Japanese hardware sales, 7 August - 13 August: fake comments edition
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Aug 18th 2006 at 10:00PM }
The ranking, according to number of units sold:- DS Lite: 196,719
33,147 (20.26%)- PSP: 41,289
8,063 (16.34%)- PS2: 26,547
560 (2.15%)- GBA SP: 3,051
267 (9.59%)- Game Boy Micro: 2,031
103 (5.34%)- Xbox 360: 1,204
185 (13.32%)- Gamecube: 940
36 (3.98%)- DS Phat: 934
225 (19.41%)- GBA: 23
11 (32.35%)- Xbox: 6
8 (57.14%)[Source: Media Create]
1. first post!!! lol
Posted at 10:01PM on Aug 18th 2006 by tention
0 STARS2. I see the DS Lite had a pretty notable increase this week, whereas the DS Phat continues its downward spiral. The PSP also took a bit of a dive. I wonder why?
Posted at 10:03PM on Aug 18th 2006 by fun_read
3 STARS3. Joystiq I don't live in JAPAN! Why do you keep posting these numbers?! Why don't you post American sales, please?
Posted at 10:06PM on Aug 18th 2006 by grogme
0 STARS4. Grogme, the Japanese sales numbers are tracked much more meticulously than the American ones. These charts become available each week, whereas the NPD only published data once a month. Joystiq usually posts NPD information whenever it becomes available.
Posted at 10:11PM on Aug 18th 2006 by heap o' beers
8741 STARS5. Wow. <_< People still buy the Xbox?
Posted at 10:12PM on Aug 18th 2006 by sixpoundsplusgravity
1 STAR6. Gawd, Joystiq is so biased. They put the DS Lite at the top of the list EVERY TIME.
Posted at 10:14PM on Aug 18th 2006 by wiicked
0 STARS7. Ludwig, I know you like to make your posts "wacky" and "sarcastic" or whatever, but this is *ridiculous*. I'm afraid we're gonna have to let you go.
Posted at 10:15PM on Aug 18th 2006 by C. Grant
0 STARS
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Geist @ Aug 18th 2006 10:13PM
HAHAHAHA those comments are spot-on. I almost thought I was reading comments before I had to go "Er, waitaminute. Durr."
Oh damn, what am I saying?
first post!!! lol
Spirit @ Aug 18th 2006 10:14PM
Are the purpose of the fake comments to make me feel sorry for Joystiq because people don't always make positive comments... I thought the fake comments were stupid.
Oh well. I care about Japanese sales.. kinda. I like to see how the consoles are doing everywhere.
Scott @ Aug 18th 2006 10:14PM
first post!!! lol
Jecrell @ Aug 18th 2006 10:16PM
You couldn't stop reading our comment threads if you tried... =)
retro (formerly known as C. Grant) @ Aug 18th 2006 10:19PM
Funniest thing I've heard from you in a while, Ludwig. And that's saying something, since everything you write is funny.
Additionally, you've been let go. Sorry, your "humour" just doesn't fit with our A[OL]ttitude.
Ludwig Kietzmann @ Aug 18th 2006 10:20PM
Spirit, not at all. :) None of those comments are even negative, really. I actually intended for them to answer a question that comes up a lot (American vs. Japanese numbers), provide some commentary on the actual sales and continue some running jokes we've had on the site this week. Don't take it too seriously. ;)
Scott @ Aug 18th 2006 10:21PM
It's missing the comment: OMG Look, the Gamecube continues to outsell the SUXBOX WOOTOMGHAXWTF!!!.
Seriously though, after doing some research the other day, i found nintendo overall won the videogame wars that are just ending:
Gamecube + GBASP + GBMICRO + DS + DSLITE > Ps2 + PSP
So many sony fanboys get on here, thinking they are so tough. They are like OMG SONYRAWKSNINTENDOISTHESUXOR!. Rofl. It makes me laugh sometimes how thick people are. In the previous videogame wars (everything released after the gamecube including the gamecube. Otherwise i would include the orignal GBA), nintendo outsold everything sont and microsoft had put together...easily, and made WAY more profit (in fact they actually DID make a profit, unlike the competitors). I'm not a total ninty fanboy, ima get a ps3 when the price halves (We pay AU$999 for ours even tho the conversion from US$600 works out to be about AU$850 at the most), but my point is, the lamer ps3 fanboys that get on here saying nintendo is a dead company and they are gonna die, maybe now they can realise that nintendo is in MORE of a position to keep making consoles for another 20 years than anyone else.
Spuky @ Aug 18th 2006 10:21PM
six pounds plus gravity...good one
Scott @ Aug 18th 2006 10:23PM
Oh and the fake comments were hilarious, too bad people really get on here and say that rofl. Oh and for all the people who wanna say handhelds dont count in my previous comment...i DID say videogame wars, not console wars. And anyone who says that is a lamer anyway cause they dont like what i had to say, which is the TRUTH.
rhork. @ Aug 18th 2006 10:28PM
"Gawd, Joystiq is so biased. They put the DS Lite at the top of the list EVERY TIME."
Hahaha.
Perhaps it's that extra six pounds [plus gravity, of course] of junk in their trunk that drives their levels of insecurity to such lows where the only way to feel adequate is to fix the japanese hardware sales from week to week.
Shame on you insecure members of the joystiq crew- you cheap, unethical, Bastards. Shame.
1up_clock @ Aug 18th 2006 10:33PM
"Gawd, Joystiq is so biased. They put the DS Lite at the top of the list EVERY TIME."
ZING.
Raynre @ Aug 18th 2006 10:36PM
Thank God for Japan and NTDOY stock. ^_^ Money money more money for me...
ck @ Aug 18th 2006 10:39PM
So the Editor of joystiq has NEGATIVE stars? Are we in some crazy Twilight Zone episode? Or is this Sliders (gotta love the talented combo of John Rhys-Davies and Jerry O'Connell), where I'm in an alternate universe of the internet?
My brain can't take anymore...Please stop the madness!
Scott @ Aug 18th 2006 10:40PM
That is the greatest picture that Joystiq has ever posted with any news...ever.
BPM? @ Aug 18th 2006 10:40PM
I'm gonna miss you, Ludwig. T_T
Seriously, though... Man, GameCube is doing pretty poor. Not as bad as Xbox (of course), but not even 1,000 units were sold...
Maybe people are holding off until Wii is released, since it is FULLY compatable with GameCube (no need to download patches or buy memory card adapters!)?
RP @ Aug 18th 2006 10:42PM
Ludwig, I think we were separated at birth. Funniest posts ever.
Ash @ Aug 18th 2006 10:51PM
The psp going down is actually suprising i think. I thought it was v. v. popular over there....
Ash @ Aug 18th 2006 10:55PM
Also following on from my last comment, i suppose its only good news for nintendo really esp as the ds lite has gone up. that isn't suprising though.
idioteraser @ Aug 18th 2006 11:02PM
PSP is only popular because it is a porno player with porno games including some creepy lolita games to a lot of Japanese. It's also dirt cheap with you often getting five games with the purchase of a psp. Or you have sales where the psp is only nine bucks more then the DS lite.
DS phat is decreasing because it is no longer being made.
They seem to be making more DS lites or shipping more to Japan.
I honestly thing 2.2 Million a month is too little. It's going to be crazy when Christmass hits. The DS lite is becoming more popular outside Japan too.
Russell @ Aug 18th 2006 11:06PM
rofl this is why joystiq is the best.
n8dogg @ Aug 18th 2006 11:18PM
I swear, it seems like idioteraser posts the same message everytime any post brings up the PSP sales in Japan.
I'm still waiting for you to erase yourself.
#7, Yeah, Nintendo is pretty rock solid as a company, although you have to remember that back in their "golden years" they were a pretty evil corporation.
Artificially inflating prices, actively stopping third party games being made without their consent, a rediculous censorship policy, not to mention trying to make a cheap buck off of their intellectual properties at every possible turn. ...All of this which led to Nintendo's literal monopoly on the gaming industry. (Sega die-hards can argue that, but the numbers don't lie. Nintendo won.)
But I guess Sony replaced Nintendo in that aspect now.
n8dogg @ Aug 18th 2006 11:22PM
Oh... and I probably should comment on the actual post, huh? >_<
I see.... pretty much the same thing we've been seeing for quite some time now. DS Lite is killing all, with the PSP still chugging along.
I'm actually impressed that the PSP is at least keeping a presence in the face of Nintendo's iron grip on the handheld market. I still don't have one, but if the price drop rumor turns out to be true, then I know what I'm spending Christmas money on this year. Tekken DR has me drooling like a crazy fanboy...
tention @ Aug 18th 2006 11:29PM
That grogme comment about only caring about the american numbers made me forget about the fake comments for a second. Ah joystiq, you are so funny.
And why pick on me for always being 1st?
Nushio @ Aug 18th 2006 11:34PM
Man, I hope the whole "Letting Ludwig go" is a joke, It'd be a shame if they really did let you go.
n8dogg @ Aug 18th 2006 11:37PM
The internets is a cruel, cruel world, Nushio.
Dr.Swiss @ Aug 18th 2006 11:39PM
Even though I only have Nintendo products, I agree with you, n8dogg.
At least Nintendo is trying to gain third party respect again. Hopefully they learned their lesson.
Car2oon @ Aug 19th 2006 12:02AM
Wow! Now 1/3 of you dont have to write a comment!
T-Bag @ Aug 19th 2006 1:59AM
Seems as if though I missed out on a moment of Joystiq history. Can someone please inform me on what it is I missed out on and what picture everyone is talking about?
Scott @ Aug 19th 2006 2:23AM
T-Bag, we are refering to the picture of the keyboard with the changed keys next to this article..HILARIOUS! I would pay good money for that keyboard.
Adrian @ Aug 19th 2006 4:09AM
I don't get it, week after week, the Xbox 360 either goes down or stays at those low numbers. Didn't Microsoft go through with their whole "Conquer Japan"-plan or are the japanese just precognitive? Are they seeing something that the rest of the world doesn't see? I don't really know where I'm going with this post, because I'm not really a M$-fan and I don't want them to win this generations "battle" but, the Ps2 still outsells the 360.. Is it like that in the rest of the world? I thought Japanese were supposed to go bananas every time new technology is released, yet they're reluctant to buying the 360, does this perhaps have something with nationalism to do? They don't like the 360 because it's American.. But they're lika american culture otherwise.. Ah well, I'm not a Joystiq writer, so perhaps I should stop there :P
Great post, btw, made me laugh sooo hard when I got the joke.. ^^
Oh and N8dogg: You forgot that Nintendo refused to move on to optical formats from cartridges because of their fear of having their games pirated, but in doing so they also made their games inferior to their competitors (Sony).
Paul Gale @ Aug 19th 2006 4:11AM
It’s great to see that New Super Mario Bros. is back at the #1 spot again in Japan. Nintendo has got to be happy with their Italian plumber’s latest efforts all around the world. Also, sure enough, the DS Lite was #1 yet again, and by a lot. Even though the DS Lite continues to sell out each week, at least it appears that Nintendo is being able to ship out more units lately per week, on average. Next week will be important for Nintendo to bust out as many DS units as possible for the launch of Final Fantasy III. Here's hoping we see 350,000 DS units sold next week in Japan. (If Nintendo can release that many, every one of them will sell).
Paul Gale
1up.com
Abe @ Aug 19th 2006 7:05AM
Wow, the Xbox sales are so sad.
I'm going down to Japan and I'm buying 20 Xboxes just to figure out if this data is rigged ;)
Who's with me!
idioteraser @ Aug 19th 2006 8:49AM
Xbox and I think the gamecube are no longer being made. As for the poor 360 sales blame bad marketing, lack of games as well as the Japanese not being impressed with HD games. As for PS2 they break a lot and if people have a game library they of course want the machine to play it.
Yes the PS2 outsells everything else because they do break a lot. Last US sales chart I read said the gamecube outsold the xbox by a four to one margin with about 44,000 gamecubes sold in the US compared to 12,000 xboxes.
DS sales are steadily increasing in the regions outside Japan. It took a year for Japan to get the current 6 to 1 ratio DS lite vs PSP ratio. It's possible that the US and Europe will get that ratio or close to it next year. Already DS games are burning up the charts in the US and Europe.
Reeve @ Aug 19th 2006 8:52AM
Joystiq FTW!
SUPER Duper Mario @ Aug 19th 2006 9:34AM
yea i wanna see the numbers for the USA...
limerick @ Aug 19th 2006 10:15AM
That is the funniest thing ever. :p
:) @ Aug 19th 2006 10:17AM
I dig the pic
Josh @ Aug 19th 2006 10:28AM
Very nice!
Jeff @ Aug 19th 2006 12:48PM
"Didn't Microsoft go through with their whole "Conquer Japan"-plan or are the japanese just precognitive? Are they seeing something that the rest of the world doesn't see? I don't really know where I'm going with this post, because I'm not really a M$-fan and I don't want them to win this generations "battle" but, the Ps2 still outsells the 360.. Is it like that in the rest of the world?"
Yep - in fact, it's like that here in the USA too. The PS2 still outsells the Xbox 360 here. I guess it's all those people replacing "broken PS2's" :)
"I thought Japanese were supposed to go bananas every time new technology is released,"
The Japanese do not go bananas every time new technology is released, first of all. They go bananas every time new technology is released that is either a) useful to them, or b) novel and different. The Xbox 360 is neither of those things. They see it as a step up in power from the original Xbox, which was itself not popular at all. So why would the 360 be any different?
It's also a myth that the Japanese even really care about power - and it's one that MS seems to have wholeheartedly believed before the Xbox and 360 experience based on comments I've seen from them. Technology to them does not mean a fast CPU or a lot of RAM. It means products designed to fit in with their lifestyles and provide functions and features that they want in new and different ways. Hence the popularity of the DS Lite - that's the sort of "new technology" they go bananas over.
It's a totally different way of looking at technology than the way we think about it in the west - although with the excitement over the Wii and DS Lite here too, we may be changing our ways a bit. It's not about incremental upgrades to existing designs, it's about finding ways of doing things better.
It's no surprise to me that the 360 is doing poorly in Japan. I predicted it with the original Xbox and I predicted it with the Xbox 360 (including here), and I got skewered for those predictions both times. You can't just throw marketing money at Japan and expect they'll buy anything. A lot of western products and technology *have* done well there (the iPod, for example), but that's because those products were designed in a way that actually appeals to them and does something that - like the DS Lite - just works better for them than other products in their class.
MS has also had some REALLY bad marketing initiatives in Japan. I don't think it's the main reason why they've done so poorly, but they've really tried some in-your-face western-style marketing there that has just gone over like a lead balloon and turned a lot of people off. Accosting people getting off the train in Makuhari during TGS is one example of that - including commuters, housewives and other random people in their dragnet. That's not going to win you fans in Japan, where people do not like to be bothered going about their daily routines.
striderhayasa @ Aug 19th 2006 12:49PM
@ n8dogg
I bought a PSP just for tekken DR. I ended up buying Wipeout Lumines and Armored Core. PSP is a good portable but it still pales in the face of my DS. Metroid online is crack and Mario Kart should be banned from any place that requires work to be done.
striderhayasa @ Aug 19th 2006 12:52PM
oh , I should make a comment about the topic.
DS lite still owns, 360 still dissapointed, nothing surprising there
Adrian @ Aug 19th 2006 1:52PM
could you guys start posting American sales numbers please!?
akira @ Aug 19th 2006 3:21PM
#30 Adrian,Im Japanese.
Why XBOX360 failed miserably in Japan?
Very simple reason.
Because Japanese women didn't support 360.
In Japan,Japanese men tend to buy hardware which is popular for women.
XBOX360 is totally manly console.
Its mascot is also manly and rugged Master Chief.
Japanese women never like such this console.
I don't care 360 flops in Japan at all.
I enjoy playing Dead Rising(imported).
Full of violence and firearm are attraction of XBOX360.
Adrian @ Aug 19th 2006 4:07PM
Heey, first off, someone stole my name!! xD Comment 42 is not mine =) Guess I'm gonna have to call myself Adrian 2 or something ^^ Thanks for all the answers, from idioteraser, Jeff and especially Akira for lecturing us (me) in japanese culture, I can tell you, that I hadn't expected one of the reasons to be the japanese women deciding which console should be bought! Ah well, broken ps2's are pretty common.. I have one right now and walk around all day trying to come up with a reason to buy one with the impending ps3-launch, and reasons to not buy one, since I need something to game on.. Thanks again for the answers.
idioteraser @ Aug 19th 2006 5:13PM
Japanese women buy the DS for animal crossing, brain training, english training and the cookbook software. Men buy those to of course. But the DS has expanded the gaming market to people who would never have picked up gaming before.
I would buy the cooking software if they ever released it in the USA. It looks well designed and a whole lot better then cooking books. It seems to really teach you the recipe very well with it being like 40-50 steps instead of two or three like with most recipe books. A lot of college guys may buy the software as well if only to try something different then mac and cheese or ramen every night.
Zoë K. @ Aug 19th 2006 9:03PM
Best.
News.
Post.
EVER.
dish @ Aug 20th 2006 12:45AM
why is the GBA SP out selling the Micro?
David @ Aug 20th 2006 1:24AM
About PSP sales - they're currently on sale in Japan. You get a PSP and five games for only $9 more then a DS Lite. All current sales are desperation sales, it's actually dying there.
Japan totals are now:
DS - 10,305,222
PSP - 3,840,320
Worldwide:
DS - Over 22,732,503 confirmed sales
PSP - Around 12,718,031 confirmed sales
So DS has moved to a 10 million lead this week (although it was probably earlier, actually)
http://palgn.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=12180
H-QB @ Aug 20th 2006 2:53AM
Again (and mentioned almost every single week), American hardware sales chart are posted MONTHLY. Japanese hardware sales are posted WEEKLY. Maybe there should be a note about that at the end of every Hardware sales chart article.
Mark @ Aug 20th 2006 4:24AM
Glad to see that the DS Lite is beating the PSP!!