Sales Chart JPN: Muso powers up

Weeking ending 25 March 2007

Power of the Koei's Muso franchise is just too great to resist. First it was Gundam Musou on the PS3, this week, Musou Orochi made the top spot with 406,247 units sold. Different from Gundam Musou, Musou Orochi is on the PS2. Not a surprise, really, given that the PS2 is still doing quite OK by itself.

Second on the ladder is Yoshi's Island DS, after two weeks on the top spot, it has finally succumbed to the power of the swords. But it's not doing bad itself, with 100,812 units sold during the week. There's a good chance that it will go back to the top, once all the Muso fans bought their copy of Musou Orochi.

Third is the latest Dragon Ball Z game for the DS by Bandai Namco. Seriously, haven't the Japanese had enough of Dragon Ball yet? Maybe there is a new breed of Dragon Ball lovers out there.

Monster Hunter Portable 2nd on the PSP and Professor Layton on the DS is sitll doing the rounds in the top 10. Another new game on the top 10 is Crayon Shin-chan DS: Arashi wo Sakebunutte Crayon Daisakusen! at number 7. I love the Crayon Shin-chan anime. That kid is just so out of control.

After absent for so long on the chart, XBox360 finally showed its face on the top 50 with Amour Core 4 at 19. The last one was Blue Dragon, an RPG with character design by Toriyama Akira (the same guy who did Dragon Ball, Chrono Cross/Trigger and Dr. Slump). I doubt it will hold its position for very long. It will be lucky in it's still on teh top 50 in a fortnight's time.

Best selling games for each platform (that is on the chart) this week

DS - Yoshi's Island DS
PSP - Monster Hunter Portable 2nd
Wii - Wii Sports
PS2 - Musou Orochi
PS3 - Gundam Musou
XBox360 - Amour Core 4

Number of titles in the top 50 for each platform this week:

DS - 36
PS2 - 6
Wii - 4
PSP - 2
PS3 - 1
XBox360 - 1

Console War VII: Battle for Nippon

The battle front for Nippon has opened up even wider, with both DS and Wii sales up while PSP and PS3 down during the week. Not a good week for Sony, with lukewarm reception of the PS3 PAL launch and all. I guess they really bright it on themselves. They just don't know what the people want. Anyway, not going to dwell into Sony's dismay this week. Battle for Nippon is still very much the lopesided towards Nintendo at the moment. XBox360 went up by a little, probably due to the new release of Amour Core 4, but nothing special.

DSL - 130,549
Wii - 75,571
PSP - 41,456
PS3 - 20,459
PS2 - 16,961
XB360 - 3,492

Sales Chart JPN: Yoshi still going, Wii

Weeking ending 18 March 2007

For the second week running, Yoshi remains on top of the Sales Chart in Japan. Sales is still going strong at 131,843 copies sold during the week. It's no wonder the DSL is still 'out of stock' everywhere in Japan.

Second place is a DS new comer, a puzzle game ことばのパズル もじぴったんDS. while PSP's Monster Hunter 2 continues its strong run at third place.

Maybe Nintendo Japan was smart not to include Wii Sports in the Japanese Wii, because Wii Sports is still the best selling game on the Wii. It has been up there for a very very very long time, and shows no sign of fading away like many of the other games. Just like Animal Crossing, it never says die.

The best PS2 game is La Corda D'oro 2, debuting at number 5. Althought I have no idea what this game is about, from the look of the game cover and all, it looks like some sort of dating sim for girls, something like Tokimeki Memorial. Co-incidently, Konami's latest TokiMemo game also debuted the week at number 8 on the DS, with Tokimeki Memorial: Girl's Side 1st Love. Hardly need an explanation, this is TokiMemo for girls. Best selling game on the PS3 is sitll Gundam Musou at 14.

Best selling games for each platform (that is on the chart) this week

DS - Yoshi's Island DS
PSP - Monster Hunter 2
Wii - Wii Sports
PS2 - La Corda D'oro 2
PS3 - Gundam Musou


Number of titles in the top 50 for each platform this week:

DS - 38
Wii - 7
PS2 - 3
PSP - 1
PS3 - 1

Console War VII: Battle for Nippon

The battle front for Nippon has opened up again. The gap is back to 'normal', with the DS outselling the PSP by about 80,000 units and the Wii doing the same to PS3 by 45,000. The XBox360, meanwhile, has dropped below 3,000 units, the worst figure in 2007. When someone else's previous-gen console is selling more than your next-gen console, you know you're doing bad.

DSL - 121,471
Wii - 67,070
PSP - 43,769
PS3 - 21,635
PS2 - 13,321
XB360 - 2,910

Source: Media Create

PlayStation 3 is finally in PAL region.

Console War VII - Battle for Australia

After months of delay due to production (or lack thereof), the much anticipated last next-gen game console from Sony finally hit the market in Australia (& Europe). And boy, what a launch it was. It was nothing like the launch in America where gamers get mugged and shot at. No was shot, and no one was mugged. As a matter of fact, no one was there.

If you were to mug the fans at a launch in Sydney, you will be lucky to get away with $39,960 AUD, that is, if you can get past the security guards that outnumbered the amount of buyers. According to Kotaku only about 40 people turned up to the midnight launch at Sydney. The fact that it was launched on a Friday, when everyone have school/work the next morning didn't help.

Over 500 stores opened their doors at midnight for the PS3 launch, including Havey Norman, JB Hi-Fi and Myers. But my guess is, it'll be lucky if they sold 500 units by the next morning. All the shops are probably closed by 2am. The media even went as desperate as to ask the crowd to fake excitment. *yawn* yah *yawn*

If PSX was a sporty RX-8, and PS2 was a BMW Z4, then PS3 would have be smashed up Ferrari. An expensive useless piece of shit. It's like Sony has suddenly hit a brick wall at full speed. The launch was pathetic at best.

Console War VII - Battle for Britain

Halfway across the world, a launch at a Virgin store in Britain fared much worse than Australia. Just take a look at the report from UK Resistance. While I will admit that UK Resistance was never really fond of the PS3 in the first place, the launch was disasterous. Looking at the picture, a total of 2 people turned up. TWO!

Yes, you can blamed media bias, you can argued that the pictures were taken 5 hours before the launch or whatever, but if Sony could come up with a better product, that wouldn't have happened then, would it?

Meanwhile, elsewhere, the BBC is reporting that Sony is giving away free 46-inch HD television and a taxi home for London gamers. A bribe of some sort, trying to make it looks like that the PS3 is actually selling.

In the report, and I quote, "Sony has declared its launch of PlayStation 3 to date as a success, saying early sales are faster than those of its predecessor PS2." May I ask who's the fucking idiot who said that? Probably Ray Maguire, the head of SCE UK. Which part of the launch was successful? The bit about no-one got shot because there were so few people not worth mugging? or the bit about everyone got a PS3 because no-one came?

Mr. Maguire went on to say, "High definition is very important to people, A lot of people have bought flat panel TVs and they want content to go on it and PlayStation 3 is one of the few places they can get that kind of experience."

I've got a question for you, Jerry Ray, if HD is so important to people, why the fuck do I need to buy a HDMI cable to view HD content?

Sony is digging its own grave with PS3. While I can understand the thinking behind the PS3 wanting to be an all-in-one "entertainmnet system". Something is better left untouched. It tries to be a gaming system and a multimedia centre, but not excel in any of them so far. For me personally, I like to play my DVD on my DVD player and play my games on my game console. I have never watched a DVD movie on the PS2, despite the function being there.

The price tag is definitely hurting Sony, especially when other systems like XBox 360 and the Wii selling for far less than the price Sony is asking for.

I want to feel sorry for Sony, but I won't. They blindly think that people are willing to pay that much money to get a "entertainment system". Mind you, the bad publicity over the last couple of months between the NTSC launch and the PAL launch definitely helped to fuel the negative image of the PS3.

Just looking at the launch, Sony still thinks that they are doing well. There is a fine line between optimistic and living in their own fantasy world. Everywhere you see, every report you read, every sales chart you look at, PS3 lacks behind all other competitors, yet Sony still sits in their tiny office, saying that PS3 is doing great, selling well. When will you ever realised that your console just sucks, Sony? I certain hope you can beat XBox360 (I hate Microsoft even more, that's why I love Japan so much, because the XBox is dying over there), but to even think for a second that the PS3 is doing well is like Bush saying they are winning in Iraq.

Two new games for the Wii

Be a Two-feet baldhead (if you're not one already)


The publisher of games like Gundam Musou and San Goku Shi has announced a new game for the Wii, titled "Opoona", it a "lifestyle RPG" (where does studio come up with new genre?). You take on the role of a two-feet baldhead boy called Opoona. Opoona belongs to Cosmo Guards, a group of, ahhh... guards who protect the ahh... cosmo.

During a trip to planet Landroll (the sister planet of Landslide), Opoona became separated from his family. His brother and sister are missing (probably got sold as child sex slave somewhere in Russia) and his parents are seriously injuried (how Opoona escaped the child abductors and/or injury is beyond me). So now he needs to find a job (child labour, anyone?) and travel around the universe in search for his siblings.

The game is being developed by Japanese studio ArtePiazza (those guys behind Dragon Quest), and music by Hitoshi Sakamoto (the guy behind FFXII), hitting a Japanese store in summer.

The most interesting thing about this game is that it's only going to use the nunchuck as a controller and nothing else. It will be interesting to see how it turns out, as no other studio has pay much attention to the nunchuck (They are too busy figuring out more ways for you to throw your Wiimote at the TV).

See the screenshots.

Source: Video Game Generation

Be a Pirate (if you're not one already)


Next, Capcom has announced a Wii-exclusive game tentatively called "Project Treasure Island Z". Like many other treasure island before it, there will be pirates, puzzles, and of course, treasures. The story has it that a pirate named Barbaros from yonks ago hid a great treasure somewhere. And in typical fashion, no-one knows where it is, so a game of Chinese Whispers ensued. You take on the role of Zack (and no, the treasure is NOT a DOA chick *drool*, and it's NOT on Zack's Island) who stumbled across a talking skull none other than the great pirate Barbaros himself. He is under some sort of curse he obviously can't get out of and if you can help him, he can help you find his hidden riches.

Rather than going straight to where the treasure is, you will have to go through jungles, ice temple, volcanic caves to rotate handles, turn keys to open doors, play a piccolo and whatever else that is in your way.

The idea sounds interesting, but the pirates are not. Hopefully, it's not another one of them generic treasure hunting game.

Source: Video Game Generation

Sales Chart: Wii are winning in NA

Month ending Feburary

Console War VII: The Battle for America

Report from Game InfoWire today has suggested that the Wii is again the top selling console in America for the month of February.

"According to independent sales data released by the NPD Group, the Wii from Nintendo was America's best-selling video game console in the U.S. again in February, with consumers snapping up virtually every system available in America totaling more than 335,000 units."

The DS, meanwhile, sold 485,000 units in the same time, making a Nintendo one-two finish in February, claiming over half of all consoles sold in the month. Good news for Nintendo, in the face of slowing sales back home, even though it's still outselling the PS3. Sony is introducing its "Home" service later this year. It's some sort of virtual community. From the reception that it got at the recent GDC, it has potential to lift PS3 sales. So it will be an interesting development.

Source: Game InfoWire

Sales Chart JPN: DS game back on top, but Wii are falling

Weeking ending 11 March 2007

DS has reclaimed the top spot with an old favourite, Yoshi's Island DS. With 303,114 copies sold, that certainly is one of Japan's favourite game franchise. Coming from world of Mario, Yoshi has certain appeal towards gamers. Last weeks light saber weilding Gundam Musou has dropped to seventh this week, with only 31,145 units sold. I guess most of the Gundam / Shin Sangoku Musou fans must have had a copy of it by now.

On the other hand, PSP's Monster Hunter 2 jumped back up into second spot, albeit lacking behind with less than 95,000 copies sold. Another former ichiban, Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village, rounded off the top 3.

Another new release, Kenkabancho 2 - Full Throttle on the PS2 entered the battle into fourth, while last week's new comer, DS's Super Robo War W, in fifth.

Best selling games for each platform (that is on the chart) this week

DS - Yoshi's Island DS
PSP - Monster Hunter 2
PS2 - Kenkabancho 2 - Full Throttle
Wii - Wii Sports
PS3 - Gundam Musou

Number of titles in the top 50 for each platform this week:

DS - 34
Wii - 7
PS2 - 6
PSP - 1
PS3 - 2

Console War VII: The Battle for Nippon

Looks like there wasn't too much fighting at the console front. All of the console fell over the week. While Nintendo is still outselling Sony by miles, PSP managed to outsell the Wii. Maybe it's just quiet at this time of the year, with school starting soon in Apirl.

DSL - 108,512
PSP - 56,175
Wii - 44,495
PS3 - 32,115
PS2 - 14,585
XB360 - 3,333

Source: Media Create

Sales Chart JPN: Gundam chops down competitions, yet Wii are still winning.

Weeking ending 4 March 2007

As expected from the Gundam crazy Japanese, Gundam Musou has successfully & easily taken top spot when it was released in Japan at the start of March. It sold 170,725 copies (no doubt a lot of them are sold as a PS3 value pack or something). Basically the game is Shin Sangoku Musou (aka Dynasty Warriors) in the Gundam universe. It should satisfy fans of both series. I love both, but that doesn't make me want to buy a PS3 yet.

A new DS title, Super Robo War W comes second, with 139,311 copies sold, less than 2,000 more than last week's ichiban, Monster Hunter 2 on the PSP (137,851). From 4th place all the way down to 23rd are either on the Wii or the DS, such is the dominance of both console.

With the success of Gundam Musou, the Console War VII: The Battle of Nippon, as it will be known from this day forth has seen the Wii suffer heavy casulties. Wii sold 20,000 less units, all of which (and then some) went to the PS3. Only roughly 4000 units seperate the PS3 (40,000) and Wii (57,972), the closest yet this year. The number of PS3 sold has more than doubled over the last week. Is the PS3 finally getting some decent games now? Only time will tell. One thing for certain is that the XBox360 continues it's slow march with only 3,379 units sold.

On the handheld front, DS (111,814) continues to sell more than the PSP (66,156). Cumulative sales for PSP has past 5 million, only about 10 million behind DS.

Best selling games for each platform (that is on the chart) this week:

PS3 - Gundam Musou
DS - Super Robo War W
PSP - Monster Hunter 2
Wii - Wii Sports
PS2 - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

Number of titles in the top 50 for each platform this week:

DS - 35
Wii - 6
PS2 - 5
PSP - 3
PS3 - 1

Source: Media Create

Chris Hecker apologise for his "shitty" comment.

Chris "I-am-a-fucking-Nintendo-hater" Hecker has apologised to the rest of the world today after some rather strong words at the GDC days ago. It's unclear whether he apologised on his own accord (probably not), or if he was made to apologise (a more likely scenario) by his employer.

Either way, the damage has been done. I won't be surprised if he was killed, with a wiimote stuck up his ass. Funny thing was, in his apology, he made another smartass comment, "Nintendo needs to be applauded... on making a console that you don't need to mortgage your house to afford."

Was he implying something else is a piece of shit now?

Read the apology here.

Wii is a piece of shit... apparently.

At the GDC 2007, someone by the name of Chris Hecker decided to let his feelings known about Nintendo's Wii. He has been put on record as calling the Wii as "a piece of shit". Well, I've got something for you, Chris, you're a fucking idiot. I don't care if you're on the advisory board for the GDC or is respected within the gaming industry, the fact that someone in your position claim the Wii as a piece of shit does not earn any respect from me.

Let us analyse his rant:

He said, "This thing is totally underpowered... This is not about graphics, more polygons, all that kind of crap. What I want to be able to do is spend CPU to make the machine smarter, more interesting and more automatically intelligent."

Wii is underpower? What? you mean you don't know that? Nintendo has said all along that the Wii is not a high tech toy. Technology should be used to assist in creating the game. It's the idea behind the game and the way that it is deliveried that makes a great game. If you want a smarter, more interesting and more automatcialy intelligent machine, go buy yourself a supercomputer.

He said, "It's about interactivity - that is the key differentiator of our art form, and interactivity is about doing something interesting with that input and threading it back to the user. You can't do that with a POS underpowered computer."

Games by and large is not an art form per se. I thought games are for fun, not to be admired as art. Yes, I agree to certain extend that games is an art form, but you can't say it's a piece of shit just because it doesn't do any of the things you want it to do.

Hecker then quoted Eiji Aonuma, "I don't feel that games can necessarily be considered art. There's nothing wrong with that; our goal is just to make games that are fun." His response was: "This is not good enough for people who are leading our industry... If we're going to make games the art from of the 21st century, we need people who care more than just, 'I'm going to make some fun toys."

If game are not for fun, then I don't know what it's for. You can look at it as an art form for all you like. But at the end of the day, people play games because it's fun, it's entertaining, and that's what matters to (most) people. At least he recognised Nintendo as an industry leader.

He said, "Number one: recognise and push games as a serious art form. Number two: make a console that doesn't suck ass."

If you think you're so fucking good, go and make your own fucking console. Oh sorry, you have never released a game before. Oh, and guess what, you know the FIRST game you're releasing? It'll probably end up on the Wii, you know, the piece of shit that you mentioned. You know what, Chris? I really hope your kids cry day and night nagging for a Wii.

Now I don't pretend that I am a game developer, or own every single game console ever produced, but if Chris "I-am-a-fucking-Nintendo-hater" Hecker can express his opinion, then I can too. If the Wii is a piece of shit, then it has to be the best selling shit I've ever seen.

"Ask not what the console can do for you, ask what you can do for the console."

Sales Chart: a PSP game sold 700,000+ copies!

Weeking ending 25 February 2007

In the world of portable consoles, PSP has admittedly been the underdog, having played second fiddle to the DS ever since its release. But this week, the game Monster Hunter 2 has finally made people want to buy a PSP. It sold an amasing 705,281 copies. Looks like Nintendo will have some work to do if they were to maintain the top spot, which is kind of a good thing, can't let DS slack off, can we?

Actually, this week hasn't been too kind to Nintendo, because the second place has been taken by a PS2 game, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (ひぐらしのなく頃に祭), a fan-made visual novel (80,002 units). I really don't understand how that works. Do the fans gather around and say, "Right, we'll make a game." And off they went and created it, then get it published? It just all sound so strange. Another good example of that is "Tsuki-hime". That game is also a fan-made visual novel. I've never played them before, but by the look things, it's not as uncommon as it seems.

The new Fire Emblem game on the Wii comes third, selling 75,000+ copies. Matter of fact, Nintendo rounded up the rest of the top 20 (except for one), with DS taking 9 spots and the Wii taking 4. A new Lupin the 3rd PS2 game sandwiched in between at 11.

Seriously, I don't know why people is playing SimCity, but they are. SimCity is the top selling game for the DS this week. This flavor of SimCity has been localised, so you can build all the Japanese landmark, like Himeji castles and Tokyo Tower.

PS3 and Xbox 360 both has 1 game on the chart.

Hardware looks interesting this week. The DS is still on top, but PSP, supported by the new game Monster Hunter 2, sold 70,000+ units than last week (136,128 vs 100,210). The closest contest between the 2 handheld this year, and possible the entire history. The gap has widen between the Wii and PS3 however as Wii sold more than last week, and PS3 sold less. Wii pushed further ahead with 78,506 units sold as compared to only 19,315 for the PS3. XBox360 as usual, lacks far behind the rest at 4,183.

Best selling games for each platform (that is on the chart) this week:

PSP - Monster Hunter 2
PS2 - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Wii - Fire Emblem
DS - SimCity DS
XBox360 - Riot Act
PS3 - Untold Legend Dark Kingdom

Number of titles in the top 50 for each platform this week:

DS - 31
PS2 - 7
Wii - 6
PSP - 4
PS3 - 1
XBox360 - 1

Source: Media Create