Sony still bossing Nintendo in Japan

By Robert Purchese Published 20 November, 2009

Is the tide on the turn?

Sony's PSP and PS3 are still selling better than their Nintendo-made competition in Japan.

This week (ending 15th November) the PSP (45,197) and PS3 (38,498) combined to sell 83,695 units, whereas the DS (38,785) and Wii (26,764) banded together to sell 65,549 units, according to Media Create data.

That's about as exciting as the software charts. Those are dominated by SEGA's PSP newcomer J-League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou! 6: Pride of J (84,996).

There are more new entries this week, including Dragon Ball: Raging Blast on PS3 in third (57,972), Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers on Wii in eighth (35,412) and Mega Man Network: Operation Shooting Star on DS in ninth (22,744). Need for Speed: Shift also showed up on PS3 this week, albeit down in 20th

The rest of the software chart looks like this: Pokemon (2), Tomodachi Collection (4), Wii Fit Plus (5), PES 2010 (6), Inazuma Eleven 2 (7) and Persona 3 Portable (10).

Xbox 360 and PS2 were at the bottom of the hardware pile again with 4124 and 2031 units sold, respectively.

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 (61) Latest comment 2 years ago

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

  • dr_faulk #1 2 years ago

    Anyone recommend any good Japanese-only PS3 games? I'm looking for something along the lines of Muscle March.

    Here, EG: how many units has Muscle march sold?

  • betahoven #2 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:36:16 17-12-2011

  • LazyDan #3 2 years ago

    The PS3 outselling the Wii in Japan is only a short-term effect caused by the launch of the Slim.

  • LazyDan #4 2 years ago

    The Japan outselling the Slim in PS3 is only a short-term effect caused by the launch of the Wii.

  • originaljohn #5 2 years ago

    the japanese games industry looks pretty weak

  • el_pollo_diablo #6 2 years ago

    For a Japanese Ps3 game you could try Aquanaut's Holiday for a bit of ambient undersea sightseeing fun.

  • Bigglesworth #7 2 years ago

    @originaljohn
    How do you reckon that, when most of the titles are by or for the domestic market??

  • cianchristopher #8 2 years ago

    Maybe people are getting tired of the shit that's on the Wii?

    Just sayin', is all....

  • Xerx3s #9 2 years ago

    "Shame donnie isn't around to remind us of his oft-repeated claims that the PS3 outselling the Wii in Japan was only a short-term effect caused by the launch of the Slim. How long has it been now?"

    TBF, I doubt that sony will be able to keep this up beyond christmas but in any case, this is a positive development for the kind of games I like. \0/

  • markymark22 #10 2 years ago

    I myself dont like the wii with its dumbing down of gaming. However there sales figures in japan are hardly small!

  • Vice.Destroyer #11 2 years ago

    Cianchristopher, even with the constant thread of negative karma, anytime you say something unkind about any console, you are still always on hand to diss the Wii. I love it. Even though you'll probably end up with -98, know that I gave you a positive remark too.

    And the reason for that is that in 2009, there have been only 3 games for the Wii, that I thought worth buying. 2 of them came out in 2008.

    /I, like cianchristopher don't care about negative karma. Mark me down, Nintendo Army.

  • Goffee #12 2 years ago

    swings and roundabouts, horse shoes and hand grenades, rock and roll, just another shift in the wobbly balance of power. Wake me up when Inzivimals or something similar takes over the world.

  • spekkeh #13 2 years ago

    Yikes, a new Final Fantasy game coming in at eight? What's happening?

  • PlugMonkey #14 2 years ago

    I myself dont like the wii with its dumbing down of gaming.

    Haha. Dumbing down gaming.

    Yeah, simple games like Pacman and Space Invaders would be the death of 'real' gaming.

    You fucking plank.

  • Malek86 #15 2 years ago

    Hexyz Force at eleventh place! Man, it really could have reached tenth place. Let's see if what Atlus said about Sting (they "expect software sales to increase 50%";) turns out to be true. I doubt it.

    But, whatever. At least my copy has arrived today.

  • kangarootoo #16 2 years ago

    "/I, like cianchristopher don't care about negative karma. Mark me down, Nintendo Army."

    If you really didn't care, you wouldn't spend half a post talking about it.

  • Evolution #17 2 years ago

    "/I, like cianchristopher don't care about negative karma."

    You guys are such rebels.
    Edited by 1 at 20/11/09 @ 11:51

  • Collymilad #18 2 years ago

    "Yeah, simple games like Pacman and Space Invaders would be the death of 'real' gaming.

    You fucking plank. "

    Except there are strategies to both those games at high levels, you plank.

  • dr_faulk #19 2 years ago

    Thanks to the one person (el_pollo_diablo) for answerng my important query.

    I hope the rest of you have learned from this.

  • TonyHarrison #20 2 years ago

    So, PS3 ahead of Wii by 12k in Japan...

    Just a shame about that 150k lead the Wii has in the rest of the world...

  • Steroyd #21 2 years ago

    Yikes, a new Final Fantasy game coming in at eight? What's happening?

    What's happening is that it's not FFXIII.

    Speaking of which the PS3 is going to see a nice bump when that releases, as should the Wii when New Super Mario Brothers hits... unless it already has?
    Edited by 1 at 20/11/09 @ 12:41

  • electrolite #22 2 years ago

    Very good numbers for Sony, and deserved as they've done a really good job IMO of turning the PS3 around and rectifying early errors. I doubt they'll catch Nintendo in either market but as long as they're making money all's well. The two brands complement each other perfectly.

    Shame for MS, but they've never really looked like cracking the Japanese market, although they've done better than last gen. Maybe HD gaming is taking root in Japan now.

  • IneptPercy #23 2 years ago

    Surely everybody in Japan owns a Wii now, it can't keep selling how it has.

  • electrolite #24 2 years ago

    "/I, like cianchristopher don't care about negative karma. Mark me down, Nintendo Army. "

    Translation - look at me, look at me, ohhhh please look at me. I bet you two are IN THE FACES of Wii owners at your school

  • ShinMegami08 #25 2 years ago

    The Wii has been sold about 8 million times in Japan since launch, so no...not every household has one (The PS2 sold more than 20 million units in Japan).

    With FFXIII just around the corner, the PS3 should stay high till at least January.

    Maybe a stupid question, but... Dear Wii-Owners, how many Mario games do you buy? Have you never enough? Shouldn't it be time, that Mario retired? Damn, I was a big Super Mario fan, but it makes me sad to see his face in each fucking Nintendo game.
    Damn it would be like Master Chief in each Microsoft game (well a combination of Viva Pinata and Halo could be really funny) or Nathan Drake in each Sony game (Drake Singstar, Uncharted Football, LBP with Nathan jumping around instead of Sackboy). Man that would suck.

  • Zomoniac #26 2 years ago

    For a Japanese Ps3 game you could try Aquanaut's Holiday for a bit of ambient undersea sightseeing fun.

    What's it like? I'd love something like Endless Ocean with graphics to do the game justice.

  • Windypops #27 2 years ago

    Hasn't everyone in Japan got four Wiis and eight DSs apiece? I daresay Sony have got a fair bit of catching up to do before they equal overall number of units sold.

  • el_pollo_diablo #28 2 years ago

    It's quite odd. The controls of your submarine take a bit of getting used to, and essentially all you're doing is ambling around looking for buoys (checkpoints). I haven't played Afrika but I have a feeling that they're not that dissimilar. It's good, in a stoned kind of way.

  • knightmt #29 2 years ago

    I cannot wait for the next ds, I think there is a value problem with the wii, though I am glad there is some variety in consoles.

  • penhalion #30 2 years ago

    The software numbers are truly terrible! A final fantasy game only getting 35k sales. I really didn't realise how dire the situation was for the Japanese games industry. I knew that people were moving off of games in a big way over there but, I didn't realise how quickly it was happening. The Wii really has killed the japanese market hasn't it.

    Edit:To clarify. The Wii has sold rediculous numbers but, no-one buys and software for it except Wii fit, sports resort etc.etc. As a result, when people stopped using their Wii, they don't seem to have switched back to using PS3 or 360. They seem to have simply dropped of the face of the gaming scene all together. Heaven only knows what new thrend they have found. I suppose it could be mobile gaming on the likes of the iPhone and HCT hero etc. etc.
    Edited by 1 at 20/11/09 @ 14:21

  • markymark22 #31 2 years ago

    PlugMonkey
    You retard they were impressive games in there day hardly a relevant argument now for you to say nintendo arent dumbing down gaming or to call me a plank!
    I apologise if you find it extremely challenging popping balloons with grandma on 'super family party pet store imagination fashion show babies family game part 5' and you find it a generation defining game but for anyone with sense will know that last gen we had the likes of halo 1, ico and metal gear this gen we have the likes of uncharted, heavenly rain, fallout and gears of war pushing the envelope. Wii took a step backwards this gen and i seriously hope wii sales fall badly from here on in and 360 and ps3 push on.

  • Bigglesworth #32 2 years ago

    The Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series has nowhere near the fanbase nor the development & marketing spend of the main series games. Additonally its a complex game - not the Wii's core demographic.

  • kangarootoo #33 2 years ago

    @markymark22

    Its all subjective. Horses for courses and so on.

    Neither Halo or Uncharted are making steps forward as far as my parents of young nieces are concerned. What the Wii is doing is bringing games to a new audience.

    Now if you don't like the games that are emerging, that is just because you are the target audience for these new games. And it is because you aren't the target audience that you fail to see the advances the Wii is making. The advances are there, but they aren't appealing to you personally.

    If you want to mock the Wii for making games for families then by all means do so. Don't pretend there is any objectivity involved though. You are just another hardcore gamer in the line of people saying "I don't like a lot of the games on the Wii". You and me are in the same boat in that regard, but I don't act like scientific advances in space travel are being made on 360/PS3 whilst the Wii tries to re-discover the secret of fire - I just recognise that I'm not the target audience for the games being made.

    In short, get over it.

  • markymark22 #34 2 years ago

    Kangarootoo
    I agree with you 100% i was only replying to some fool who was comparing dumb party games to the likes of timely classics like pac man!
    However i wouldn consider myself to be a hardcore gamer. I just like good games.

  • kangarootoo #35 2 years ago

    @markymark22

    In fairness I think you were both getting a bit more angsty than necessary.

    You said "dumbing down", which triggered someone calling you a "plank". And before you know it nobody really even knows what the issue was in the first place.

    I will say though, imho, "dumbing down" is just what people say when they see something they don't like. It isn't dumbing down to accept that some audiences don't want to spend 20 mins just learning the controls. Not saying that is bad either, but again it is different strokes for different strokes. Not bad, just different.

  • Malek86 #36 2 years ago

    "It isn't dumbing down to accept that some audiences don't want to spend 20 mins just learning the controls."

    Surely not, but games could be made difficult even if the controls are simple to learn. However, many Wii games seem to go for the "both simple and easy" route.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #37 2 years ago


    Why did the devs create an excellent likeness of characters, but add bigger muscles in the Warriors game?
    Nintendo's innovation may have attracted some undesirable styles of games, but the other extreme driven by the western male pubescent teenager, is hardly driving the industry in a new and more fun direction.

    Once you set foot in Japan you soon realise 'shit' games like Cooking Mama are a closer represenatation of quirky Japanese, than unshaven muscular marines.

    Japan was also the most popular region for laser disc, I imagine bossing the Wii isn't all about games.





  • kangarootoo #38 2 years ago

    @Malek86

    Well maybe lots of Wii games do go for both simple and easy, but there is nothing wrong with that either.

    Difficulty has no value of its own. It is only present in games to create challenge, and challenge is only there as one cog in a big reward giving machine that makes the game fun. But there are lots of ways of making a game fun, so they don't all have to be challenging and difficult and so on.

    Suggesting that taking the difficulty out of a game is inherrently bad sounds to me dangerously like willy waving territory. When I play a game, I choose the difficulty setting that I think will provide the best experience for me personally. If all my friends play on Insane, and I play on Easy, I don't care and neither do they.

    So waht if many Wii games are easier than Gears of War on the easiest setting. if that is what the target audience wants, and they have fun playing, then all is well. We might sneer at them and call them n00bs, but I would hope we are all rather better than that.

  • malexous #39 2 years ago

    Both cianchristopher and markymark22 have very bad attitudes toward the Japanese and the Wii. A lot of their comments in articles pertaining to Japanese and/or the Wii have negative ratings.

    Some people still seem to take them seriously.
    Edited by 1 at 20/11/09 @ 16:13

  • Malek86 #40 2 years ago

    @kangarootoo: well, if developers actually added a difficulty level selection, that would be ok. However, most of the time, it doesn't happen, and I'm stuck to playing the default level. For example, would it be so difficult for Nintendo to put a "hard mode" in their new Zelda games? But it doesn't happen, and I'm stuck playing a game where I never die.

    Nothing wrong with other people enjoying them games. But I would like to be able to enjoy them too. I don't think it's fair that one group gets considered and the other doesn't (it works the other way too, of course, if they made a game difficult without a choice for an easy mode, that would be a disservice for those who don't like hard games).

    One cool example would be the new Shiren, where you can decide to select an "easy mode" where you don't lose all your items when you die, or you can just play the normal way.

  • patchbox360 #41 2 years ago

    nintendo outsold a ps3 and 360 for 3 years with a repackaged gamecube with next to no games - they are champions for that

  • Malek86 #42 2 years ago

    ^ The Wii has had some pretty good games in these past three years. Actually, it's now that they need to wake up a bit. I haven't turned on my Wii much this year (aside from Baroque), whereas it was probably my most used console in 2008.

    2010 looks much better already, but 2009 was kind of disappointing.
    Edited by 1 at 20/11/09 @ 16:41

  • smelly #43 2 years ago

    "Translation - look at me, look at me, ohhhh please look at me. I bet you two are IN THE FACES of Wii owners at your school"


    Meanwhile at the school the wii owners are all too busy having fun playing games to care what the geeky weird kid with no friends in the corner has to say.

  • ronuds #44 2 years ago

    Always "compare, compare, compare!" If the Wii sold 2 and the PS3 sold 3, everyone would still be elated that the PS3 sold more.

    How is the Wii doing compared to how it was? Terrible, so the PS3 outselling it isn't really much of an accomplishment, because the Wii isn't selling like it really can (like it will when SM is released).

    HOWEVER, the PS3 is doing much better than it was previously, and that is something to be proud of. I don't think it's only been the Slim effect, but they've also been releasing a lot of high-profile titles lately. It'll be interesting to see what happens once those titles dry up and there's nothing special being released. THEN is when we will truly be able to determine the "slim effect." Sales still don't seem to have settled in since the Slim was released, though. Like, I'm doubting the PS3 is going to continue selling 40k every week for the rest of its Japanese existence...but if it settled at around 25-30, that would be excellent for it. The Wii will still end up beating the PS3 handily, though...I mean, it's still selling in bucket loads with no games.

  • malexous #45 2 years ago

    Yet another Wii owner buying few Wii games in 2009.

    Malek, have you been sleeping 2009 away?

    Wii Sports Resort, Boom Blox 2, NSMB Wii, Little King's Story, A Boy And His Blob, Muramasa: A Demon Blade, Madworld, Deadly Creatures, Houde of the Dead, Dead Space Extraction, etc.

    I can understand if none of them appeal to you but it has been a great year for Wii (mainly 3rd party). I have seen many type that it has been the Wii's best year.
    Edited by 2 at 20/11/09 @ 17:17

  • kangarootoo #46 2 years ago

    @Malek86

    "well, if developers actually added a difficulty level selection, that would be ok. However, most of the time, it doesn't happen, and I'm stuck to playing the default level"

    A fair point.

  • Malek86 #47 2 years ago

    @malexous: half of those didn't interest me enough, maybe owing to the fact that I always play single player. The other half just didn't appeal to me. Sorry. Well, except for Muramasa. Once I get some money, I'm so going to buy that one. I'm also a bit on the fence about NSMB, although I'm not that big a fan of 2D Mario games.

  • freakzilla #48 2 years ago

    I wonder if Sony can maintain the momentum all the way to early to mid 2010.

  • makeamazing #49 2 years ago

    They do have 2 or 3 big games coming out from Jan to March, so its entirely possible they will have some momentum... i do wonder what they will have for the rest of the year though.

  • Diomedes #50 2 years ago

    Sony has managed to turn the situation in Japan quite nicely for its own interests.It has required a price drop ,the Slim (or new version ,I think the Slim is still to come) and lots of good games but they finally have some influence over there.

    What happens when all these high profile are out and their effects dry ?Well ,guess that Sony will have to keep churning out games for the PS3 with first-second and third party companies like recently.And that is very good for us consumers.A machine that sells only because hype and some fitness and sports games results in what we have just seen with the Wii ....total accomodation from the plattform holder.Specially when the machine is so weak that it cant even port the HD games.

    The PS3 has for the next year games as Resonance of Fate ,Star Ocean IV ,Yakuza 4 ,Resident Evil 5 AE ,Gran Turismo 5 ,The Last Rebellion ,Final Fantasy XIV ,The Last Guardian ,Heavy Rain ,No More Heroes ,Air Tonelico 3 ,Samurai Warriors 3 ,the release of the Wand with the games it comes out ,Lost Planet 2 ,Dead Rising 2 ,Dark Void ....the PS3 has fuel at least until may next year.
    Edited by 1 at 21/11/09 @ 20:35

  • PlugMonkey #51 2 years ago

    but for anyone with sense will know that last gen we had the likes of halo 1, ico and metal gear this gen we have the likes of uncharted, heavenly rain, fallout and gears of war pushing the envelope.

    So, last gen there were highly intellegent games like Halo, and this gen there are highly intellegent games like Gears, so how exactly has the Wii 'dumbed down' games? Hmm? How has it had any impact on the highly intellegent games you like at all?
    Edited by 1 at 20/11/09 @ 21:30

  • MARKIV #52 2 years ago

    No surprise, what with the glut of 1st/2nd party titles both from Nintendo and Microsoft, it's obvious Nintendo are working on new software for the new Wii HD and Microsoft working on new software for the new redesigned 360 Natal or whatever they call it, both due September next year, but I expect one of them will try and jump early..

    The new 360 is sure to have bluray, whether Nintendo can squeeze another console out with just a bog standard dvd player remains to be seen. Maybe Ninty will do a mini bluray disc to counter act pracy, aka the same they did with mini dvd's for the gamecube instead of DVD.

    Meanwhile the PS3 will sale on for almost eternity.. and who can blame them, they've a great line of releases for next year and beyond, plus bluray viideo is still in it's infancy.. I can see the PS3 easily winning this console generation, especailly as the PS2 has only just gone on sale in Brazil 9 years after it's first release.. :)

    Lastly if Sony could finally manage to multiask the the cell processor as a gpu as they originally intended ( according to Bill Gates ) they could still beat the superiority of the current 360 gpu!

    That's what I think anyhow.. :)
    Edited by 3 at 20/11/09 @ 22:33

  • makeamazing #53 2 years ago

    The new 360 is sure to have bluray

    I really dont see that happening this generation. That is too big a change. Natal is what they are aiming for to continue the sales of the 360, maybe a slim version, but certainly not a change in hardware.

  • oerhoert #54 2 years ago

    kangarootoo: Thanks for fighting the good fight. Subjectivity is still a concept new to many. :)

    Me, I love the Wii's game library. Just as appealing as the ones on the PS3 and the 360, although often in different ways. I find that both Demon's Souls and Wii Sport Resorts are marvelously appealing, for instance.

  • markymark22 #55 2 years ago

    PlugMonkey
    I know there's good games in all generations, i never stated otherwise. But very very little are being released on wii! And yes i still believe that the overwhelming success of the wii will have a bad effect. Look at microsoft and sony both copying them with motion control! Now i'll leave my opinions on those till i have a go on them.
    But if the next round of consoles end up going for the casual market (remember there profit driven companies) i fear for what we'll all be playing for years to come.

  • makeamazing #56 2 years ago

    I dont think casual consoles is a problem. Most 3rd party companies do not make money on Wii games (with a few exceptions), so i dont see 3rd party companies dropping the AAA games that they make. So what if MS and Sony include casual controllers in their next iteration, as long as the consoles are still powerful that will be fine.

  • sargulesh #57 2 years ago

    The PS3 outselling the Wii in Japan is only a short-term effect caused by the launch of the Slim.

  • markymark22 #58 2 years ago

    makeamazing
    Very true that would be fine.

  • Quixz #59 2 years ago

    "J-League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou! 6: Pride of J" short name..

  • electrolite #60 2 years ago

    I really don't see developers concentrating solely on the 'casual' market, there's a lot of money to be made in all sectors of the gaming market. It's an unjustified fear. Hopefully it just means the demographic spread that gaming appeals to will expand. Let's face it, three machines concentrating on the same people (as we would have had if Nintendo hadn't gambled this gen) would mean a shrinking and increasingly generic, tedious market

  • smelly #61 2 years ago

    The games companies have been focusing on the casual market for nearly a decade..

    That's why you see so many easy "me to" fps games out there.. the casual mainstream audience keeps lapping up all these easy fps games which can be beaten in a relatively short period of time.

    The days of hardcore gaming where the likes of a geuinely challenging hardcore game like 2d mario sells well - are long gone.