Japanese hardware sales, 21 August - 27 August: dear diary edition

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Sep 1st 2006 at 7:30PM }

1 September, 2006

Dear Diary,

Today Joystiq posted the Japanese hardware sales charts and, oh em gee, it was so crazy. My Nintendo was at the very top and the only other thing that had a green arrow was that big Xbox. Totally weird. I can't wait to show my friend Allan the numbers. He has one, but he only got it because of that game where the girls punch each other in bikinis. He's such a pervert, but I'm glad he's been hanging out with me every day since last week. We've been listening to Ayumi Hamasaki non-stop, I'm surprised he hasn't complained.

I have to feed the hamster.

Oh, and here's the ranking, according to number of units that have totally been sold:

- DS Lite: 163,274

88,779 (119.17%)
- PSP: 29,945 11,590 (27.90%)
- PS2: 21,829 5,004 (18.65%)
- GBA SP: 2,719 1,104 (28.88%)
- Game Boy Micro: 1,819 447 (19.73%)
- Xbox 360: 1,197 296 (19.83%)
- Gamecube: 837 85 (9.22%)
- DS Phat: 410 302 (42.42%)
- GBA: 14 6 (30.00%)
- Xbox: 12

5 (71.43%)

[Source: Media Create]

Previous diary entries follow in the second part of the post.

31 August, 2006

Dear Diary,

Sometimes, I like it when Allan's this quiet. He looks so peaceful sitting in the corner of my room, without moving and without playing those silly pranks. It's good to have a friend that won't ever just leave you. He smells funny, though.

I read on Joystiq that there's a pink PSP coming out. It's like they read my mind! It's not because there haven't been any games I'm interested in or anything like that. I just refuse to play games on a machine that's not pretty. I would never have played Brain Training if it wasn't for the Pink Nintendo.

Reminder: Joystiq posting sales numbers tomorrow!

27 August, 2006

Dear Diary,

My Nintendog is so stupid. I keep telling him to sit down but he just won't listen. Even my Aibo was more obedient before I accidentally trampled him in a furious session of DDR (MAXX Unlimited on Heavy). I'm just going to let him starve and become a little pile of bones. It's not like he's real or anything.

It looks like Allan just nodded (he's still visiting!) so I guess he agrees.

25 August, 2006

Dear Diary,

I was so mad today. I came home from school and I saw Allan playing with my Nintendo. You know what he did? He erased my Final Fantasy III save! I had 99 elixirs and level 42 characters! So I took my old Nintendo (the phat one) and beat him to death with it. I'm just going to let him slump in the corner of my room until I'm done with the game.

I have to feed the hamster.

24 August, 2006

Dear Diary,

What a day! I stood in a line for 6 hours to get Final Fantasy III for the DS. My friend Allan came with me, but I noticed that almost all of the people in my class came to get a copy. I saw Ayumi somewhere behind me in the line. I think she has a PSP and she's probably just copying me (again!). Anyway, I'm going to play the game now. I hope it's good!

Tags: DS Lite, DsLite, hardware charts, hardware sales, HardwareCharts, HardwareSales, Japan, japanese charts, Japanese hardware sales, JapaneseCharts, JapaneseHardwareSales

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

marcin @ Sep 1st 2006 7:34PM

Wii is so gonna own PS3 in Japan.

Alkaiser @ Sep 1st 2006 7:35PM

"Ayumi Hamasake"

Hamasaki.

Unless part of your act was to be spelling things wrong.

Dansk @ Sep 1st 2006 8:21PM

XD @ post

Zorak @ Sep 1st 2006 7:40PM

I wish Ludwig did more blogging here at Joystiq - his posts are always the best.

Nushio @ Sep 1st 2006 7:46PM

I'm with Zorak on this. I love it when Ludwig posts stuff.

Kayzai @ Sep 1st 2006 7:46PM

This is just crazy!!!

I really feel for PSP marketing team. Imagine them seeing this chart.

What ever happened to Locco roco an Tekken??? Were they not supposed to be the games to shift PSPs in Japan???

Let's not even mention the 360

karelian @ Sep 1st 2006 7:49PM

The concept of reporting Japanese game sales through a series of vignettes portraying the mental deterioration of a psychotic Tokyo teen intrigues me.

Raynre @ Sep 1st 2006 8:04PM

Hilarious. I love the pattern to your post.

"Allen's still here, hes in the corner asleep. He needs a bath."
"Allen is still here from yesterday."
"I murdered Allen today. He was bugging me."

Genius. XD

Also, the DSLite continues to enslave the minds of the Japanese culture while the XBox 360 slowly but surely rots away into a moldy pile of cheap plastic and fried circuitboards.

Its like they hate America or something.

BPM? @ Sep 1st 2006 8:03PM

God, I love you, Ludwig.

And not in THAT way.... I think.... I hope...

Jufafs @ Sep 1st 2006 8:12PM

Dear Ludwig,

You have, like, totally the awesomest posts on joystiq.

Hugs and Kisses,

Martin

Tim @ Sep 1st 2006 8:13PM

The gap between the DS Lite and everyone else seems like it is only going to get bigger between now and November...

www.itradevideogames.com

edgefusion @ Sep 1st 2006 8:58PM

Your post was awesome, but naming Ayu in vain will buy you hell.
Ayu is NOT for otaku wannabees, so stay off her you losers!

Paul Gale @ Sep 1st 2006 9:24PM

Add up all of the non DS Lite platforms and the sales still aren't as high as Nintendo's newest handheld. Man, this thing's doing fantastic and I bet it'll only do better this Fall once the Pokemon games come out for DS.
Paul Gale
1up.com

Andrew Yoon @ Sep 1st 2006 9:29PM

That was one of the scariest numbers reports I've ever read. Keep them coming.

GSI @ Sep 1st 2006 9:29PM

Pokemon games...Powered by GameSpy

^_^

gamer9190 @ Sep 1st 2006 9:48PM

...I love the creativity for a blog site. Y'all need more writers like Ludwig. Who don't write just news posts, but creative passages. >_>;

Mark @ Sep 1st 2006 9:53PM

This is disturbing.

DownloadingData @ Sep 1st 2006 10:09PM

Well, according to gaf. The dramatic increase in DS figures was due to stock being replenished.

alienclay @ Sep 1st 2006 10:16PM

maybe this is the begining.... of the end.
the first horseman of expectation driving down sales prior to the launch of two highly anticipated consoles.
only 2 and a half moon cycles to go. can you hold your breath?

Pedro Van Faulk @ Sep 1st 2006 10:25PM

@Kayzai

Loco Roco WAS supposed to get people to want the PSP in Japan, but the Japanese hated it. Having played it I can understand why. It fells more like a minigame in another game than a game itself.

edwin @ Sep 1st 2006 10:36PM

Nintendo DS keeps dominating the charts, beats PSP 5:1 Anyone got idea where that 20 million PSPs sold/shipped number come from? As far as I know, DS beats PSP in almost every country in the world, so why the hell SONY claimed 20 million PSP while Nintendo DS only 21 million?

H-QB @ Sep 1st 2006 10:46PM

@ Edwin (#21)

Its the same as when Sony said the PS2 could push thousands upon millions of polygons without any effects and filters on

whilst...

Nintedo said the GCN could only push several million polygons, but thats with all the effects and lighting etc on.

Can you see the difference in claims? lol

Pedro Van Faulk @ Sep 1st 2006 11:40PM

The 20 million PSP sold comes from Sony. It's supposed to make us think that the PSP is neck and neck with the DS. In fact, the PSP has sold fewer than 14 million (and that is assuming that it does equal to the DS in territories where we have no data on it. In reality, it sells less than the DS in every territory. IN short? Sony Fudged the numbers.

Bryce @ Sep 1st 2006 10:46PM

@edwin

Sony releases "shipped" units to stores. Nintendo releases "sold" units, meaning costumers who actually bought a system.

Sean @ Sep 2nd 2006 1:11AM

You missed the big news. The big news is on the software side.

The DS swept the top 10 last week in Japan. That's right, every game on the Top 10 was a DS title.

EP @ Sep 2nd 2006 1:28AM

Imagine the sales figures when Zelda: PH comes out. F@kin' A!

Bill @ Sep 2nd 2006 1:33AM

GAF claimed DS was going to sell 400,000 this week due to FF3.

Whoops. JUST a bit outside, to qoute Major Leagues.

Lol, 237,000 short.

Next week I expect DS to take a huge fall again without FF3 propping it up.

At any rate, these are interesting figures from the worlds smallest game market-Japan.

I was looking at population figures the other day and noticed that America has around 300 million people while Japan has just 128 million. So USA market is nearly three times as large. And considering Japan is aging fast because of a low birth rate, Id say it might really be more like 4 times.

T-Bag @ Sep 2nd 2006 2:15AM

I usually just ignore the paragraphs above the statistics because I think they're just space fillers, but boy was I wrong! Ludwig, to put it frank, you are a god. That was by far the greatest gay thing I've ever read in my life. You even beat the Myspace emo poems (That's very hard to do). True comedy gold! someone give that man a crown!

DocR @ Sep 2nd 2006 2:59AM

@ Bill,

128 million is closer to half as many people as in the US, not a third. Also, the overall number of sales in Japan ranks it as a highly important market (i.e. gaming is more mainstream than in the US).

Oh and Japan is very important on another side: many high selling third party developers are Japanese. Success for a console in Japan means support from these third parties.

And it's absolutely laughable for you to talk about the DS taking a "major fall" without "FF3 propping it up", when the console has been leagues ahead of all other hardware for months on end. So, will it dip from selling over 5 times more than its nearest competitor to only selling 3 times more? Are the other 9 DS games in the top ten also "propping it up"?

My god what a myopic view you have on this chart!!!

PS: The aging Japanese population is why Nintendo has targeted the console at more than just an 18-24 male demographic. Those oldies love to train their brain (see also success of English Training, Cooking Navi etc).

Bill @ Sep 2nd 2006 3:11AM

Well it apparantly wont take a major fall because black DS comes out next week. But it wont do 400k like GAF says either. The same 160 again I'd guess. Then next week comes the fall.

I'm just pointing out American market, where 360 succeeds, is potentially MUCH larger. Just a hard fact.

Bill @ Sep 2nd 2006 3:36AM

>>Its like they hate America or something.>>

Maybe they are trying to repay us for that whole colossal defeat in WW2 thing LOL.

DocR @ Sep 2nd 2006 3:43AM

Hmm Bill,

In that case, what about Europe with its population of 728 million. Lot more of us and we don't seem to be considered an important gaming market (btw Europe is pretty much a Sony only zone, MS don't do too well here either).

As for sales, again, where's the "fall". That's a pretty prejorative word, suggesting some kind of failure. The DS is anything but a failure. Even a massive drop in sales over the next couple of weeks will still keep it in first place.

You've also gone from saying "FF3 is propping it up" to "wont take a major fall because black DS comes out next week". I suppose after that we'll have, the DS Winning Eleven, LoZ Phantom Hourglass, then the next game, then the next game/DS colour/bundle pack/continued success of training franchise games. Or I suppose you could just say the DS continues to sell well because it's a good console with great games selling something different to new and existing markets. Just a thought!

Bill @ Sep 2nd 2006 3:55AM

Microsoft does great in Europe.

http://www.mcvuk.com/newsitem.php?id=24326

And no, I think black DS will be the last thing for a while. Nobody cares about winning eleven. two weeks til the dropoff. I'm not hedging my bets.

And get with the times. At GAF they're all banking on Pokecrap not the games you mentioned. Some sad little game for little kids, and grown men probably lay awake at night dreaming about it. That's the lameness of Nintendo fans, right there.

In the old days the Gamecube fans always used to do that. Just wait till Zelda! Wait til Mario Sunshine! Wait till Super Smash Brothers! Then we'll trounce that mean old Xbox! It was always something, always threatening. Hollow threats.

GSI @ Sep 2nd 2006 5:20AM

My GOD you are dillusional Bill...you can keep doubting and doubting all you want, but the DS _IS_ dominating all over the world and there is PLENTY of proof.

DEAL WITH IT!

Zo� K. @ Sep 2nd 2006 4:08AM

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Ludwig = awesome.

I can't even have recalled looking at the actual sales chart, though.

Bill @ Sep 2nd 2006 4:09AM

>>In that case, what about Europe with its population of 728 million. Lot more of us and we don't seem to be considered an important gaming market (btw Europe is pretty much a Sony only zone, MS don't do too well here either).>>

728m? Are you counting all the old soviet bloc countries? Those dont have much of gaming markets.

I'd count Britain (60m), France (60), Spain (43), Italy (58), Germany (83)

As the big EU markets. Plus you also have some small countries in the 5-10 mil range like Greece.

But I dont think the EU are as big on gaming as USA and Japan. So even though they might have more total population, they are about equal to the USA in sales.

It is a very important market. Probably slightly bigger than the USA. I know Sony shipped more to EU than North America with PS2, by a little bit. But you guys certainly tend to get the shaft for some reason.

nootau @ Sep 2nd 2006 5:34AM

Its funny that fanboys blamed Microsofts abismal Xbox/Xbox360 sales record on the Japanese hating everything american, since the PSP is from a Japanese company...and it also has an abismal sales record in japan! That logic just seems to fall flat....could it be.....the games?! lol

DocR @ Sep 2nd 2006 6:49AM

@ Bill,

1. So now we're looking at effective market size rather than population. Again, that makes Japan important (since gaming has a wider demographic there). Effective market size is pretty similar across all markets. Look at the success of Nintendogs and you'll see that the disparity in numbers of units shifted across markets is not indicative of the difference in population between those markets.

2. Winning Eleven is a huge franchise. Look at the huge sales for the last PS2 version in Japan (and don't even get started on its popularity in the UK). I believe, though I could be wrong, that was the last time the DS was knocked off number 1 in the hardware charts.

3. I don't care what GAF say are the big games. If they say different games then that just goes to show there's still a lot coming out for the system.

4. You talk about drop off as if there's been a temporary peak before a massive fall in sales back to some low level, like if Twilight Princess temporarily increased Gamecube sales. Yes DS sales are particularly high at the moment (the Mario and FF3 effects), but they've been continually high all year. 5 million combined DS and DSlite sales in 2006, compared to 1.3 million PSPs is a huge difference. DSlite sales have been going from 44K with stock shortages to 170K a week. That's absolutely astounding, especially for a handheld.

It is a successful handheld with a wide variety of games. It is reaching a wide variety of gamers, well beyond your crude Nintendork stereotypes. For some reason you seem to be wiling it to fail. It's just not going to happen.

striderhayasa @ Sep 2nd 2006 7:34AM

@ bill

Also, if I remember correctly, DS has been rocking the charts in japan since this time last year. DS has been stomping the guts out of PSP even in the face of GTA and Madden. I'd love to be a spy hiding in a cardboard box at the next Sony Computer Entertainment executive meeting.

"I personally welcome our new gaming overlords..."

John Lucas @ Sep 2nd 2006 7:37AM

Bill, hide in your bunker when the Wii is released.
It's not gonna be a pretty picture based on the types of comments you make concerning Nintendo products & the Japanese game market.

I'm thinking about your health, man.
Please. Just hide out for about 5 years or so.
Trust me. You will NOT like the numbers.

John Lucas

retro @ Sep 2nd 2006 10:10AM

HAHA, Ludwig you are freaking awesome. Your posts are always a treat to see on joystiq/ds fanboy/wii fanboy. Keep it up, man!

EP @ Sep 2nd 2006 12:52PM

It's funny how fanboys of other systems (like Bill) try and try to find ways to put down the DS. Try as you might, the facts are right there. Get over it, the DS is making a killing!

Brad Lee @ Sep 2nd 2006 2:26PM

It is still mind-boggling to me how popular the DS is in Japan; outselling everything else combined by a three to one ratio. At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if the DS ends up being the highest selling gaming system ever. Sure it's only in Japan where the DS is dominating everything, but even still, selling 150,000 units in one territory every week is HUGE. Thats more than half a mil each month.

Oh and one last thing. Ludwig, that was hilarious.

Kevin @ Sep 2nd 2006 2:22PM

I love how 128mil. X 3 is supposed to equal 300mil. ROFL @ BIll

Doom3 @ Sep 2nd 2006 7:01PM

Yeah I was like dang... The software sales are sick also... Man if nintendo gets a FF or a dragon quest for the wii it's over... In japan... As for Japan hating american stuff... please they still break dance over there and the 80s are cool to them still... Yeah the american styles from the 80s... You know the ones that the E channel hate...LOL Plus too japan is the video game holly wood sort of... if you can make it there you can (alsmoat) make it any where it seems.

But japan hating MS products... who knows but even most xbox30 owners are feeling alot like GC owners these last few months... No game worth playing for a while... And hope fully GOW is a hit... To tell you the truth american design doesn't have the same flare as japanese design. Why do you think Manga just popped up and just dominated kids popular cartoons. American tend to copy more than event... atleast this is the case latly... media wise... I guess thats why MS is looking for indie developers.