Doki Doki Touch Me Touch Me OST

Like every game in Japan, OST is part of the landscape. No game in Japan is released without one. And Doki Doki is no exception. Now you can listen to the touching soundtrack (every pun intended).

It's going on sale 7/25 for 2,940 yen.

Source: SNKPlaymore

DIY DS Lite Stylus

So you think your DS Lite Stylus is not long enough; and the pencil DS Stylus cost more expensive than a real pencil? Why not DIY your own Stylus? Someone did. It's actually quite a genius idea.

Make a Stylus with just a Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto pen. Cut the stylus to size and fit it in. Perfect. Best of all, it cost as much as a Pilot pen.

Source: arghyle

Sales Chart JPN: Zelda cuts its way to first.

Week 18 - 24 June 2007

In a week that should surprise nobody, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass topped the chart this week. With only 2 days of sales, it already sold 302,887 copies. Zelda, much like Mario, is the flagship of Nintendo, so you won't expect it to do well.

Lacking far behind is Itadaki Street DS from Sqaure Enix (148,876). It's essentially a board game. This version bring Dragon Quest and Super Mario together. Third places is for the eye. There is no end to the eye training game. It sold another 44,138 units.

PS2 has 2 games in the top 10, with Growlanser VI from Atlus (27,254) in 5th and Mana-Khemia: The School Alchemists from Gus (20,963) in 8th. Frankly, I don't even remember Growlanser from yonks ago.

PS3 has 3 games on the top 50 this week (people, act surprise). Best of them is FolkSoul (yet another RPG) at 11th. The ninja has fallen down the wall, back in 19th. Call of Duty 3 slipped from 14th to 49th this week.

XBox 360 also has games on the top 50. Saints Row debuted at 25th, while last week's number 2, Trusty Bell, fell to 35th. Doesn't look like it has the same sort of drive as Blue Dragon.

Quite an interesting week. Every major console has at least 1 game on the chart. It's something of a rarity in this part of the world being dominated by Nintendo.

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

DS - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Wii - Wii Sports
PS2 - Growlanser VI
PS3 - FolkSoul
Xbox 360 - Saints Row
PSP - Smash Court Tennis 3

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

DS - 30
Wii - 7
PSP - 5
PS2 - 3
PS3 - 3
Xbox 360 - 2

Console War VII: Battle for Nippon

DSL surged ahead because of two factors. One, of course, is Zelda. Two, new colours went on sale last week. It sold more than everything else combined.... yet again. The DS hasn't done that for about a month now. But it has done it again.

Everything else haven't changed much really. Xbox 360 had a great fall, sold only about 44% of last week's figure. Last week was a great week for Xbox because of Trusty Bell. And this week, the figure is back to where it normally is.

DSL - 163,888
Wii - 65,582
PSP - 32,984
PS2 - 11,962
PS3 - 9,581
Xbox360 - 3,369

Market share this week

DSL vs PSP
83.24% vs 16.75

Wii vs PS3 vs XBox 360
83.51% vs 12.20% vs 4.29%

Source: Media Create

Nintendo getting more games from Japanese game makers

Due to the popularity of Wii and DS, game companies are flocking to the consoles.

Namco Bandai is planning 109% more titles for Nintendo with 115 new titles. Sega also upping their shipment 96% to 49. Capcom adds another 5% to 20 titles. Meanwhile, the PS3 and PSP are getting less titles, like 30-40% less.

What do you expect? You can't create more games without letting go of others. And at this moment, it looks like Nintendo is getting all the attention from games developers.

Final Fantasy CC: RoF Special Edition DS

Final Fantasy Special Edition DS number 4,675 (actually, it's only number 3). It looks like it's a Square Enix norm nowadays. It is to be expected that anything Square Enix does on the DS, there will be a special edition. This time, it's for the new Final Fantasy game - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicle - Ring of Fates Gemini Edition. It's the sequel to Crystal Chronicle that was on the GameCube.

It's in white (of course) and features a tinted window with the characters of the game on the right and the game title on the left. Going on sales in Japan on August 23 for the grand total of 21,840 yen.

Frankly, this edition doesn't look as good as the FFXII:RW or the FFIII edition. It doesn't have the FF feel. Maybe it's because the characters don't stand out.

And now we wait for FFIV special edition.

Don't tell me you didn't see this coming.

Source: Kotaku

Sales Chart JPN: Unusual suspects top the chart

Week 11 - 17 June 2007

Last week has been very unusual for the Japanese market for three reasons. One, you need (a lot) more training. Two, Xbox is seeing double vision. Three, is that a PS3 game that I see?

Unusual Suspect 1

We all know training softwares in Japan are immensely popular for various reasons. Last week was no different, except that we have not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 training software in the top 10. That's 40% of the top 10 solely for training games. I mean, these games don't tell a story. They are solely there to improve your memory or eyesight or English. Hell, they even have the word "training" written all over the box.

Brain Training (15,405) and More Brain Training (24,901) are regulars on the list; Eye Training that was released three weeks ago is back at ichiban last week (63,439); while English Training moved 15,855 units last week. For a game that was released in 2005 to be still in the top 50 after two years is hard enough, yet we have TWO such games in the top 10.

Benefiting from all these was Professor Layton. Primarily a puzzle game, it jumped 6 places to finish the week in 11th.

What is with the Japanese?

Unusual Suspect 2

Now we all know the Xbox 360 is all about Halo in the rest of the world, but in Japan, this machine is all about Blue Dragon, the RPG game with Goku-look-alikes. But now, it seems like the Japanese will have one more reason to buy an Xbox. Eternal Sonata (better know as Trusty Bell in this part of the world) debuted at number 2, shipping 49,334 units. That's the best Xbox game since Blue Dragon late last year.

But there was something else on the chart that makes last week rather unusual. At 40th was Dead Rising Platinum Collection on Xbox. That makes not 1, but 2 Xbox games in the top 50 in the same week! When was the last time that happened? Like never.

It was almost worth celebrating at Redmond. Bill Gates probably went, "Oh, look. We have TWO games in the top 50 in Japan! Drinks are on me!"

Unusual Suspect 3

It was a long time since a PS3 game makes it anywhere close to number one. The last one to make it was Gundam Muso topping the chart back when dinosaurs were still ruling the Earth. Last week, a ninja made it to third place. It just couldn't poke a knife at the eye or kill helpless little kids on an adventure.

Ninja Guardian Sigma settled in third place with 46,307 stealthily left the stores. Did it sell more PS3? Not particularly. It's still selling less than the PS2.

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

DS - Practice by Observing: DS Observation Training
Xbox 360 - Trusty Bell
PS3 - Ninja Guardian Sigma
Wii - Wii Sports
PS2 - Hisshou Pachinko*Pachi-Slot Kouryoku Series Vol. 10
PSP - Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai 2

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

DS - 33
Wii - 7
PSP - 5
Xbox 360 - 2
PS3 - 1
PS2 - 1

Console War VII: Battle for Nippon

The position remains the same, it's the numbers that are different. DSL and Wii continue to lead in its usual numbers. PS3 has increased slightly. But it was the Xbox that gained the most, no doubt due to Trusty Bell and whoever's dream that was. Sales for the Xbox gone up 300% from the week before!

Of course, no one is expecting this trend to last. Any bets on how long it's going to last?

DSL - 118,684
Wii - 65,521
PSP - 33,359
PS2 - 11,974
PS3 - 9,481
Xbox360 - 7,583

Market share this week

DSL vs PSP
78.06% vs 21.94

Wii vs PS3 vs XBox 360
79.34% vs 11.48% vs 9.18%

Source: Media Create

Looking beautiful with the DS

The DS console has just added another use to its ever expanding functionality. First, you can train your brain, then an electronic cookbook. Even schools in Kyoto are using the DS to teach English. Now it's your chance to look beautiful with the help of the DS.

Konami (maker of Metal Gear Solid and Dynasty Warriors) is releasing "Dream Skincare" in October, a software that gives beauty tips advice to its users. This game is obviously aimed at the female population, and the not-so-obviously few male counterparts.

Users can mark a date, like meeting with the future-in-laws, and the software will work out a beauty regime for you to follow so you can look pretty in front of them. Sorry, no tips on how to deal with the in-laws.... yet.

We all know women love to look beautiful, but a software to tell you how? That's a first. Companies are so going after the female 'gamers' that it's not funny. But hey, Nintendo (and other companies) has just opened a whole new can of worm, and well done to them.

Sorry, the game is in Japanese only.

Source: TechShout