Mass Effect flies high in Japanese chart

By Robert Purchese Published 29 May, 2009

As sales drop further across the board.

BioWare's space opera Mass Effect has debuted at three in the Japanese chart this week, according to Media Create data translated mostly by NeoGAF.

It's preceded by two new DS games: Level-5's Sloane and McHale's Mysterious Story at one, and SEGA's Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukurou! 2 at two.

The rest of the top 10, however, is as normal, and stagnating more each week; Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP the Best) is up two places despite dropping 8 per cent in sales, for example.

And compare the winning total of 44,000 sales with the Japanese chart this time last year and Sloan and McHale would only manage to finish at five.

It's a similar story for hardware, as a winning DS total of 39,464 is less than half the 90,000 that the PSP managed over seven-days in May 2008.

This Week Last Week Title Platform Weekly Sales Lifetime Sales
1 New entry Sloane and McHale's Mysterious Story DS 44,000 44,000
2 New entry Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukurou! 2 DS 39,000 39,000
3 New entry Mass Effect Xbox 360 18,000 18,000
4 6 Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP the Best) PSP 14,000 693,000
5 1 Bleach: Heat the Soul 6 PSP 13,000 54,000
6 3 Dragon Ball Kai: Saiyajin Raishuu DS 12,000 148,000
7 4 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of the Sky DS 12,000 311,000
8 5 Made in Ore DS 11,000 123,000
9 8 Wii Fit Wii 10,000 3,424,000
10 9 Mario & Luigi RPG 3 DS 9000 624,000

Japanese hardware sales:

Platform This Week Last Week 2009 Sales Lifetime Sales
DS 39,464 63,203 1,365,779 26,485,414
PSP 27,536 43,009 990,224 12,348,327
Wii 16,233 24,397 512,448 7,991,425
PS3 10,932 18,483 524,054 3,146,522
PS2 4075 5137 109,377 21,508,906
Xbox 360 3854 5068 194378 1,023,815
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 (34) Latest comment 3 years ago

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

  • Kzin #1 3 years ago

    First!

    Edit: I feel ashamed now.
    Edited by 1 at 29/05/09 @ 11:04

  • LHH #2 3 years ago

    haha, taken ages to appear in Japan eh? Suck it up chaps! How do you like recieving games years after release.

  • Vice.Destroyer #3 3 years ago

    LHH, one game? You feel mirth because ONE game has been released late? That does not come anywhere near the pain I have had over the years, waiting for SNES, N64 et al games to appear in england. Nowhere near.

    SFII on SNES for example is something that I will never forgive.

  • LHH #4 3 years ago

    nah, just the first thing that came to mind when reading the article.

  • neilka #5 3 years ago

    It takes ages for them to get the GTAs too.

  • asphaltcowboy #6 3 years ago

    Mass Effect has only just hit Japan? I suppose there is quite a lot of localisation to do! Still, good on them for buying it, it's fantastic!

  • fjharps #7 3 years ago

    Well the game has lots of talking and text in this game so to translate that would take it's time we get it opposite when the final fantasy etc... are ported over here.

  • AphoticCosmos #8 3 years ago

    I hope they enjoy it as much as everyone here did ^_^

  • onyxbox #9 3 years ago

    Ive been playing Mass Effect and I think the game is very overrated.

    The inventory system is broken, the frame rate is awful, the tearing is awful, the map is awful, the AI is terrible, the save system is annoying and the combat is... well... you already know... the animations (when not in dialog) is unconvincing to say the least.

    Despite all of this... I am compelled to carry on and play it... weird I tell ya'.

    I think it's because of the premise, character design, dialog, story.... but the actual 'game' part is pretty sh!t TBH.

  • Vanmunt #10 3 years ago

    @onyx

    Don't know where to start with such a wrong posting... Mass Effect is one of the true classic this gen, great story and fantastic ending.

  • GamesConnoisseur #11 3 years ago

    onyxbox seems a bit down with xbox from recent postings I noticed! Apologies (pun intended) if I got that wrong!

    I m actually playing Mass Effect for another run through in between inFAMOUS and its still a great game despite the flaws as admirably pointed out by onyxbox.

    Performing well (for first week at least) in Japan where they are RPG nut and where Sony and Nintendo consoles are doing far better is respectable.

  • Daikon #12 3 years ago

    No ppl, don't slam him, onyxbox is right.

    The game is flawed yet still compelling, the hallmarks of a true classic.

    I just hope the quirks and problems will be ironed out in time for Mass Effect .

  • onyxbox #13 3 years ago

    Mass Effect is just one of those games that I can see has a number of technical flaws (more than most games) and some bad design decisions with things like the inventory and the map etc.

    Yet I keep switching it on and playing it, it has got something special but I don't quite understand why I still kind of like it.

    onyxbox seems a bit down with xbox from recent postings I noticed!

    @GamesConnoisseur
    yeah, I guess I am a little... that'll change come E3 tho' I hope :-)

    I'm currently quite into XNA and am having a stab at writing a Community Game... I like a lot of what 360 has brought to the gaming world.... Live, invites, proper communication etc. and for me and others the ability to write my own game and play it on my console :-) that stuff is f'ing great.

  • spekkeh #14 3 years ago

    Weird to see that Wii Fit was both in this and last year's sale top ten.

  • AphoticCosmos #15 3 years ago

    @Ashen

    Yeah, very true. The game has some nice action elements, but I can see how it can be serene for a big part of it. The extremely engaging dialogue and storyline and the immersive plot worlds, the fantastic music and some incredible sights really make it a complete immersive experience for me. I can see how the Japanese would like it with all that attention to detail, and I really hope they do! It's a great game.

    Definitely going down as the best game so far in this generation for me. It's in my top 5 of all time.

  • darkmorgado #16 3 years ago

    Erm, don't blame Bioware for the horrendous tearing, framerate issues and texture popin - that's down to Unreal Engine 3. I've noticed it so much recently in UE3 games that I am on the verge of actively avoiding games that use that engine.

    GoW - Frame-rate issues, texturepop-in, screen tearing.
    GoW2 - Frame-rate issues, SEVERE texture pop-in, screen tearing.
    Las Remnant - Frame-rate issues, SEVERE texture pop-in, screen tearing.

    Not to mention Wolverine: Origins, Blacksite and Bioshock. All are UE3 games, all suffer the exact same issues. It isn't fair to blame a developer for problems caused by an engine they have no control over. And if Epic can't even iron the problems out of their own games, HTF do you expect other devs to?

    While I love GoW, Bioshock, etc (and currently enjoying - against all odds - playing Wolverine), It truly amazes me that Unreal Engine gets so much praise.

    ADDITIONAL COMMENT: It does actually make me think that Silicon Knights have a good point in their case that UE3 does not live up to the promises made about it by Epic.
    Edited by 1 at 29/05/09 @ 14:07

  • Vanmunt #17 3 years ago

    Fair points raised to be honest... but lets face the 'bug fest' that is Fallout 3 hardly ever gets the bashing it deserves, I never once believed ME was unplayable but Fallout... blimey what a mess.

  • makeamazing #18 3 years ago

    Strange, think i've only ever had 1 crash in Fallout so far, no problems in Mass effect, though my older PC chocked when running it and it wasnt that bad a spec.

    Mass Effect is good, but certain missions can drag on alittle, and the inventory system is no great, but the main character is very well done. So cant wait for 2.

  • geeza2020 #19 3 years ago

    Lets try and keep the Fallout bashing to a minimum on a ME related board eh? Anyway i agree with other posters here. Mass Effect has been one of the games this gen to make me feel like gaming maybe isnt going down the toilet. And glad to see the Japanese are lapping it up too :)

  • Razorus #20 3 years ago

    AND IN FURTHER NEWS....NEW GAMEPLAY TRAILER!!!

    [link url=http: //www.gamezine.co.uk/news/game-types/shooter/new-mass-effect -2-trailer-featuring-gameplay-$1299505.htm
    ]http://ww w.gamezine.co.uk/news/game-type...[/link]


    AWESOME IS THE KEY WORD.

  • geeza2020 #21 3 years ago

    ^Good Stuff^ :D

  • The-Bodybuilder #22 3 years ago

    @ onyxbox

    The only thing thats overrated is your mama.

  • onyxbox #23 3 years ago

    ME 2 trailer is very good.... and partly why I recently put ME into the 360 and have a proper shot at it.

    I don't doubt that they'll nail the inventory system this time and the combat in the advert looks a bit smoother.... fingers crossed eh.

    Does anyone know if it's still UE3?

  • miiiguel #24 3 years ago

    Haven't experienced any tearing in Wolverine - and yes, it is a good action "RPG-light". I'm glad I have it in my collection and I wasn't sure if I should get it.
    Regarding ME, yes, it has some tearing, but I only noticed on my 3rd playthrough - and tbh with such a great, evolving story and ambience, who gives a fuck? It is my curr-gen favourite game (along with VF5, but that one has to do with esoteric stuff... bias, and all).
    Edited by 1 at 29/05/09 @ 15:26

  • AphoticCosmos #25 3 years ago

    @ onyx

    Yes, the engine is still UE3, however they've spent ages working on the lighting and texture pop-in, as well as texture quality, to make it look ahelluvalotbetter. I think that, graphically speaking, they've probably nailed it in ME2 - I mean it was artistically brilliant in the first one, but technically a bit patchy.

  • Cannibal #26 3 years ago

    Isn't it crazy how SO many people consider Mass Effect one of the best games of this current generation and Eurogamer only gave it 8/10 while tripe like Fable II got 10/10. That was the worst case of scoring I've ever seen on this site.

  • Collymilad #27 3 years ago

    Mass Effect is amazing.

    "The inventory system is broken, the frame rate is awful, the tearing is awful, the map is awful, the AI is terrible, the save system is annoying and the combat is... well... you already know... the animations (when not in dialog) is unconvincing to say the least."

    The only one of those that's remotely true is that the inventory system is crap. It has framerate problems but they are by no means awful, and the rest of what you said is just BS. I mean for example it annoys you that you can save anywhere except in combat? Hmm..
    Edited by 1 at 29/05/09 @ 16:29

  • konnsky #28 3 years ago

    we get japanese games year later..
    japan gets western games year later..

    divide by zero
    O SHI--

    /mind implodes

  • onyxbox #29 3 years ago

    Edit:@collymilad

    your entitled to your opinion but really... The AI is good? Hmm. The framerate is not good and there IS tearing.

    I found the save system annoying because there were times where it autosaved before long cut scenes so each time I got killed I was forced to watch/keep pressing X to skip it.

    It is a compelling game, there is great dialog, the soundtrack is cool and I love the vibe... But it is not in my opinion the great flawless space opera adventure some seem to think (remember it's just an opinion) but the framerate etc. ? I dunno perhaps there's something wrong with both of my 360s or I'm seeing things that aren't there.
    Edited by 1 at 29/05/09 @ 23:28

  • konnsky #30 3 years ago

    @onyxbox
    i think your "^^" should be substited by "@Collymilad" after i got in beetween yours and his posts.....

    /grabs coat

  • Alkeno #31 3 years ago

    I´m on my second playthrough now (just finished the first a few days ago).

    Sure, it has bad design decitions: Inventory system, some filler and tiresome side quests, the dialogue systems fools you badly a couple of times, the endless wandering around planets with very little reward ('Oh, thanks Bioware, another useless ammo upgrade that I'll have to ommigel so as my inventory not exploding').

    And yes, it has some serious performance issues: Framerate, poping, tearing, loading everywhere (disguised in elevators and doors with 'Push A to open' that give the engine the 1000ms it needs to stream the textures).

    But who cares!!! It's just brilliant. Flawled masterpiece if you wish, but masterpiece nonetheless. I just loved the story, the characters, the decitions I was allowed to make (Ash, dear, this krogan is irritating me, put a bullet in this head ASAP)...

    If ME2 improves the rough edges and gives us another epic tale I will just cry in joy. For months.

  • espibara #32 3 years ago

    Mass Effect is a quality A+ game but it is still a heavily FLAWED game.

    However, Eurogamer scores lost meaning to me when Fable 2 got a 10. I mean seriously WTF!

  • Law07 #33 3 years ago

    I see EG don't mention Xbox 360 got the worst console sales...

  • YourMessageHere #34 3 years ago

    Being stuck unable to play this for the time being, I'm still waiting for someone to actually explain what the problem with lifts is. They are actually loading screens, yes? And you have to wait? Waiting for loading is kind of traditional. I'd rather have the illusion of a lift journey than an immersion-breaking pause and a giant banner across the screen that says "LOADING, PLEASE WAIT".