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Why Robin Makes Batman Better Regular readers of our Japanese hardware sales charts will be aware that, in recent months, Wii sales have declined. It’s being regularly outsold by the PS3, and even the 360 is nipping at its heels.
According to data from Famitsu publisher Enterbrain, the domestic sales for the Nintendo Wii in Japan surpassed 8 million units as at April 19.
With the PlayStation 3 outselling the Wii in Japan for the month of March, one might think that Nintendo executives are in a panic, concerned this whole motion control thing is a fad. Not so!
No more breaking it down into individual markets. Combined sales data released this morning from GfK, ChartTrack, Enterbrain and the NPD Group shows us the five biggest-selling games in the world for 2008.
Famitsu have published a list showing the five best-selling PS3 games of all time in Japan. With exact sales figures and everything. And – no shock here – Metal Gear Solid 4 tops the list.
Today, Famitsu publisher Enterbrain announced that Nintendo has sold 7 million Wii in the period starting with its December 2, 2006 launch and ending November 23, 2008.
Oh dear. Famitsu publisher (and industry analysts) Enterbrain have published their Japanese figures for the month of October, and it’s not pretty reading. Compared to October 2007, software sales are down 14.9%. Hardware sales are even worse, down an impressive 29.1%. Overall, this means the market is down 21.6%. That’s…that’s really sad reading. Only bright side is if you’re a Microsoft Japan employee, as for the month, the 360 outsold the PS3, 27,000 to 22,000. Crazy days.
One of the most feel-good stories of the year has got to be the unholy alliance between NPD/GfK/Enterbrain, that lets us see – every three months, at least – what the biggest-selling games are not in the US, Europe or Japan, but in the world. Last time we checked, the best-seller was GTA IV. This time around, for the quarter running from July-September? It’s Madden. Madden, followed by daylight.
It’s about time!
The NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track Limited and Enterbrain have joined forces to release the Top Global Markets Report, the first report to combine point-of-sales data for video game sales in the world’s largest games markets, aka the U.S., U.K. and Japan.
The soon to be monthly report will give a break down of the top titles by country and worldwide.
“The video games business has become increasingly global, with the majority of the publishers releasing games in multiple markets,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. “The U.S, as the world’s largest market will be able to view and compare sales for the first time outside of their own market.”
It’s kind cool to check this stuff out. For instance Grand Theft Auto IV is the top selling game in the world despite not being on sale in Japan. Of course Super Smash Bros. Brawl is in a close second without having to bother selling on two consoles. And Wii Fit? That depresses me.
While it’s enjoyed various ups and downs in the West, in Japan, the PSP has been emerging as something of a colossal hit. Over the first six months of 2008 it’s been the best-selling console in Japan, and Sony have now announced that (based on Enterbrain figures), since the unit’s launch in Japan in 2004, over ten million PSPs have been sold in the country. To anyone getting visions of a tortoise and a hare, it’s OK, you’re not alone.
