[duckroll]

Is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 the best selling FPS game so far in Japan (and maybe worldwide as well)?

Probably. Not that it's really impressive since there isn't really much competition at all. It's certainly not the best selling foreign game in Japan, that honor probably belongs to GTA:SA, with almost half a million sold.

And if you count the shooter genre in general, instead of just FPS, then Dirge of Cerberus, RE4 and RE5 are all bigger titles. So it's probably just a matter of there not being a significant FPS developed in Japan with a strong developer/franchise behind it.

[Spiegel]

cvxfreak, what about KH:BBS?

Did you see plenty of copies on the shelves? Any movement?

[mclem]

What's going on with Spirit Tracks? Those sales are a bit better than I was expecting. Pricecrash sales?

[jesusraz]

So, with a bit of number tweaking, it looks like we've got:

11.) (11) Taiko Drum Master Wii 2 (Wii, Namco Bandai) - 19,400 | 256,400
12.) (17) Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP the Best Reprint) (PSP, Capcom)
13.) (15) World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010 (PSP, Konami) - 18,300 | 166,600
14.) (12) Momotaro Railway 2010: Sengoku Ishin no Hero Daishuugou! no Maki (Wii, Hudson) 18,300 | 196,300
15.) (13) Mario Kart Wii (Wii, Nintendo) - 17,000 | 2,557,300
16.) (20) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3, Square Enix) - 17,000 | 186,100
17.) (10) Professor Layton and the Flute of Malevolent Destiny (NDS, Level 5) - 17,000 | 613,000
18.) (14) New Super Mario Bros. (NDS, Nintendo) - 13,000 | 5,572,600
19.) (16) PokePark Wii: Picachu's Great Adventure (Wii, The Pokemon Company)
20.) (18) Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam Vs. Gundam Next Plus (PSP, Namco Bandai) - 13,000 | 388,300
21.) (22) Pen 1 Grand Prix: A Penguin's Trouble Special (NDS, Konami) - 12,100 | 117,800
22.) (19) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (NDS, Nintendo) - 12,100 | 204,100
23.) (21) Samurai Warriors 3 (Wii, Koei) - 12,100 | 238,200
24.) (25) Tamagotchi no Narikiri Channel (NDS, Namco Bandai) - 10,400 | 132,800
25.) (30) World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010 (PS3, Konami) - 10,400 | 408,300
26.) (27) Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (NDS, Square Enix) - 9,700 | 4,128,000
27.) (29) Mario Kart DS (NDS, Nintendo) - 9,700 | 3,579,400
28.) (24) Powerful Pro-Kun Pocket 12 (NDS, Konami) - 9,700 | 130,100
29.) (26) Naruto: Shippuden Narutimate Accelerator 3 (PSP, Namco Bandai) - 9,100 | 165,600
30.) (33) Tales of Graces (Wii, Namco Bandai) - 7,700 | 196,800
31.) (30) World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010 (PS2, Konami) - 6,800 | 82,800
32.) (34) Metal Fight Beyblade (NDS, Bandai Namco) - 6,500 | 87,100
33.) (28) Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City - 6,500 | 1,163,500
34.) (38) Queen's Blade (PSP, Bandai Namco) - 6,300 | 83,300
35.) (36) Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii, Nintendo) - 5,800 | 1,980,700
36.) (RE) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Budget) (PS3, Square Enix) - 5,800 | 108,800
37.) (31) DoraBase Stadium 2 (NDS, Bandai Namco) - 5,400 | 88,700
38.) (35) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii, Nintendo) - 5,200 | 132,600
39.) (RE) LovePlus DS (NDS, Konami) - 5,200 | 199,700

Please do make corrections if I'm way off base...

[manueldelalas]

Yay! Smash Bros reaching two millions before FFXIII

[Road]

When are we getting the Top 500? In June like last year?

I think we got the MC top 500 in April, the Famitsu one in June last year.

The original MW is still the best selling FPS in Japan (in consoles, as far as we know).

[360] Call of Duty 4 (Square Enix) - 79,319 (1)
[PS3] Call of Duty 4 (Square Enix) - 210,870 (2)

As far as worldwide, Activision-Blizzard said recently the sales of the game had reached 1 billion dollars, which should put it close to 15 million if we base it on their own estimates for the 1st day. But I don't know if that makes it the best selling FPS ever. Haha

(Edit: those are Famitsu numbers, btw.)

[cvxfreak]

cvxfreak, what about KH:BBS? Did you see plenty of copies on the shelves? Any movement?

Not sold out where I've been. Not anymore.

[duckroll]

Not sold out where I've been. Not anymore.

So it is likely that they shipped 500-600k, and have shipped even more since launch?

[duckroll]

I think we got the MC top 500 in April, the Famitsu one in June last year. The original MW is still the best selling FPS in Japan (in consoles, as far as we know). [360] Call of Duty 4 (Square Enix) - 79,319 (1) [PS3] Call of Duty 4 (Square Enix) - 210,870 (2) As far as worldwide, Activision-Blizzard said recently the sales of the game had reached 1 billion dollars, which should put it close to 15 million if we base it on their own estimates for the 1st day. But I don't know if that makes it the best selling FPS ever. Haha (Edit: those are Famitsu numbers, btw.)

I don't think we're counting original release + budget re-releases here...

[selig]

Yay! Smash Bros reaching two millions before FFXIII

it´d be awesome if SSBB managed to hit 2 million. Makes you wonder where SSB DS is...

Also...WHEN will we get the updated Mario-series graph? :(

[Road]

I don't think we're counting original release + budget re-releases here...

Then, talking about original releases, MW2 has the first one beat already.

[360] Call of Duty 4 (Square Enix) - 54,752
[PS3] Call of Duty 4 (Square Enix) - 113,957

[360] Modern Warfare 2 (Square Enix) - 60,517
[PS3] Modern Warfare 2 (Square Enix) - 184,552

[jesusraz]

[PS3] Call of Duty 4 (Square Enix) - 210,870

Right, so that is the budget version CoD 4 on PS3 in the list above...that makes sense, I'll edit to clarify.

[duckroll]

Then, talking about original releases, MW2 has the first one beat already. [360] Call of Duty 4 (Square Enix) - 54,752 [PS3] Call of Duty 4 (Square Enix) - 113,957 [360] Modern Warfare 2 (Square Enix) - 60,517 [PS3] Modern Warfare 2 (Square Enix) - 184,552

Right. I was just pointing out that it's not like, insanely impressive in the larger scheme of things.

[Dapperk]

Right. I was just pointing out that it's not like, insanely impressive in the larger scheme of things.

If it outsells it by the same margin next week the PS3 version of MW2 will about pass Tales of Graces in sales. Impessive or not that alone is something I don't think anyone would have predicted.

[duckroll]

If it outsells it by the same margin next week the PS3 version of MW2 will about pass Tales of Graces in sales. Impessive or not that alone is something I don't think anyone would have predicted.

That says more about Graces than it does about MW2. What's your point? :lol

[Dapperk]

That says more about Graces than it does about MW2. What's your point? :lol

Well yeah, true :D it is showing surprising legs though.

[BowieZ]

Mario will reach 4m by March I believe

There's exactly 7 weeks left for it to achieve that, meaning it would have to continue to hover around the 150,000 mark the entire time. Unless there have been SERIOUS supply issues in the last fortnight, I dunno, as a Media Create novice... isn't that unlikely?

EDIT: My bad, thought you meant BEFORE March. :P

[Road]

Right. I was just pointing out that it's not like, insanely impressive in the larger scheme of things.

And since you mentioned, GTA (budget versions in parenthesis):

[PS2] Grand Theft Auto III (Capcom) - 358,917 (+ 96,538 = 455,455)

[PS2] Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (Capcom) - 410,293 (+ 191,280 = 601,573)

[PS2] Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Capcom) - 412,100 (+ 47,592 = 459,692)

[PS3] Grand Theft Auto IV (Capcom) - 211,240 (+ 33,202 = 244,442)
[360] Grand Theft Auto IV (Capcom) - 62,885 (+ 6,210 = 69,095)

We have to see if Japan will follow the worldwide trend, which is having MW2 outselling GTAIV.

[duckroll]

I think MW2 will definitely pass GTA4.

[Road]

Well, I still have 20min of doing nothing at home. lol

Games released at the end of the last year with first week and latest LTD figures (Famitsu):

[WII] Karaoke Joysound Wii DX - 4,803 / 56,847 (11.8x)
[WII] Taiko no Tatsujin 2 - 29,349 / 252,368 (8.6x)
[WII] Mario & Sonic Winter - 24,476 / 137,500 (5.6x)

Karaoke DX managed to get out of the hole it started and multiply its first week considerably, but is still behind the first week of the original game (63k).

Taiko Wii 2 has also improved, as has been noted by Schuelma and others (the first game was at 344k after 7 weeks, but it started almost four times bigger with 115k).

And Mario & Sonic, well, that one is still looking bad, but it could be worse (like certain games that that have 'crystal' and 'bearers' in its title).

[schuelma]

Re: FF13. Like I said before, it will make 2 million if SE ships that many, and will fall a bit short if they don't ..pretty simple

Re: Graces- It looks like its showing slightly better legs than ToS2, but probably won't get past it since I doubt the sales are enough for even a small second shipment.

[Segata Sanshiro]

There's exactly 7 weeks left for it to achieve that, meaning it would have to continue to hover around the 150,000 mark the entire time. Unless there have been SERIOUS supply issues in the last fortnight, I dunno, as a Media Create novice... isn't that unlikely? EDIT: My bad, thought you meant BEFORE March. :P

There have been SERIOUS supply issues in the last fortnight.

[jesusraz]

This is what the hardware should look like, going off early MC numbers:

Hardware - This Week | Last Week | 2010 Sales | Lifetime Sales
1.) PlayStation Portable (all models) - 146,300 | 136,814 | 283,114 | 13,889,388
2.) Nintendo DS (all models) - 105,900 | 180,492 | 286,392 | 29,384,980
3.) Wii - 74,600 | 163,855 | 238,455 | 9,679,799
4.) PlayStation 3 - 58,900 | 114,368 | 173,268 | 4,560,268
5.) Xbox 360 - 6,200 | 6,878 | 13,078 | 1,215,872
6.) PlayStation 2 - 3,000 | 4,023 | 7,023 | 21,613,177

XX.) Nintendo DSi - 50,700 | 92,461 | 138,461 | 4,389,646
XX.) Nintendo DSi LL - 46,000 | 70,643 | 116,643 | 552,907
XX.) Nintendo DS Lite - 9,200 | 17,388 | 26,588 | 17,856,956

XX.) PlayStation Portable - 143,600 | 132,911 | 276,511 | 13,810,933
XX.) PSP-Go - 2,700 | 3,903 | 6,603 | 78,455

[Stumpokapow]

Boy, I'm stunned. I said to myself "why on earth would PSP be above DS?"

... oh, that's right, the biggest PSP release since MHP2G.

[danielijohnson]

PSPGo-ing down every week.

[schuelma]

So its early, but both Wii and PS3 had better starts to 2010 than Wii 2009 did, which IIRC did 40K on this week last year.

[Nirolak]

If NSMB Wii has extended supply issues, will the used market start to cut into its lifetime sales, or does the used market not tend to effect games like NSMB as much?

[hirokazu]

PSPGo-ing down every week.

Well, given that you can't play the week's huge PSP release on it at all... :P

PS3 is holding well.

[stilgar]

If NSMB Wii has extended supply issues, will the used market start to cut into its lifetime sales, or does the used market not tend to effect games like NSMB as much?

Aren't multiplayer games sales much less hurt by used market (or is it already what you implied)?

[schuelma]

If NSMB Wii has extended supply issues, will the used market start to cut into its lifetime sales, or does the used market not tend to effect games like NSMB as much?

I don't think that is a type of game that gets much of a used market.

[manueldelalas]

What new software with console-bump abilities is coming next?

[donny2112]

What new software with console-bump abilities is coming next?

GT5 (after March sometime)
DQX (not this year)

Edit:
So, does anyone think Nintendo will cut out the middleman and start bundling NSMB with new Wii consoles with a drop in the price for the "core" console?

[Cosmonaut X]

GT5 (after March sometime) DQX (not this year) Edit: So, does anyone think Nintendo will cut out the middleman and start bundling NSMB with new Wii consoles with a drop in the price for the "core" console?

Still say they should look at a nicely-timed run of Famicom Red Wii + NSMB Wii bundles, perhaps some time in February or March to give it a little oomph going into Spring. Tie it into the launch of Super Mario Galaxy 2 and use the success of NSMB Wii to try and drive sales for SMG2 out of the gate with appropriate advertising.

[Segata Sanshiro]

If NSMB Wii has extended supply issues, will the used market start to cut into its lifetime sales, or does the used market not tend to effect games like NSMB as much?

For the most part, Nintendo titles, particularly the ones that manage to catch on with the casuals, don't see much trade-in action. I'd say the impact of the used market on this title is going to be minimal for quite a long time.

[charlequin]

Is there a real difference in quality / marketing between the PSP and DS games, or are they both considered to be of equal importance?

The DS game is clearly a spinoff (no new Disney worlds, covers relatively "minor" events in the storyline) while the PSP game has been, despite it's name, essentially presented as "KH Zero" or a main entry (teaser trailer at the end of KH2, brand-new Disney worlds, major storyline focusing on the origins of KH1 and 2's villains, etc.)

If you asked me I would say that the PSP base has more KH fans than the DS (if for no other reason than that every big KH fan bought a PSP a while back for BbS) but I don't think these two specific games are comparable examples to point to as evidence of that without digging deeper.

I don't think I ever really felt BbS would reach a million. Dissidia didn't, and KH2 is the only game to have gone over a million in Japan and it had a HUGE marketing boost plus being a huge leap over KH in terms of content and presentation. BbS should do about KH1 numbers or better, which will put it at 850-950k LTD imo.

Yeah, this should really be taken as a pretty huge success -- essentially retaining the entire KH1 audience even on the PSP. It completely justifies the decision to create the game on that platform, IMO.

Of course, the Western sales (or rather, the inevitable complete lack thereof) will be an interesting story.

On the other hand, I'm certain that Agito XIII will go over a million, unless the game ends up being some massive fucked up failure. In a fair comparison, the FF brand is certainly stronger than the KH brand, plus the multiplayer aspects of Agito XIII will be much more integrated into the game and story itself, instead of being just a stand alone mode.

Iiiiiinteresting.

[cvxfreak]

Yeah, I'd say Birth by Sleep's Western sales will be the most interesting to follow. The U.S. is a far bigger market for KH than Japan, but the PSP's such a non-factor there.

[Pureauthor]

Wonder if there'll be a Final Mix for BbS.

[Peff]

Yeah, I'd say Birth by Sleep's Western sales will be the most interesting to follow. The U.S. is a far bigger market for KH than Japan, but the PSP's such a non-factor there.

We'll see, I don't think there's any feasible way that it'll do the same numbers as KH or KH2, but if the copy protection remains uncracked it could sell pretty well.

Wonder if there'll be a Final Mix for BbS.

It is possible, but I think the UMD is already filled up so maybe not.

[Stumpokapow]

We'll see, I don't think there's any feasible way that it'll do the same numbers as KH or KH2, but if the copy protection remains uncracked it could sell pretty well.

Which explains why all the 2009H2 US PSP releases bombed completely...

[Pureauthor]

We'll see, I don't think there's any feasible way that it'll do the same numbers as KH or KH2, but if the copy protection remains uncracked it could sell pretty well.

Actually I'm wondering how it does in comparison to 358/2, nevermind KH1 or 2.

[duckroll]

I think sales of Peace Walker and Birth by Sleep in the US will answer the most important PSP question of 2009-2010: Are PSP software sales shit in the US because there are no PSP games released that people actually want to play, or are PSP software sales shit in the US because no one wants to play games on the PSP?

It'll be a pretty interesting analysis either way, and could have very real impact on the future of the PSP or the successor of the PSP in the future, as far as worldwide releases are concerned.

[Meier]

I've never encountered a Japanese speaker in MW2.. any PS3 gamers done so? Pretty impressive sales IMO.

[Peff]

Which explains why all the 2009H2 US PSP releases bombed completely...

Wasn't there like less than a month between the start of UMDs using 5.55 and the release of the corresponding CFW? I think the biggest release before it was out was Dissidia, which wasn't 5.55 in the US, but the rest (Jak, Assassin's Creed) were all playable by release or a few days later.

[duckroll]

I honestly do not believe for a moment that piracy is the main cause of low software sales on the PSP in the US. There are so many more logical explanations which are also stronger factors in determining if people buy a game, as opposed to "well they can pirate it instead". The fact that Japan is the main source of major PSP releases is interesting, because the PSP market in Japan could not be more different from the US market.

As more and more games move towards being multiplayer-centric, with ad-hoc only multiplayer, it gets less and less appealing for a gamer in a country like the US. Basically what makes PSP games sell in Japan, are also what make them fail to succeed in the US. Crisis Core and God of War are two titles I can think of which performed well in the US, and it is not surprising that both are solid entries in a popular franchise and have solid single player campaigns with no reliance on multiplayer.

[Stumpokapow]

Wasn't there like less than a month between the start of UMDs using 5.55 and the release of the corresponding CFW? I think the biggest release before it was out was Dissidia, which wasn't 5.55 in the US, but the rest (Jak, Assassin's Creed) were all playable by release or a few days later.

I think if you're making the argument that software is bombing because somewhere around 50% of PSP owners are hypothetically able to pirate a game a little while after release if they buy or set up a pandora battery and deal with juggling patches and encryption cracks for new UMD releases, that's a lot less of a convincing case than it was a few years ago when it was a matter of 100% of PSP owners being able to download a software patch and then immediately torrent an ISO.

I simply do not buy the argument that in 2009-2010 in the US, PSP software is any more a victim of piracy than any other system on the market. It is the victim of shitty sales, though, as it has always beem.

[Spiegel]

I think sales of Peace Walker and Birth by Sleep in the US will answer the most important PSP question of 2009-2010: Are PSP software sales shit in the US because there are no PSP games released that people actually want to play, or are PSP software sales shit in the US because no one wants to play games on the PSP? It'll be a pretty interesting analysis either way, and could have very real impact on the future of the PSP or the successor of the PSP in the future, as far as worldwide releases are concerned.

What Sony should do:

- PSP-4000 ready to launch with MGS:PW in April
- Drop the price to 119$ (last pricedrop was in early 2007)
- "Kevin Butler"-style ads
- Get S-E to launch KH:BBS shortly after Peace Walker.

Basically repeat the PS3 slim strategy.

You can't revitalize a failing console when:
- Your biggest games are panned by the critics (Gran Turismo and Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines)
- Your console isn't selling and you launch a new model for 249$

As more and more games move towards being multiplayer-centric, with ad-hoc only multiplayer, it gets less and less appealing for a gamer in a country like the US. Basically what makes PSP games sell in Japan, are also what make them fail to succeed in the US. Crisis Core and God of War are two titles I can think of which performed well in the US, and it is not surprising that both are solid entries in a popular franchise and have solid single player campaigns with no reliance on multiplayer.

True.

Developers are so focused on making ad-hoc games because that's what is big in Japan and they forget that if they don't put online, no one in NA/EU will buy those games.

[Chris1964]

Have we done a full circle? PSP software doesn't sell because of piracy?

[Peff]

I think if you're making the argument that software is bombing because somewhere around 50% of PSP owners are hypothetically able to pirate a game a little while after release if they buy or set up a pandora battery and deal with juggling patches and encryption cracks for new UMD releases, that's a lot less of a convincing case than it was a few years ago when it was a matter of 100% of PSP owners being able to download a software patch and then immediately torrent an ISO. I simply do not buy the argument that in 2009-2010 in the US, PSP software is any more a victim of piracy than any other system on the market. It is the victim of shitty sales, though, as it has always beem.

Well, no, actually, my point was that if KH were impossible to play other than by buying it and the protection had remained uncracked since the japanese release more people would be "desperate" enough to purchase it as it is a big franchise, but yeah, it kind of got sidetracked :P Also, by selling pretty well I meant compared to those very releases, so around 500.000 LTD could be considered as such, couldn't it? It's stupid to blame everything on piracy, but there's no doubt it's affecting both handhelds in the US and Europe to some degree.

[Busaiku]

Just out of curiosity, is the used market for New Super Mario Bros Wii substantial or not?
I imagine it wouldn't really matter, since these kinds of games sell well when there's stock, but I just wanna know if it's really hurt by it or not.
Looking at the original New Super Mario Bros, I'd really doubt it, but it would be interesting to know.

[apotema]

Thanks duckroll. Good response. Yes. And it will be for a while. The question is whether NSMB Wii or DQVI will be the #1 game on the 2010 Famitsu Half-Year Chart.

2010 doesn't look too good. Maybe something big will be announced... or maybe Ninokuni will be big