In Real Life

America’s Pastime Is Japan’s Biggest Seller Right Now

High-definition, big headed baseball is currently the hottest thing in Japanese video games. Konami’s latest cartoonish baseball sim, Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2011, is the country’s number one game.


July 14, 2011
News

L.A. Noire Is Japan’s Best-Selling Game

Japan’s hottest game right now is not made in Japan, which doesn’t happen often. Maybe more surprising is that four of the top 10 games on the country’s bestseller list weren’t made in Japan either.


July 7, 2011
News

Nintendo 3DS Back On Top In Japan, Thanks To Tales Of The Abyss

Remakes! Japanese gamers love ‘em, with further evidence to prove that theory in the form of Namco Bandai’s Tales of the Abyss. That Nintendo 3DS remake of the PlayStation 2 title is currently Japan’s best-selling game.


June 30, 2011
News

Japan’s Bestsellers Highlight Our Gaming Cultural Divide, One More Time

What’s selling well in Japan these days? The likes of Meruru no Atelier: Arland no Renkinjutsushi 3, Steins;Gate and a new Gundam game for the PlayStation Portable. I know. Exciting, right?


June 24, 2011
News

The Legend Of Zelda Puts Nintendo 3DS Back On Top In Japan

Japan’s best-selling video game right now may be a PlayStation Portable title – Level 5′s Cardboard Senki – but The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D wasn’t far behind, helping to put the Nintendo 3DS back into first place this week.


June 4, 2011
News

Pandora’s Tower Opens Strong In Japan With Good News For 3DS

It was a better week for games for Nintendo hardware in Japan, as two new releases, One Piece Unlimited Cruise SP for Nintendo 3DS and Pandora’s Tower for Wii, charted high in the land where those platforms are now doing so-so sales.


May 26, 2011
News

Japan Falls In Love With The Naughty Akiba’s Strip

A game about stripping the clothes off of vampires in otaku haven Akihabara is Japan’s best-selling game right now, the curious and cleverly titled Akiba’s Strip for PSP. That game easily beat the new Dead or Alive and Valve’s Portal 2 overseas.


May 19, 2011
News

Japan’s Still Hot For Haruhi Games, But What About Steel Diver?

Now that Japan’s game release schedule is back on, well, schedule, what are Japanese video game fans spending their hard-earned yen on? Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 Professional for one thing. Haruhi Suzumiya games for two more.


May 12, 2011
News

Japanese Video Game Sales Take A Week Off

With Japan celebrating Golden Week, there wasn’t much activity in the country in terms of new releases. In fact, in the list of top twenty bestselling games in Japan, there was nothing new represented. But we soldier on!


May 7, 2011
News

With PSP Sales Like These In Japan, Who Needs The NGP?

Yes, yes, it was a Nintendo DS game that managed to outsell everything else in Japan this week – Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 Professional – but it was the continued strength of PSP hardware in Japan that seemed most impressive.