@shindokie:

in japan***

shindokie

what an ugly hand and nailpolish.

Latonone

i seriously doubt they assumed the exact estimated number of sales for MH2 actually did.

PS3 did about 1 1/2 better then assumed
360 doubled
DS tripled
Wii 1 1/3
PSP doubled

but clearly no one thought the DS would become a Krispy Kreme donut

Bleentastic

@Aegis: lol thats excellent.

Witzbold

@Morgoth: Although it is true that their financial wllbeing is not strictly "good" for my personal interest, but if they are getting moeny it means that they can produce moere games, and as most of my favorite games are from this company. A good year helps them to gain momentum for the next ones and as fanboy it translates as good news for me, for the upcoming games that may come to exist. I'm also laughing at this as I remember a freind of mine saying that the Wii was Nintendo's last console, their last dying breath before becoming a third party for Sony and Microsoft. This financial information is great (as I will be seeing him for the first time in a couple of years) so I can laugj at his face.

kurokotetsu

I would feel weird handing over 5 bills with the number "1000" on them for a video game, being an american that is...

K-Squad! (Badass Edition)

I'd do anything for that 50,000Yen in the photo right now.. ;-;

-is so poor-

Kiriphii

@Witzbold: It has a big disclaimer on the box saying 'This game won't actually improve your eyesight' :^D

Aegis

@Witzbold:

Remind me not to be around you while you train your face! Well i kept reading that gaming was declining but with Nintendo coming to the mix i think that changed the perception on that. More gamers are welcome as long as they aren't rabid fanboys.

shindokie

@Stormrider900: Well its kinda expected since by playing it myself I knew right away that the game was made for the folks overseas.

Although I do understand how you feel when nice new IPs get pigeon-holed here. Causing other devs / companies to be a bit wary of trying to make new IPs / game concepts.

One thing though Marvelous Entertainment is known for making more off the beaten path games / anime license ones though, so I assume thats why they ran with the risk of NMH in hopes that it would do well in the US.

I supposed overall though the folks here just would rather spend their money on something they know / feel comfortable with. And with the state of Japans economy I dont blame them either. Though it is bad for the industry in general.

Witzbold

@Ubisoft Angel: You got to be kidding me?

Whats selling right now in Germany anyways? Kinda curious about that.

Actually though, Im quite intrigued by this "Eye-Training" game though. Is it anything like Japans "Face-Training" one? haha

*runs off to ask the almighty Google*

Witzbold

@Witzbold:

Yeah right.
Currently doing the german charts for this week and I am still wondering how anyone can buy "Eye-Training" for the DS. Seriously. It's second this week.

Ubisoft Angel

@kurokotetsu: no offense but in what way is Nintendo dominating the market "good" for you. Your joy should come from playing their great games not their financial succes.

Morgoth

@Witzbold: I know, but DW is also one of the most derivative and downright dull game series on any platform. If they're transitioning to casual gaming, and by these numbers it certainly seems like they are, why do they pick that series over ones that are so much better designed? Not even sports games are as mind-numbingly unchanged between iterations.

I guess it's just personal dislike, but it's frustrating, especially when you hear about a creative game like No More Heroes tanking.

Stormrider900

That list is a great example of the power of the casual market.

Except for Monster Hunter that is.

Witzbold

It seems that Nintendo dominated the market (which is good for me as I'm a Nintendo fanboy) but I cry tears that Mario Galaxy (a great game) is not in the list. And in couple of years every japanese will own a DS.

kurokotetsu

@Stormrider900: Think about it. DW is familiar to many. While Mario Galaxy is not.

Zelda never sold that well in Japan anyways. Same with the Wii version.

Remember just because one thing sells well in your country it doesnt mean its going to sell well in another.

Witzbold

@setuzoku: Actually its about 109 yen right now if you want to be more exact.

Witzbold

1 dollar = 105 yen

setuzoku

Looks like M$ sold more 360's this year than the whole lifecycle of the 1st xbox..
hehehe! we,re on tracks! in2056 we,ll be numero1 in Japan!
I bet that,s what,s going through the mind of some PR!

amzo

Yet they won't buy great games for systems that actually do have tons of market penetration like Super Mario Galaxy or Phantom Hourglass. And they're still buying fucking Dynasty Warriors. Shame on you, Japanese consumers.

Stormrider900

@shindokie: unfortunately, only rabid fanboys are drawn to kotaku, occasionally we get the wee misguided ones which we ruthlessly kidnap.

but be real, casual new gamers (not hardcore-to-casual gamers) are never going to hanging round this hardcore gaming oasis....

*broods moodily*

Onizuka-GTO

@Stormrider900: You know, they are probably thinking "And they're still buying fucking Mario. Shame on you, American consumers."

KidU

I wonder what the total number of Wii Fit sales will hit since its been released and has sold out at various places.

Witzbold

@Latonone: Yeah, we'll see what your hand looks like when it's gone through a divorce and tries to raise three kids as a single parent!

ampillion : works it harder, makes it better, does it faster, makes us stronger.

Good old fashioned 360 japanese sales!

uninterested gamer

@setuzoku:
I know. T_T

ashcraft

@Kiriphii: Can we get an exact count of the yen. I counted ¥60,000. This is just for future contest reference of course.

stinkyrobot

@Witzbold: I was wondering that too, but I guess as this is a year long list, we won't know in full till 2009. I think honestly it will hold the #1 or #2 spot, it's right up the causal gamer's alley.

Sixtail

@Morgoth: If Nintendo is doing well, then not only are they making money, but they are more likely to do more things with that money that will result in more gaming goodness for me, be it taking a risk with a new IP, opening a new third party studio, hiring more coders, putting more ads out and if Nintendo's going well, then maybe there might be more third parties willing to put out Zak and Wiki level gaming goodness.

Plus video game systems are like sports teams for nerds.

Sixtail

@Stormrider900: Dynasty Warriors may be the same damn button-mashing game with every new iteration, but if there are people still buying them, then there's really no reason to not respond accordingly to the apparent demand by developing more of the same. I've grown to realize that Koei doesn't care about any wishes (in any part of the world) for DW to become anything resembling something that could be considered "deep".

As for No More Heroes, Suda 51 did say that he makes games with Western audiences in mind. It looks like the same was intended for NMH, for better or worse.

Draconis

@ctoa23 (PSN= ctoa23):

Only half a million installed!

The losers!

You should consider that this is an improvement for the Xbox brand in Japan. That was the goal (according to MS) this time around.

They even outsold PS3 one week!

kNZA

The 360 is just a joke in Japan.

ctoa23 (PSN= ctoa23)

@stinkyrobot: I'm used to handling 10,00 yen notes, and that's got to be at least a dozen.

Jesse in Japan

Maybe this will quell the rumors that Japanese gaming is dead?

Haha... who am I kidding? There are still people who think there are no games for PSP... once an idea gets set, there's just no scrubbing it out!

fuchikoma

@ctoa23 (PSN= ctoa23): As long as Microsoft convinces Capcom to release Dead Rising 2 then gaming Nerdvana will be reached.

Tepoz

@KidU: That's not the same thing at all. It would be if Nintendo had made 6 versions of Mario 64, with incremental graphical improvements every year and basically no change to the core gameplay at all. But they didn't.

Stormrider900