14 DAY TRIAL // The Japanese video game market has managed to see an increase during the first six months of the year when compared to the same period in 2011, which is a surprise given the decline that has been seen on the North American market during the same period.
According to data coming from the magazine Famitsu and the tracking firm Enterbrain, total hardware and software sales between December 26 and June 24 has increased by 0.7 percent when compared to last year, with the overall value reaching no less than 193.4 billion Yen (2.42 billion dollars) coming from 191.8 billion Yen (2.40 billion dollars).
When it comes to hardware, the clear leader for the period was the Nintendo 3DS handheld, which has managed to move 2,219,548 units to gamers, reaching a lifetime total of 6,355,287, which is impressive given the sluggish shard of the platform.
The PlayStation 3 has managed to take second place for the six-month period, with 695,465 in sales, while the older version of the PlayStation Portable is in the last place of the podium with 500,333.
The problems that the new Vita has been facing can be seen in its six-month total, which has only reached 353,657 and another troubled device, the Nintendo Wii, comes next with sales of 265,578 units.
The Xbox 360 has managed to sell just 33,809 in Japan.
Despite just being launched during late June, Pokemon Black & White 2 for the normal DS has managed to be the best selling title of the year so far in Japan, managing to move 1,618,621 copies so far.
Second place has gone to One Piece Pirate Warriors from Namco Bandai for the PlayStation 3, which has a lifetime total of 806,578 units until now.
The rest of the top ten includes: Dragon Quest Monsters Terry’s Wonderland 3D for the 3DS - 743,967; Mario Kart 7 for the 3DS - 665,573 and Monster Hunter 3 G for the 3DS - 665,394.