14 DAY TRIAL // The latest figures from Japan are in, showing the evolution of hardware and software sales on the insular and atypical market.
Sages have been trying to crack the Land of the Rising Sun for years, to no avail. Japan is impervious to traditional console entertainment, and it has managed to create products so unique that people all around the world use Japanese words to describe them.
If the United States made everyone wear Jeans and listen to bad and lazy rap music, Japan made everyone dress up like a schoolgirl, read manga and wish for anthropomorphic pets. Also, secretly desire to be a ninja, but without all those painful and monotonous years of training.
Software sales
The number one spot belongs to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, with 227k sales registered during the December 1 to December 7 period. Pokemon Omega Ruby and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire come in second with 171k units sold between them, taking the grand total to 1.8 million units.
We find new entries in the top at spots 3 and 4, in the form of Derby Stalling Gold and Aikatsu! 365-Hi no Idol Days, both 3DS titles.
The number 5 spot sees Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS still going strong, with a total of 1.8 million units sold since its release.
Guilty Gear Xrd: Sign manages to snag number 6 on the PS3 and number 16 on the PS4, and Samurai Warriors: Chronicles 3, Attack on Titan: The Last Wings of Mankind – Chain also manage to get into the top during their release week.
We also see The Crew on PS4 and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Dubbed Edition on PS3 and PS4 show up in the top 20.
Hardware sales
As usual, the chart is dominated by the Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming console, showing a spike since last week, managing to sell 145k units, according to Media Create sales information.
The Wii U doubled last week's performance, with a total of 24k consoles sold due to the launch of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
The PlayStation Vita is showing a resurgence, with 23k units sold this week, a lower number than last week's performance but still more than what the handheld sold in recent months.
The PlayStation 4 is at a somewhat steady 15k units, and the Xbox One only managed to attract 790 customers. This brings the totals this year to over 800k for Sony's last-gen console and at around 40k for Microsoft's.
Overall, sales are on a steady downward trajectory when compared to last year's figures for week 49, which are almost 10 percent higher than this week's.
