Sales Chart JPN: Seaman evolves to number one, just by a nose.

Week 15 October - 21 October 2007

Yet another PS2 game topped the chart this week. Sega's Seaman 2 sold 32,798, just a nose in front of yet another non-game game on the DS, DS Bungaku Zenshuu (32,438), a collection of Japanese literature readable on the dual screen. Why is non-game game so popular on the DS? I have no idea. Goku is still hanging onto top 3. While the detective mystery DS Kyotaro Nishimura Suspense New Detective Series: Kyoto, Atami, Zekkai no Kotou Satsui no Wana still going well in 4th.

Surprise comes at 7th with Beautiful Katamari on Xbox 360. Why it was released on the Xbox 360 only when the last ones were on the PS2, I have no clue either. But 18,935 for an Xbox game in Japan is not bad.

It has been a while since a Wii title is in the top 10, and this week, the best one is Wii Sports at number 12. Has the Japanese finally released the lack of games on the Wii?

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

PS2 - Seaman 2
DS - DS Bungaku Zenshuu
PSP - Gundam Battle Chronicle
XB360 - Beautiful Katamari
Wii - Wii Sports
PS3 - Lair

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

DS - 27
PS2 - 8
Wii - 5
PSP - 5
PS3 - 4
360 - 1

Console War VII: Battle for Nippon

DS is still leading the charge, but no where near as dominant as it once was. It dropped this week while the PSP stayed around the same. The situation is the same with the Wii and PS3, the gap is closing.

Nintendo better release some good games soon. Otherwise, the Japanese might finally get over the "wow" factor, like so many things (read: idols) before it.

DSL - 70,608
PSP - 58,669
Wii - 24,932
PS3 - 17,130
PS2 - 10,281
Xbox360 - 3,011

Market share this week

DSL vs PSP
54.62% vs 45.38%

Wii vs PS3 vs XBox 360
55.31% vs 22.81% vs 6.68%

Source: Media Create

Nintendo continues to print money.... many many many of them

Nintendo upgraded their full financial year operating profit forecast for the year to March to 420 billion yen. The first half year profit is 188.8 billion yen. For those who don't understand yen, that's lots and lots of money.

Nintendo has also upgraded their Wii forecast from 16.5 to 17.5 million units, and globe sales of software to 97 million units. Its stock rose to 66,400 yen (AUD$644 a share). It revised its annual net profit forecast to 275 billion yen, 58% higher than last year.

Looks like the Wii and the DS is still taking over the world.

Source: Reuters

Care to play Gameboy games on the DS?

Next-Gen has reported, among other things, that Nintendo is rumoured to be offering a Virtual Console style service for the DS. It's likely that it will be used for Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. So it acts as the handheld equivalent to the Wii's VC service. Details are still sketchy at the moment.

Are you game enough to play the original Tetris on the GB? Me don't think so, but there can be some old-skool games. I'd like to see Terminator 2 from the GB era. That game is gold. Will we finally be able to play Game Gear games? That would be most interesting.

Source: Next-Gen

Super Dodgeball Brawlers coming to the West

Remember back in the days of NES/SNES, when you play a game called dodgeball? Nah, you probably don't, but I do. Dodgeball on the NES was fun. The chibi figures getting hit by the ball and flew off the field would be at least as hilarious as seeing Jack Thompson on TV linking that game to the higher level of street brawls.

Anyway, publisher Aksys Games has signed on to bring Arc System Work's Super Dodgeball Brawlers to the US on the DS. Fun times ahead. You basically need to throw your opponents out of the ring by hitting them with your ball, but with Super Dodgeball Brawlers, it would be throwing anything but the ball to get rid of your opponent. There will be CQC (close quarter combat), there will be weapons, there will be blood.

Can't wait for JT to condemn the game. Bring it on.

Source: Shacknews

What do you mean it's not to cut cost?

By now, you should know that the new 'downgraded' 40GB PS3 does not have backwards compatibility. And if you don't, well, I'm telling you now. You cannot play PS2 games on the the new 40GB PS3.

Jack Tretton, the SCEA boss, has implied that the main reason for removing BC is not because to cut cost on the black brick, but to "encourage buyers of the entry-level PlayStation 3 to purchase more games designed specifically for the new system."

In other words, "you can't be fucked buying a PS3 game? We can't be fucked letting you play your PS2 games". Removing BC is, IMO, is stupid move by Sony. Here's a couple of quick reasons:

One, in some region of the world, the PS2 is still outselling its younger brother. And the PS3 has been out for almost a year now. How embarrassing is that? It's like seeing a truckload of people buying an Xbox over the Xbox 360 or getting a GBA instead of a DS.

Two, Game studios are still developing games for the PS2 system, some weeks we still see a PS2 game top the Japanese chart. Clearly, gamers are still hanging onto their PS2.

Three, PS3 has shitall. Almost no good game, and none of the 'good' games are a 'must have'. GT5 is still a way off, and MGS4 is next year (maybe) and FFXII is God-knows-when. There is absolutely no games on the PS3 now that gamers would want. A friend who bought a PS3 now complains about no games on it. He hasn't touched the brick for over two months!

Sony, if you actually release some good games on the system that people actually want to play, maybe they won't need to play PS2 games anymore, and by extension, don't need BC. But no, you have jack shit, and now you're removing (almost) the only reason to buy a PS3. And don't get me started with Blu-ray. Not everyone buy a PS3 for Blu-ray. I can't even remember when was the last time I put a DVD into my PS2.

Source: Kotaku

Sales Chart JPN: Detective found out how to get to ichiban.

Week 8 October - 14 October 2007

After a couple of weeks away from the top, DS has regain the top spot. If you are not a follower of Japanese literature, you won't know why this week's number one is a detective suspense game based on works by Nishimura Kyotaru. He is apparently, a famous writer in Japan.

But I've got a question, what is with Japanese and a bloody long name? The full name of this week's number one is *big breath* DS Kyotaro Nishimura Suspense New Detective Series: Kyoto, Atami, Zekkai no Kotou Satsui no Wana *phew*. 33 Japanese characters. God, that was long. A detective story that uses your brain. I bet you haven't been using that rusty brain of yours besides the occasional brain age, right?

Anyway, it sold 60,707 copies, beating Goku down to number 2 with 47,085. This week only 3 new games, one is the DS Kyotaru Nishi... blah blah blah, and the other one is Arcana Heart on PS2 (22,891) looks like a chick fighting game (but not the Dead of Alive kind of chick), and Lair on PS3 (21,813). The rest is the old stuff. Pokemon is still there, and so is Gundam. Master Chief is still hanging on at 48.

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

DS - DS Kyotaro Nishimura Suspense New Detective Series: Kyoto, Atami, Zekkai no Kotou Satsui no Wana
PS2 - Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! Meteor
PSP - Gundam Battle Chronicle
Wii - Mario Party 8
PS3 - Lair
XB360 - Project Gotham 4

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

DS - 27
PS2 - 8
Wii - 6
PSP - 5
PS3 - 2
360 - 2

Console War VII: Battle for Nippon

Is PSP faze over? By the look of it this week, yes. DSL fell, but not as much as the PSP fall. It's not dropping back to the 'pre-slim' 30-40K range for the PSP, maybe the slim PSP is doing something right for once. Wii is about the same, while the PS3 rose just a little bit. Xbox sold more hardware this week with PG4, than the week with Halo 3. Go figure.

DSL - 78,746
PSP - 59,584
Wii - 20,575
PS3 - 12,365
PS2 - 10,181
Xbox360 - 6,161

Market share this week

DSL vs PSP
56.93% vs 43.07%

Wii vs PS3 vs XBox 360
52.62% vs 31.62% vs 15.76%

Source: Media Create

Sales Chart US: Master Chief ran away... with US$1b

September Sales Figure

It's no secret that Master Chief is going to dominate the sales chart this month. Halo 3, an Xbox 360 exclusive title, has helped the US game industry to break the US$1 billion mark, to $1.3 billion.

Master Chief sold 3.3 million copies in September. The next best game is Wii Play, which sold a measly 282,000, which is just 3 million copies behind the first guy. The long waited Zelda didn't fare too bad, but Meriod Prime 3 managed less than 200K, a bit disappointed by Nintendo standard.

The best Sony game is still on the PS2, with Madden NFL 08. With Sony pulling the plug on backward compatibility in the new 40GB PS3, Sony would have no games worth buying anymore. Won't be surprised if next month's sales chart is dominated by Nintendo and Microsoft. Oh, sorry, they already are.

Top 10 games in US for September

1. Halo 3 - Xbox 360 (Microsoft) - 3.3 million
2. Wii Play - Wii (Nintendo) - 282,000
3. Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - DS (Nintendo) - 224,000
4. Madden NFL 08 - PS2 (EA) - 205,000
5. Skate - Xbox 360 (EA) - 175,000
6. Madden NFL 08 - Xbox 360 (EA) - 173,000
7. Metroid Prime 3 - Wii (Nintendo) - 167,000
8. BioShock - Xbox 360 (Take 2) - 150,000
9. Brain Age 2 - DS (Nintendo) - 141,000
10. Heavenly Sword - PS3 (Sony) - 139,000

Console War VII: Battle for America

With Master Chief taking charge, it's easy to see why the Xbox 360 took the lead in September. Followed closely by the Nintendo hardwares. The top 3 consoles sold close to or over half a million units each. The bottom 3 are all Sony (who else?). To their credit, PSP increased sales due to the PSP slim, but PS3 fell. PS2 is still selling in shitload. Almost a year on, and PS2 is still selling, hate to say this, Sony, but your black brick sucks.

Next month, it's likely Wii will take back the lead, or are they? Can Master Chief hold out another month and lead Xbox to the promised land?

Xbox 360 - 527,800
Wii - 501,000
Nintendo DS - 495,800
PlayStation Portable - 284,500
PlayStation 2 - 215,000
PlayStation 3 - 119,400

Market share for the month

DS vs PSP
63.54% vs 36.46%

Wii vs XB vs PS3
43.63% vs 45.97% vs 10.40%

Source: Gamasutra