Pretty sure those characters above All Star After Secret say “LOL Mario Party who?”
Have a look at this Japanese video game sales data from the week of March 9th:
- (PS3) Yakuza 0 – 145,823
- (PS4) Yakuza 0 – 90,506
- (PSV) Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth – 76,760
- (PSP) Uta no Prince-sama: All Star After Secret – 67,237
- (WIU) Mario Party 10 – 50,212
- (PS3) Dragon Quest Heroes – 33,448
- (3DS) Assassination Classroom – 25,494
- (3DS) The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D – 15,941
- (PS4) Dragon Quest Heroes – 14,744
- (PSV) Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 6 – 13,601
- (3DS) Yo-Kai Watch 2: Shinuchi – 11,701
- (3DS) Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire – 10,768
- (PSV) God Eater 2 Rage Burst – 10,406
- (PSV) Higurashi: When They Cry – 9,879
- (3DS) Super Smash Bros. for 3DS – 6,965
- (PS3) Winning Post 8 2015 – 6,943
- (3DS) Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate – 6,100
- (3DS) LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins – 5,993
- (PSV) Winning Post 8 2015 – 5,933
- (PSV) Samurai Warriors 4-II – 5,729
See anything funny there? Perhaps first you may have noticed that handhelds are actively and mercilessly dominating the Japanese market. Also, not one Xbox title is present in the top twenty. The main concern here is that a PLAYSTATION PORTABLE (you know, PSP…from 2005) title took the number four spot from Mario Party 10 on Wii U.
This says a couple things. First is that the Wii U may be running out of steam in Japan. Second is that Mario Party may also be getting stale. After ten iterations, a game like Mario Party probably struggles to continually capture the minds of the masses. The latter of these may not have been surprising, if it were not for the fact that a PSP title managed to best it in the charts.
One thing’s for sure, the chart alludes to the ongoing staying power of the PlayStation 4, with two software titles in the top ten, despite having to battle previous-generation versions and handheld bias that Japan is known for.
Before you go, here’s a quick look at the hardware sales for that week as well:
- PS4 – 33,826
- Vita – 20,103
- New 3DS LL – 19,668
- PS3 – 7,221
- New 3DS – 7,164
- Wii U – 7,054
- 3DS – 2,666
- 3DS LL – 2,590
- Vita TV – 688
- Xbox One – 307
Poor Xbox.
Thanks to Crave’s Game Revolution for the update from Japan.