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Famitsu software sales figures + analysis (4/12 – 4/18)

By Heath | April 21, 2010 at 8:40 am

Overall, it’s a slow time for sales. Not a lot of software is moving in Japan right now, which makes the figures shown by games like Fist of the North Star, Tomodachi Collection, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and Yakuza 4 during these recent times all the more impressive.

1. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
2.  Pro Yakyuu Spirits 2010 (PSP)
3. Tomodachi Collection (DS)
4.  Pokémon Ranger: Path of Light (DS)
5. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 2010 (PS3)
6. Wii Fit Plus (Wii)
7.  Fist of the North Star (PS3)
8. No More heroes: Hero’s Paradise (PS3)
9. No More heroes: Hero’s Paradise (360)
10. Mario Kart Wii (WTF?)

I was devestated to discover that no educational games broke into the top 10 this week, especially “Mari & Gari Let’s Science.” I bought 5 copies. Apparently that represents half the sales.

Atelier Judie (PSP) Spent just one short week in the top 10 and this week bids it adieu. The PSP port of the PS2 game was reviewed slightly lower than what the Atelier series is accustomed to getting from Famitsu.

No joke, motherloving EVERYbody in one of my classes today (10 kids ages 10-13) had a copy of New Super Mario Bros. Wii.  I think there are more copies of this game in Japan than there are weeaboos in America.

No More Heroes: Eiyuutachi no Rakuen, a PS3/360 re-release hit this week. The PS3 version is outselling the 360 version, as expected.  This game is the only first-timer on the list.  Normally, cracking the top 10 is pretty tough, but I guess they picked a good release time, because all the high profile releases are waiting for the latter half of this month, so the competition is thinned a little bit.

Yakuza 4 also said goodbye this week, after a great run. We’ll see it hanging around in the top 50 for quite some time.  Same goes for Etrian Odyssey III, which didn’t hit Yakuza‘s level of success, but still performed awesomely.

Pro Yakyuu Spirits 2010 continue to move as a duo, continually changing positions with each other as to which is selling slightly more than the other. They’ve gone back and forth a lot, but this week shows the PSP version hitting #2 and the PS3 version sitting in #5.

I don’t understand how Wii Fit Plus is selling so hot…still.It actually moved up from last week, as did Tomodachi Collection, but the latter has a social component so I like, at least kind of GET that.  I’ll save my rant though.

AND OUT OF NOWHERE, MARIO KART WII!  I was about as stunned as this as I was by all those blue shells my wife would pelt me with when we played some Double Dash back in the day.

Next week should be interesting for RPG fans, as two version of NieR will be out in Japan and going head to head, as well as Atlus’s Tokyo Mono Hara Shi (PSP) and Falcom’s Ys: Oath of Felghana (PSP).

Topics: Industry