Japanese hardware sales, 17 July - 23 July: bad comparison week

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Jul 28th 2006 at 3:55PM }

The most interesting parts of this week's chart reside at the very top and at the very bottom, much like a decapitated body with Lamborghinis for feet. Nintendo's magical, dual-screened device continues to dominate Japan, raking in the cash like a pickpocket with eight magnetic arms. The ranking, according to number of units sold:

- DS Lite: 262,453

121,595 (86.32%)
- PSP: 35,938

655 (1.86%)
- PS2: 22,288 1,639 (6.85%)
- DS Phat: 6,344 5,477 (46.33%)
- GBA SP: 2,953

334 (12.75%)
- Xbox 360: 1,472

367 (33.21%)
- Game Boy Micro: 1,410 171 (10.82%)
- Gamecube: 1,076

148 (15.95%)
- GBA: 20 8 (28.57%)
- Xbox: 0 10 (100.00%)

It's as clear as Daniel Day-Lewis' acting ability -- while the DS Lite enjoys brisk sales that trump the rest of the chart combined more than three times over, the Xbox finally languishes in the lowest point possible. Its performance in this part of the world may not have been entirely deserved, but it still turned out to be more embarassing than a discus-throwing competition where each disc has been replaced by a custard pie.

(Worst. Comparisons. Ever.)

[Source: Media Create]

Tags: console sales, ConsoleSales, hardware charts, HardwareCharts, Japanese gaming, Japanese hardware sales, JapaneseGaming, JapaneseHardwareSales, sales charts, SalesCharts

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Paul P. @ Jul 28th 2006 4:01PM

Quarter Million... in one country... in one week. That's insane. Now, onto the X-box... LIVE DAMN YOU! LIVE!

reguy @ Jul 28th 2006 4:03PM

dammmmmmmmnnnnnnn they sure do hate themselves some xbox. and dont give me any of that 'no interest for xbox games' line because its tired. no xbox, 0, damn!
Microsoft, i am in your corner, please get out of japan, they are crazy anyway, but they will miss you once they have to pay 17 thousand yen for a ps3 and get a wii that gets old after 4 hours

Eggman @ Jul 28th 2006 4:04PM

lol I would've bought one xbox just to be able to say "i was the only person in Japan to buy an xbox in July".

Wonder if it'd go into the negatives if someone returned a console =P

Bryan @ Jul 28th 2006 4:06PM

Yeah, those similes are pretty rough, Ludwig. :)

Draco @ Jul 28th 2006 4:07PM

I'm waiting anxiously for the next wees report, when they sell 1 x-box and your system sais "DIV/0" or "SYNTAX ERROR" or something :D maybe you will write "^ infinit" or something

Premaximum @ Jul 28th 2006 4:16PM

I'm going to laugh my ass off next week when Xbox "sells" one unit, but it breaks and gets returned, and they refund the price as well as replace the XBox. Seeing a -1 XBox sale would rule...

Ubersnuber @ Jul 28th 2006 4:24PM

lol, the 360 has finally got passed the micro!
in a couple of century's, maybe it will get to top 3 xDD

Clintt @ Jul 28th 2006 4:29PM

Maybe they could send those Xbox 360s to a desert and bury them with those E.T. cartridges! That would be funny!

cringer8 @ Jul 28th 2006 4:30PM

Huh...Nintendo should release a new color over there every week. People will have a DS Lite to go with each outfit.

Loque @ Jul 28th 2006 4:31PM

You released a new, pink version of japanese crack. Of course sales went WAY up.

PhoenixGeek @ Jul 28th 2006 4:45PM

Apparently Nintendo was able to produce about 120,000 Pink DS Lites for launch, since I doube they'll be able to keep up with that sort of production we'll probably see a close to 50% drop in sales for next week.

Pip @ Jul 28th 2006 4:56PM

I wish the Japanese would come around to the 360. It really is a decent system. I would put it on par with my DS as to how amazing it is.

Oh well, maybe word of mouth will finally get it going a year later. Or not.

Jeff @ Jul 28th 2006 5:05PM

Clearly, all the DS Lite buying this week was to celebrate "Ocean's Day".

vaylen @ Jul 28th 2006 5:49PM

So xbox was tied for last with the CD-i, Jaguar, Virtua-Boy, Saturn, Atari 7800 and the Apple Pippen?

I think when you hit zero, you probably shouldn't be on the list.

32_footsteps @ Jul 28th 2006 5:58PM

Did that many people really hold off on buying a DS so they could get the pink one? Or did something just come out in Japan that was the next "must-have" title?

Ivan Lubiano @ Jul 28th 2006 6:02PM

If these numbers tell us anything apart from the usual, it's the the PSP is not dying. Nowhere near dead. Sure, it is definitely overshadowed by the DS, but for it's own, it is doing modestly. If anything is dead or dying, it's UMD movies, but the PSP itself is not dead or dying.

Sean Jones @ Jul 28th 2006 6:13PM

If the Xbox sells a single unit next week, it will have the biggest percentage rise ever. Id go for a piece of infinity%

BPM? @ Jul 28th 2006 6:33PM

Wow, that's depressing. Not even a single Xbox sold that week for all of Japan.

And, sheesh, DS Lite sales nearly DOUBLED! I wonder if the same would happen here if NOA would actually release more colors (I haven't gotten a DS Lite yet because I REALLY want Enamel Navy).

ramuji @ Jul 28th 2006 7:24PM

"...pay 17 thousand yen for a ps3 ..."

17,000 yen for a ps3? Even I would get one at that price. Tripling that number will get you much closer to what the actual selling price will be.

"... did something just come out in Japan that was the next "must-have" title?"

Here are some of the DS releases in Japan around 17 July to 23 July:

13 July: Project Hacker (playing that one now myself)
Naruto RPG3
20 July: DS Cooking Navigator
Crash Bandicoot Festival
Touch! Bomberman Land
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
24 July: Nintendo DS Browser
27 July: Mario Basketball 3 on 3
Life DS
some Tamagotchi game

skyrous @ Jul 28th 2006 7:38PM

This was all part of microsofts plan. if they sell any xbox's next week that's an inifinite percent increase. percentage wise they'll be right back in the game.

All microsoft needs is a couple of good anime rpgs and some majong games and they can easily crack the japanese market.

kay @ Jul 28th 2006 7:56PM

why not also mention that the 360 has had a 33% increase in sales? seems to me that the japanese that dont like xbox in general are realizing its better to just buy the new system rather than the old.

o well. i guess this is just about bashing xbox sales and laughing at MS. :) carry on as you wish.

cringer8 @ Jul 28th 2006 8:10PM

If Nintendo released a "Taxicab Yellow" DS Lite in the States tomorrow, I'd buy a second one.

(Are you reading this, Nintendo-decision-making-person?)

idioteraser @ Jul 28th 2006 9:01PM

They just had a bigger shipment this week to announce the pink color. Each week the ds lite sells out in just a day or two.

Eric @ Jul 28th 2006 10:24PM

I agree with whoever said it, I'd buy one Xbox in Japan just to be the only one to buy it in the entire week. It would make me feel part of the elite few or something! :)

JPRacer @ Jul 28th 2006 10:38PM

Why people care so much about Japanese sales? I live in Canada and I really don't care about sales in Japan.

Japan is so different from the rest of the world, this country should not be use as a reference for videogame trends.

The DS is on the decline! (Aran) @ Jul 29th 2006 4:02AM

33. "I see the DS outselling the PSP by about 5 to 1 there, bub."

Yeah, but the PSP is out-selling everything else, including consoles... So, "bub", the PSP is selling very well, and the trend (10%+) is pointing up... the DS is on the decline.

Posted at 10:50AM on Jul 22nd 2006 by darryl 0 stars

---

The PSP is selling very well? Compared to what? DS Phat? Seriously, don't even start comparing PSP sales with DS Lite sales 'cause you'll be sad then.

The DS is on the decline? There are numerous A-AAA titles coming out for DS and the Pink DS Lite release in Japan was a huge success, so as I assume you are a Sony-fan I hope you won't be looking next week's sales numbers because it won't be pretty.

Posted at 6:12PM on Jul 22nd 2006 by Aran 0 stars

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/21/japanese-hardware-sales-10-july-16-july-rapid-weight-gain/2#comments

Remember this one DARRYL? I just wanted to rub it in your face.

Greg @ Jul 29th 2006 7:41AM

Yes why DO you people care so much what japan is doing, it doesnt help you any. Im starting to think that most Joystiq readers are flunkies. Only buy buying stuff that someone else had to tell them it was ok to buy

Jay @ Jul 29th 2006 10:49AM

reguy played a Wii for four hours?! WHERE?!

oh thats right. you haven't. You're a troll ^^;

docLEXfisti @ Jul 30th 2006 2:07AM

I hope next week will be different 360ically, cuz BulletWitch got released yesterday

greetz

benzito @ Jul 30th 2006 5:38AM

Hi guys....
I just post my feeling at the moment...and its against the global mood on the net.
DS Lite is leading, thats a fact, and i have one, thats another fact. But let me tell you that i am enjoying it sooo much less that my psp. I had every gameboy out there except the original ds and the micro...and my feeling is that people that never had a GBA are now buying DS, thats it. I have no hard feeling against the DS, but it feels like the GBA big time. OKOK you gonna tell me all the functions are great like the stylus, but sorry, so far none of the special features games had convinced me...i am playing partners in time, wich is exactly similar to a gameboy game, and mario DS, Except some details, feels exactly like the N64 version...with a very lousy control.

And dont bring other names, i tested them all:
Castelvania, only better graphics...the magic thing, lousy
new super mario, excelent graphic for this support, but feels like already played
Warioware, so much less fun than the gba one, and finnished in an afternoon
and the list is long
Metroid, great feel, but damn its ugly...welcome back to quake one

I actualy dont understand this frenetic passion for the DSlite, i like it, but nothing more than my old gba ( RIP ). Maybe some games are coming, but so far i am almost forcing myself to finish one.

And YES, i am super happy to find back some games like valkyrie profile, or locoroco, and legend of heroes 2 on PSP, there are so much more amazing and deep.

Sorry to be that much of a kill joy, but this is my feeling...

Thanks for reading