Japanese top 10 nearly all Nintendo

By Robert Purchese Published 16 May, 2008

But PSP still top of hardware pops.

Nintendo has romped the Japanese software chart this week, taking all but one of the spots in the top 10.

However, it was the PSP that kept its throne atop the hardware kingdom and its champion Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G that spoiled the Nintendo party.

The Capcom favourite was at two in the software chart, which was a length or two short of Mario Kart Wii's phenomenal pace, but well ahead of Wii Fit.

Then came Link's Crossbow Training at four, Taiko Drum Master DS at five, and Pokémon Ranger Batonage! at six.

All the rest were Deca Sports at seven, Wii Sports at eight, We're Fossil Diggers at nine and Super Smash Bros. Brawl at ten.

As mentioned, the PSP breezed the hardware race with 89,884 units sold, followed by the Wii with 67,308 and DS with 51,228.

Miles below these were the PS3 with 8054, the PS2 with 7464 and the Xbox 360 still stumbling with 1298.

Hardware

  1. PSP - 89,884
  2. Wii - 67,308
  3. DS - 51,228
  4. PS3 - 8054
  5. PS2 - 7464
  6. Xbox 360 - 1298

Software

  1. Mario Kart (Wii) - 107,000 / 1,227,000
  2. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP) - 82,000 / 1,992,000
  3. Wii Fit (Wii) - 53,000 / 2,039,000
  4. Link's Crossbow Training (Wii) - 49,000 / 141,000
  5. Meccha! Taiko Drum Master DS! Adventure of 7 Islands (DS) - 34,000 / 133,000
  6. Pokémon Ranger Batonage! (DS) - 27,000 / 535,000
  7. Deca Sporta (Wii) - 22,000 / 207,000
  8. Wii Sports (Wii) - 21,000 / 2,979,000
  9. We're Fossil Diggers (DS) - 17,000 / 102,000
  10. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - 16,000 / 1,620,000
Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (46) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • miiiguel #1 4 years ago

    "we're fossil diggers" ? c'mon, give me a break, will ya...

    Don't ever claim that Japan is the home of video games...

  • Anthony_UK #2 4 years ago

    Am I the only one who thinks the PSP is the most poorly designed handheld ever?

    I had some reasonably good games for mine, but through a combination of it having poor battery life, a terrible d-pad, and it giving me awful cramp/pain in my hands after any kind of extended use, made me trade the sucker in!

  • smelly #3 4 years ago

    >"we're fossil diggers" ? c'mon, give me a break, will ya...

    How do you know it's not the best game ever made?

  • Widge #4 4 years ago

    I bet it has a catchy theme tune

  • kincaide #5 4 years ago

    How low is that PS3 total. That's a terrible figure bearing in mind this is Japan we are talking about.

  • CallousB #6 4 years ago

    If it wasn't for Monster Hunter I'd say PSP shouldn't be counted as gaming hardware these days.
    The highest selling machine but only 1 game in the entire top 30.

    As far as the PS3 sales...oh dear...they must be praying that MGS4 turns things around.

  • dr_faulk #7 4 years ago

    I'm the best!

  • dr_faulk #8 4 years ago

    Anthony_UK: Am I the only one who thinks the PSP is the most poorly designed handheld ever?

    generally, I think it's lovely. But somebody really had to have been fired over the Hold / Power Off combination switch. Seriously ignorant and/or mental.

  • miiiguel #9 4 years ago

    @mem,

    They don't seem that "loyal" (I can't say that without laughing, I mean... "loyal" to a brand, like to a friend?!) to Sony looking at PS3's numbers. I bet they're selling better in Luxembourg.

  • BradlayLaw #10 4 years ago

    Total Japanese Wii Balance Board sales should be head of total Japanese PS3 sales next week...

  • bad09 #11 4 years ago

    Ouch!!! We all knew Japan wouldn't bite with 360 but the PS3 is really doing poorly! Anyone know how many in total Sony has shifted on the home turf?

  • monkie_king #12 4 years ago

    Wow, I hadn't realised PS3 was so dead in the water in Japan. What is it about continental Europe that makes them PS3's only friends? Are they all big BluRay fans?

  • Widge #13 4 years ago

    The PSP wasn't really shifting its weight until Crisis Core surfaced... lets see if the devs put a bit of effort into the machine over there now there is a decent install base.

    Is MGS that big over in Japan? I seem to remember that we tend to make more of a fuss over it. I can see ffxiii as being as good a reason to shift consoles as any.

  • DrDamn #14 4 years ago

    @Anthony_UK

    Yeah I used to get cramps until I found one of these ... link - John Lewis used to sell them but not sure where to get one these days. Makes holding one in use much more comfy for people with big hands.

  • Tomnd #15 4 years ago

    Kinda dangerous for nintendo thou, Now that Sony have a bonafide 'Pokemon' franchise.

  • Widge #16 4 years ago

    I'm a big bluray fan! I bought a Philips 9632, the bluray partially sold it, knowing that MGS and Final Fantasies would be abound are another part (and the interim joys that I have discovered in the meantime), plus the wireless streaming media was a major part (was getting fed up of vso's divx2dvd to watch episodes of lost etc was becoming a coaster factory).

    Subscribe to Lovefilm now, so get blurays in the post, although I buy the odd special one if its worth a repeat watch. Online though, no way would I splash out the Ł25 or so that HMV ask for their BRs.

    Kinda follows suit from the previous gen for me, PS2 helped get a step into the DVD realms.

  • CallousB #17 4 years ago

    @ bad09

    Wii - 5,927,072
    PS3 - 2,034,523
    360 - 561,070

  • bad09 #18 4 years ago

    Cheers CallousB!

    It's not great at home for Sony is it, still there's always continental Europe! I wonder why swam hasn't posted yet? :)

  • chris_ace #19 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • Muddtallica #20 4 years ago

    Tomnd: That would only be true if Monster Hunter was a Sony-exclusive franchise, but it's actually Capcom's; in fact, Monster Hunter 3 is set to be a Wii exclusive, having defected from PS3. So I don't imagine Nintendo are too worried, no...

    ulov3: If by that you mean Wii Fit, then yes, it's there, at number 3.

  • Madlax #21 4 years ago

    Awful PS3 numbers, japan better save its own gaming industry and embrace HD gaming.

    The Wii is simply not a 3rd party developer dream, it seems most of the software sales on it are from Nintendo, and the current trend in japan isnt helping them.

    "Don't ever claim that Japan is the home of video games... "

    Who is then ?...Atrari ? ;)



  • miiiguel #22 4 years ago

    "Don't ever claim that Japan is the home of video games... "

    It seems to be the anglo-saxonic axis, imho.

  • CitizenGeek #23 4 years ago

    Monster Hunter and the PSP sure do make good bedfellows!

  • Madlax #24 4 years ago

    "This generation is so divided that it's freaky. USA loves the 360, Europe loves the PS3 and japan is all about Wii/Nintendo."

    I guess you havent seen the latest April NPD data. ;)

  • Les #25 4 years ago

    "This generation is so divided that it's freaky. USA loves the 360, Europe loves the PS3 and japan is all about Wii/Nintendo."

    No, not at all. The world loves the Wii. US likes 360 second best and Europe/Japan PS3. The 360 has already peaked and one has to start wondering whether the PS3 ever will. Though it will undoubtedly finish second. Were it not for Blu-Ray, both 360 and PS3 would have been costly mistakes for their respective platform holders. I'm anxious to see whether MS and Sony will learn from this gen's failure and try to come up with inventive machines next time.

  • Daikon #26 4 years ago

    the 360 is selling about as much as an atari jaguar. dont think japan has ever forgiven the U.S for that one ;)

    Are you referring to the fact that the Jaguar was never available in Japan or am I somehow just missing the point you're trying to make?

  • L0cky #27 4 years ago

    I thought everyone in japan already had 2 DS's each. What they doing now, collecting different colours?

  • ProfessorLesser #28 4 years ago

    Monster Hunter has sold in a few months about 2/3 of what Wii Sports has sold to date - scary.

  • KillerMonkey #29 4 years ago

    I thought everyone in japan already had 2 DS's each. What they doing now, collecting different colours?

    Yes, the DS sales right now are probably an accurate measure of Japan's birth rate.

  • bad09 #30 4 years ago

    "I'm anxious to see whether MS and Sony will learn from this gen's failure and try to come up with inventive machines next time."

    Thanks Les, you cheered my day up with that one, I did laugh! :)

  • Les #31 4 years ago

    "Thanks Les, you cheered my day up with that one, I did laugh! :)"

    Good to see there are still some 360 owners with a sense of humour/self awareness... ;) Most of them will go crazy as soon as anyone points to the obvious: the 360 being an utter commercial failure. The only thing that kept it afloat was the one year headstart, without it it would have done even worse than the original.

  • bad09 #32 4 years ago

    Ah but it's not obvious Les it's just your opinion. Personally I don't think 19 million consoles and the best software attach rate of the three (software has always been where the money is made) is an utter failure, remember all those Wii hardware sales will count for nothing if owners don't start buying more software.

    Don't forget we still have a couple of years left this gen, so while you've called time MS, Sony and Ninty haven't!
    Edited by 1 at 17/05/08 @ 12:11

  • Ryze #33 4 years ago

    PS3lol

  • Les #34 4 years ago

    "personally I don't think 19 million consoles and the best software attach rate of the three (software has always been where the money is made) is an utter failure"

    Best attach rate to a large extent caused by the one year headstart... The machine cost too much to develop and with its growth already topping off (same goes BTW for attach rate, stuck at 7 for over a year now), it will never make money for MS and is thus a commercial failure. What's even worse is that it further cemented the xbox brand as the nerdy, gun-loving hardcore gamer console of choice.

    If they'd been inventive (though that's not in the company's DNA) rather than just trying to create a more powerful PS2 they could have created a machine for less money that sold better and made them millions... But who knows, maybe they can turn a Nintendo for the next gen, if investors will let them...

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #35 4 years ago

    ... remember all those Wii hardware sales will count for nothing if owners don't start buying more software

    Actually Nintendo makes a profit on all it's hardware, so every Wii sold actually equates to cold hard cash.
    Edited by 1 at 17/05/08 @ 20:55

  • bad09 #36 4 years ago

    Maybe your right to a point Les, you do make sense, but we really need to wait a year or two to make final judgement on the state of all three (yes even the Wii). I wouldn't say it's over just yet!

    I don't understand where you are coming from with the "more powerful PS2", I know the first time I experienced 360 i thought wow what fantastic piece of kit. 360 offers so much more in terms of what a console can do. I don't think you would have the PS3 as it is if Sony didn't look at 360 and think "we need that" (which like it or not they did to an extent before any SDF jumps on me!). the progression from Live on Xbox to the what we have on 360 was truly groundbreaking and we should not forget what MS have done for console gaming in those terms. Sure the genres and titles are geared towards 15-30 males but there is a lot on offer for everyone and MS are even going down the Wii mini game casual crap route with stuff on live, to say the 360 is not inventive is a little insulting to MS I feel (Sony on the other hand.....)

    While the Wii in terms of interaction is inventive, personally I think the Wii is in more trouble than 360 in terms of quality software on offer. As I said before I do believe people are buying the idea of the Wii but the reality is quite different and the novelty is short lived when you experience some of the truly awful software for the machine (3rd party of course), which may hurt Ninty in the long run.

    By the way Les, I have to tell ya my girlfriend is sitting here playing your favourite game ever.......Bioshock! That made me chuckle for some reason! :)

  • djed #37 4 years ago

    we're fossil digger review, plx.

    kthxbye.

  • Khab #38 4 years ago

    remember all those Wii hardware sales will count for nothing if owners don't start buying more software.

    Actually, they do count, since Nintendo - as always - has been making money on the machine from day one. Granted, it might lessen the amount of 3rd-parties willing to invest in games for it and the next Ninty machine, but Nintendo are so rich now that they can afford another GameCube or two.

  • HermitArcader #39 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • mustardkid #40 4 years ago

    why do people think that MGS4 will make any difference to PS3 sales in japan? It's not really a big franchise in japan at all. I suspect what will eventually shift the PS3 will be something based on a popular local fad that will be utterly obscure to us gaijin, like the fossil game 'frinstance.....or a dating sim.

  • bad09 #41 4 years ago

    "but Nintendo are so rich now that they can afford another GameCube or two."

    LOL! So true!

  • Quak #42 4 years ago

    If you try to hold the PSP the way you'd expect to then yes, it will give you cramps after extended use. If you hold it with your fingers though - in the way that you'd have to if you had that grip thing installed on it - then it's actually fine.

  • Ryze #43 4 years ago

    ...this generation isn't exactly blowing me away right now.


    ^PS3, Wii owners

  • secombe #44 4 years ago

    ... remember all those Wii hardware sales will count for nothing if owners don't start buying more software

    Right, so the charts aren't constantly full of Wii games in most territories these days? Oh, hang on, they are.

    If I remember correctly Wii exclusives held a quarter of the UK top 40 last week, constantly dominate the Japanese charts along with the DS and have nearly half of the US top 20 on a weekly basis. 100m + games sold worldwide isn't bad for 18 months or so, particuarly as Nintendo are turning a profit on the hardware as well.

    If the DS timeline is anything to go by we might even see some decent 3rd party games for it in the next few months, then it might really get going :)

    Sure compared to the amount of hardware out there this shouldn't be a surprise, but it's not as though nobody buys games for it, as people appear to blindly say on a regular basis.
    Edited by 1 at 18/05/08 @ 23:34

  • Xerx3s #45 4 years ago

    Apparently this is the future of gaming with 'new' and 'innovative' games.

  • mingster #46 4 years ago

    The japanese are going mad over Puchi-Puchi at the moment selling 20,000 a day
    This makes Bandai very happy.