another 12,000 units. PSP should see resurgence on November 20, but with so many big games releasing that day alongside Gundam vs. Gundam the impact may be muted despite a debut all but guaranteed to top 100,000. Expect PSP hardware sales to drop into the 35,000 to 50,000 unit range this week.
Preliminary Top Twenty PSP Software
Sales
Low End
High End
Monster Hunter Portable 2G (Cheap Edition)
13,000
11,000
15,000
Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida Or 2
12,000
10,000
14,000
DS Software DS software had a big week. The remake of Kirby Super Star on SNES launched to sales of over 350,000. Six other games also sold over 10,000 units. Among the other titles to perform well, Square-Enix continues to take advantage of the DS base, as Valkyrie and Chocobo combined to sell over 50,000 units. In the coming weeks and months, DS momentum looks strong as a Professor Layton, Tales, Chrono Trigger, Kingdom Hearts, and two Dragon Quests await Japanese gamers. For this week, expect a DS hardware sales drop (DS+DSi) despite the Kirby launch, to 100,000 to 135,000 units.
Preliminary Top Twenty DS Software
Sales
Low End
High End
Kirby Superstar Ultra
355,000
319,000
381,000
Valkyriie Profile: Toga O Seoumono
40,000
36,000
44,000
Wagamama Fashion: Gal's Mode
35,000
31,000
39,000
Rhythm Heaven Gold
32,000
29,000
35,000
Pokemon Platinum
30,000
27,000
33,000
Cid to Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon
13,000
11,000
15,000
Avalon Code
12,000
10,000
14,000
Dragon Ball DS
4,000
2,000
6,000
Nostalgia no Kaze
4,000
2,000
6,000
Shugo Chara! Amunonijiro Chara Change
3,000
1,000
5,000
Contact Vgchartz at
jmazel@vgchartz.com