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Famitsu: “We Support Xbox 360” (American Gamer in Japan 4)
By Heath | April 24, 2010 at 3:57 am
Where I come from, the Xbox 360 is riding pretty high. But where I am now, it’s the total opposite.
In recent issues, Famitsu has begun publishing pages that declare, “We Support Xbox 360.” I’m not sure why the section is titled such, but knowing how the 360’s console and software sales are doing in Japan…well…that…might be the reason. The scans below in the center and on the right show examples of the section, while the one on the left side is a scan of Borderlands, which came out in Japan for PC in December and in February on the 360. Neither version made much of a splash.
The 360 did get somewhat of a nice boost with the No More Heroes remake cracking the top 10 in sales last week. As with almost every multiplatform game in Japan, its PS3 version outsold it, but in this case, the gap was not nearly as big as it had been with titles like Fist of the North Star and Resonance of Fate; it was only outsold by about 1,000 copies, whereas the other two aforementioned titles’ PS3 versions were outselling their 360 counterparts by margins of like 11 to 1.
It’ll be interesting to see how the multiplatform RPG NieR does on the market, since in Japan, each console got a different version of the game, whereas North America got the same game on both 360 and PS3.
The Media Create console sales data for the last week reads like this:
PSP 28,635
PS3 25,590
Wii 24,344
DSi LL 17,146
DSi 11,240
DS Lite 2,869
Xbox 360 2,442
PSP go 1,915
PS2 1,531
Still on the topic of Famitsu, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker recently got a perfect 40/40 score from the magazine. Since the magazine actually appears as an in-game item, there has been some criticism going around, and broad questioning of the credibility of Famitsu’s review scores. Um, yeah? I love how people think this is a shock. “Gasp! Famitsu reviews are total BS!?” This is not new news. We’ve been saying that for a while. (Another, more recent example here.) Alas, for these past years our words have been falling on deaf ears. Well hey, now maybe people won’t be surprised all over again next time something asinine comes out of Famitsu’s review section.
On a more lighthearted note, the Dragon Quest-themed bar Luida’s got a menu update. Going from left to right below are the Medal pizzas, slime curry-man (a type of dumpling), Momon tiramisu, and the new Bunicorn carbonara. They became available to anyone taking a break from their daily grind this week.
And here are the highlights of the new drinks. The first drink below is either called the Mahyado Blue or Mahyado Brew. It could go either way. They’re followed by Ryan’s Ginger Ale Highball and the House Wine.
I’m still chipping away at Valkyria Chronicles 2, and Yakuza 3 (in English) finally came yesterday. I fear the latter might take an inordinate amount of time, as news of the content removal from Japanese to English version kinda makes me wonder if the JP version is any better. Might just have to play it twice…unless it sucks. I watched the story catchup segments and appreciate the detail covered therein; sounds kickass and I can’t wait to really get into it.
One thing that made me mad in Valkyria Chronicles 2 was how it tried to like, have a serious story moment at the end of June. It spent something like 35 hours being about high school kids playing grabass and playing up anime stereotypes, and then suddenly it wants me to take these clowns seriously? No sale. It ain’t over till it’s over, but so far, this game is hands-down inferior to its predecessor in almost every way, which is really sad. It’s not bad, mind you–not at all. Quite good, overall. But don’t expect the same caliber experience that Sega brought you in 2008.
So there’s that. Thanks so much for reading. Feel free to send in an email or hit me up on RPG Land’s Twit thing or Faceblog. See you next time!
-Heath
Topics: American Gamer in Japan, Borderlands