Japanese Gamers Snap Up More Mass Effect Than You Might Expect

@valero: A lot of us hardcore ME fans are building our "Perfect Shepard" in anticipation for what kind of an effect it will have on ME2. I am just like 'Sylar will take the power from Crecente's hair'.

@SuprShin: Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core sold over 350,000 copies in its first week in Japan.

That should put 18,000 in perspective.

AncientUnknown1

@Ueziel: I can only suppose you haven't watched any kind of anime but from the description you just gave I'm inclined to second guess myself.

Malform

@CockroachMan: Oh, also, care to share which features these are? I'm kind of mixed. I think I prefer a very well done WRPG to a very well done JRPG, but it wouldn't take much to make me swing the other way.

Of course, my background is Tolkien and all the fantasy writers that followed in his trail-blazing footsteps, so WRPGs are more a part of my heart.

It's just that they can also be so damned *dry*.

A true marriage of both would be something to behold.

@CockroachMan: Hehe. I must thank you for taking my good-natured ribbing in a good-natured manner. That's so rare on Kotaku these days!

@Danner:

Except they advertised that it was sex among 14 year olds. And when the consumers realized that it wasn't the case, sales slowed. That's why it only topped out at 18k.

Of course, I'm just kidding.

paulrenzo

@CockroachMan:

I agree with you. For some reason, I prefer JRPGs, even if Western RPGs are definitely more bang-for-the-buck.

paulrenzo

@ariete: Really? I did not know that. I gotta read more next time...

@Assault: Well, not everyone in Japan can speak American English.

All jokes aside, with the amount of dialogue in the game, recording lines are gonna be a bitch.

@Sylar will take the power from Crecente's hair: I used to play ME on my little brothers account before I had my own and when I got mine I always meant to replay it.

First playthrough finished about a week ago, completionist acheivement, asari and turian ally achievements but haven't got every colossus X yet. Actually ended bang on level 50 too. More to come! :D

@Assault: Nothing new here. Western games usually take 6 months or more to get to Japan. And that's if they even bother to release them there.

Narishma

@gaijira: No it definitely is not. Death Smiles is lolita shooter aimed squarely at the hardcore SHMUP fanbase.

Dragon Quest and Pokemon are as Japanese as you can get. They are the epitome of Japanese gaming.

Again, I think it'd been higher had it released closer to the Western release, but this isn't all that special.

outlawauron

@valero: You can replay campaign with the same character once you've beaten it and continue to level up.

TOWER_JUNKIE

@Sylar will take the power from Crecente's hair:

I like the game and all, but what have you done for 85 hours on one char? I cant figure..
Its just not that much content in it?

valero

@CockroachMan:

Dude!!!

There are a million 360s there...

kNZA

@Alex_Mexico: yea... pretty sad... =/

@Mokona:Stop selling yourself. It's not healthy.

scotty

18k for a week in japan is not bad at all.
Nice to see an xbox 360 game as the third top selling game in japan this week.

@Firemane:

Yep, 18k is pretty damn pathetic, from the headlines I was assuming there were 50k copies sold. I wonder if it's even worth the trouble translating it and hiring voice actors when sales are this low.

mellowspaz

@ctorrans: So what you're saying is that Japan is much like any other place in this regard.

Well, hopefully they can overlook the vapid characters with little to no actual characterization, the dialogue choices that are totally meaningless, the weak villains and the lame "twist." I've played the game through three times but man, the actual RPG parts of the game are really lame.

@beril:

Oblivion and Fable 2 werent released in Japan 2 years after everywhere else

SaanZ

@Sylar will take the power from Crecente's hair:

And so bioware brings forth the western RPG revolution in Japan... in an unusual fashion...

SaanZ

@GOD: Technically, you could also say "there are as many Atari 2600 games than PS3 games in that chart", which makes the statement all the more powerful.

18k? Not really impressive but hey the charts aren't really impressive as well.

@gaijira: no it's not. Some RPG's made 100k+ for the X360 this is 1/5 of other games, so there not impressive, if they hit 50k they would've been decent.

Firemane

@Gekijo: Aside from Mass Effect all I see is:
Wii, DS, PSP, Wii, DS, PSP, Wii, DS, PSP, Wii, DS, PSP, Wii, DS, PSP, ps2, Wii, DS, PSP, Wii, DS, PSP....

@grantanamo:
18,000 sold is abysmal, and there are titles that sold more then ME.

Firemane

@gaijira: Oblivion and Fable 2 both sold more than double that

beril

@AncientUnknown1: I assume this is just one week of sales not the month or anything I think. If I'm wrong on this please correct me.

SuprShin

Those Japanese sure love themseleves a good virtual rape simulator, don't they?

Damn, Takt of Magic looks kinda cool! It's controls look like they really fit the Wii. I hope it does better & makes it over here!

@MrBionic: Have what you want dude! *Passes phone to MrBionic*

God loves him some Rogan Josh!

GOD

@MrBionic: Sorry, couldn't resist.. MS is actually doing fine now in Japan (well, better than a year ago).

And it's good to see western RPGs having some success there, I personally prefer japanese ones, but WRPGs have a lot of features that I prefer and would like to see mixed on japanese RPGs.. hope one day this will happen.

I'm just happy more people are enjoying an awesome game like Mass Effect.

What's up with no PS3 game in the top 30? Nothing is being released on the system in Japan these days?

@Sylar will take the power from Crecente's hair: Yep exactly what I thought too.

mitch_93

Wow, that's nice to see. It's a quality game, through and through.

They must have advertised the romance sub plot. If there's anything that moves games in Japan its sex.

ctorrans

18,000? I think the latest Monster Hunter game sold that in its first hour on the shelves.

I don't read this as Japan warming up to Western games, but rather how down games sales are in Japan. When 18,000 is good enough for 3rd there's a problem.

AncientUnknown1

Wow. Nice job, Bioware.

Zero_Beat

@Shinta: Yeah i've played the game for well over 100 hours and thats no joke. I have one character with 85 hours on it.

@GOD: It must've taken a while to account for a single game. 1-0... what a victory.

@GOD: As long as it's Sapporo Dark, I'm there.

Also, I always thought of GOD as a sort of ambrosia and mead kind of guy.

Was Mass Effect also released on PC in Japan? Kinda curious to see those sales figures if it did.

Paradox me

@outlawauron: Seriously? Death Smiles is as Japanese as you can get. The fact that a Western RPG on the Xbox sold this well in Japan is definitely noteworthy.

gaijira

@CockroachMan: There, there. I know all about O/C disorder, although mine doesn't make me spout out the over-used obvious joke, but it can be just as debilitating.

Anytime you want to talk about it, I'm here for you.

@Lebensengel: The game isn't dubbed, only subtitled.

ariete

Mass Effect is one hell of a game. I'm a long time rpg gamer and I like both western and japanese types of rpgs. The story and style of Mass Effect was so immersive. Never before had I have a game that pulled me so deeply into it.

I'm glad has gotten some good sales in japan.

@mitch_93: I just restarted, it still completely holds up.

Shinta

You're going to kill yourself? Fuck you this pea soup is too good to care.

not bad Mass effect...but weak week overall..

Wow, other than ME those are some abysmal sales for the week.

grantanamo

Come on now Kotaku. 18,000 is a modest debut for Mass Effect. It's lower than Death Smiles. Maybe if it was released closer to the Western release, then it could have gotten more than half of what Fable II did first week.

outlawauron

There are more 360 games than PS3 games in that chart!? Madness I say. Pure madness! I'm off to order a curry and some beers. Who is with me?

GOD

Mass Effect's sales are impressive, especially considering how many games on this list are Japan-only.

gaijira

Good for them, Mass Effect is a great game. I also think the fact that it is less open then say Oblivion or Fallout and more narrative based will make it appeal more to the Japanese gaming population if they give it a chance.

Gray665

So.. every 360 owner in Japan bought Mass Effect then..

They better have put Wrex's Japanese voice through the same synthesizer. He has to sound badass.

Lebensengel

Well it's a darn good game.

Mass Effect, definitely my favorite game this generation. Yeah, it had its flaws, but the overall experience was epic. Hopefully word spreads in Japan and it picks up momentum there.

Huh? Mass Effect just now got to Japan? Is Bioware giving them the same treatment Squarenix are giving Europe?

Assault

It must be the alien sex that brought those sales up.

Microsoft obviously used the words alien sex and that one girls tentacle like hair to sell it. Nah kidding but good for them seeing as its 1 year old. Or 2?

mitch_93

Nice to see mass effect representing

Gekijo

@Jack Lorge: Well, in general, each region has their own preferences when it comes to video games. Western games are really never going to top Eastern games over there and vice versa for over here, aside from a few titles like Final Fantasy.

@Ueziel: Haha.

@Kakuki: Pretty decent for a Western game on the 360 in Japan.

@AncientUnknown1: Monster Hunter is also a very Japanese-oriented video game on a considerably more popular platform (PSP, generally, though MH will sell just about any platform). You may as well say a JRPG selling ~300k in the US is garbage because Gears of War 2 sold millions on its first day.

@outlawauron: SHMUPs are still more popular than WRPGs in Japan, though.

@Gray665: The only thing "open" about Oblivion or the most recent Fallout is the fact that they have large game worlds that don't restrict where you can go (aside from all those invisible walls and rubble with invisible walls in FO3).

It's not bad, but definitely not impressive for a Western game.

I admit it's good to see Japan gradually trying other games meaning western games out. Any system which has only western games on it for the most part doesn't stand a chance there, though.

Luckily 360 beat this rap and has a good flow of eastern titles and western titles as well......One of these days I hope to see a game like Mass Effect sell 500,000 there. When that country wakes up to the quality of western games, if its possible.

Jack Lorge

@mellowspaz:

Dude... read the article and other comments

tnasoundlug

@Xusder: Well FF doesn't have less lines. But to be honest, I assume that it is rather that that sales for western games usually suck.

It is kinda sad, when you see how hard XBox tries in Japan. They have representatives at the big stores quite often and considering the low sales it is incredibly how heavily advertised XBox games are (e.g. Fallout posters were all over Tokyo). But then they get knifed from behind by these slow releases.

Personally I own a PS3 because it is easier to import games (my Japanese reading still sucks) but for a normal user the Xbox would be interesting price wise.

IMHO also the reason that the hardware sales spike THAT much on a game realease - the console is about the price of maybe 1.5 games: There were quite regularly offers for XBox Arcade + game for around 20,000 Yen - were a game costs 5,000-9,000 yen.

develin

A game developed by Level 5 that involves a man drinking soup then shooting himself? Interesting...

mcderek3000

@Malform: Your average anime character has more personality in their pinky finger than any of the characters in Mass Effect. Saren hates humans because...he hates humans. No reasoning. Shepard thinks he/she can talk him out of being evil after being controlled. Why? He's not going to help a human. He hates humans! That's his entire background! It's literally his only defining feature and it isn't even touched on in the game itself other than a quick and missable blurb that mentions events from the prequel book.

And the other characters are absolutely no better.

They'll probably be disappointed when they find out the sex scene is consensual.

I know, that was below the belt. Sorry.

Briz9

@Hraesvelgr: Perhaps, but compares to most JRPG's Oblivion and Fallout might as well be a blank canvas.

Gray665