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The Japan Preview: 2/10/08 Edition (Smash & DMC4: Legs that won't quit)
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Submitted on: 02/11/08, 02:07 Submit to:
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Jacob Mazel
2/10/08
Summary:
After debuting to sales near the low end of the given range last week (about 800-840k depending on the source), Super Smash Brothers Brawl quickly climbed to over 1.2 million units sold this week. Devil May Cry 4 debuted at about 210k last week, and is quickly closing in on 300k lifetime. If these two titles continue to sell at rates of 30-50% of the previous week for the next few weeks then the titles should continue selling strongly through Golden Week.
Key Points:
- There were no major debuts this week. Smash Brothers was easily the top selling title for the week and has become one of Wii’s million selling titles in Japan. Devil May Cry 4 is already one of the top selling PS3 titles in Japan, and has a shot at overtaking the top position.
- Unlike many previous weeks, there were many Wii and PS3 titles in the preliminary data. However, no Xbox 360 titles were in the preliminary data.
- DS and PSP continue to sell comparable amounts of software in the preliminary top twenty.
Understanding the Japanese Preview:
Rather than saying x game for y platform sold between 20,000 and 28,000 units as in the past, from this point forward, the preliminary data will be broken down into charts by platform. Within these charts, there will two additional categories besides the rounded sales figure under ‘sales’. On the left will be ‘low end’ depicting the lowest amount the title likely sold for the week, while to the right will be ‘high end’ depicting the highest amount the title likely sold for the week. As always, this data is preliminary, and therefore, not final, but it is based on a sample. Sales for this report are for the week ending February 10, 2008.
Software by Platform Breakdown:
Wii Software – On the strength of Smash Brothers sales, older Wii titles returned to the preliminary data. After missing the top twenty last week, Wii Fit, Wii Sports, and Wii Play were back. The real story is the ongoing success of Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Brawl sold about 450,000 units in its second week of availability – jettisoning the game to almost the same level of lifetime sales as Wii Fit, in far less time. Long term though, it is probably unlikely that Brawl will outsell Wii Sports (2800k already), Wii Play (2226k), or even Wii Fit (1350k). Eventually, sales for Wii should reach a leveling off point in Japan, although it remains to be seen whether that will be at 50,000, 60,000, or 70,000 units. For this week, expect Wii hardware sales to be 88,000 to 95,000 on the continuing strength of Smash Brothers sales.
Preliminary Top Twenty Wii Software
Sales
Low End
High End
Super Smash Brothers Brawl
454,000
410,000
500,000
Wii Fit
50,000
45,000
55,000
Wii Sports
24,000
21,000
27,000
Wii Play
17,000
15,000
19,000
PS3 Software – Devil May Cry 4 had a solid second week, selling near 80,000 units. Next week, the title will pass 300,000 units lifetime, cementing it as one of the top three selling PS3 titles in Japan for weeks or months. Assassin’s Creed and Desgaea 3 sales were in the low five digit range this week after decent debuts the previous week. After the impact of Devil May Cry 4 has worn off, sales for PS3 will hit their natural plateau – though it remains to be seen whether that level will be 15,000, 20,000 or 25,000. Expect PS3 hardware sales this week to remain in the 30,000 to 36,000 range.
Preliminary Top Twenty PS3 Software
Sales
Low End
High End
Devil May Cry 4
77,000
70,000
84,000
Assassin's Creed
19,000
17,000
21,000
Desgaea 3
11,000
9,000
13,000
Xbox 360 Software – No Xbox 360 titles were in the preliminary data this week. Expect Xbox 360 hardware to decline to the 3,000 to 5,000 unit range this week.
PS2 Software – PS2 software returned to normal levels after the boost from the special edition Tales game released last week. Over the course of the year, the number of PS2 software selling over 10,000 units a week should decline steadily. For this week, only Tales of Destiny sold over 15,000 units. PS2 hardware sales should be down slightly to 10,000 to 12,000 units this week.
Preliminary Top Twenty PS2 Software
Sales
Low End
High End
Tales of Destiny - Director's Cut - Ltd. Edition
17,000
15,000
19,000
Liang Palace Haruhi Door Ltd. Edition
8,000
6,000
10,000
Yakuza 2 the best
8,000
6,000
10,000
PSP Software – Giren’s Ambition sold nearly 80,000 in its debut. The game was easily the top selling PSP title for the week. Other PSP titles in the preliminary data sold between 10,000 and 15,000 units. Monster Hunter Portable 2 sold another 13,000 this week, while Winning Eleven sold 15,000 units. With the release of Giren’s Ambition, PSP sold roughly as many units of software (or at least top software) as the DS did for the week. Expect PSP hardware sales to dip to 63,000 to 68,000 units this week.
Preliminary Top Twenty PSP Software
Sales
Low End
High End
Giren's Ambition: Threat of Axis (PSP)
77,000
70,000
84,000
Winning Eleven: Ubiquitous Evolution 2008 (PSP)
15,000
13,000
17,000
Monster Hunter Portable 2 (PSP)
13,000
11,000
15,000
DS Software – DS had seven titles in the preliminary data, the most of any platform. However, the top title for the week sold fewer than 25,000 units. Nonetheless, a solid five titles sold in the five digit range for the week, with two others nearly doing so. Over 100,000 units of DS software were sold between these seven titles. Interestingly, the majority of the titles to sell well on DS in recent weeks have been from third parties, which is likely part of the reason for the DS hardware slow down (although saturation is a factor as well). Expect DS hardware to remain in the 65,000 to 70,000 unit range.
Preliminary Top Twenty DS Software Sales Low End High End
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games 23,000 19,000 27,000
KUE silver coin, chain & soul has to save the world 19,000 17,000 21,000
DS Drum Master - remastered 19,000 17,000 21,000
Mario Party DS 16,000 14,000 18,000
Dragon Quest IV 12,000 10,000 14,000
Dorabesu DS Doraemon Super Baseball Gaiden 9,000 7,000 11,000
L the prologue to Death Note 9,000 7,000 11,000
Contact Vgchartz at jmazel@vgchartz.com
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