Japanese hardware sales, 13 November - 19 November: thankful edition
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Nov 24th 2006 at 9:25PM }
Noting the gigantic bird that recently invaded your home and the uncomfortable gathering of family members (very often composed of equally gigantic birds), it must have dawned on you that the time to give thanks has finally arrived. What better target is there for our gratitude cannon than those that spend a good deal of their lives with us, making us laugh and providing us with times we'll always cherish? Indeed, we thought it best to thank our beloved consoles and handhelds for the hours upon hours of joy they provide -- without all the hassles and drama of competing products like family and friends.After the break: our individual notes of gratuitous gratitude.
- DS Lite: 128,621
19,553 (13.20%)- PS3: 42,099
39,540 (48.43%)- PSP: 16,690
2,433 (12.72%)- PS2: 15,068
1,089 (6.74%)- Xbox 360: 4,050
186 (4.81%)- GBA SP: 1,199
121 (9.17%)- Game Boy Micro: 1,037
176 (14.51%)- Gamecube: 514
18 (3.63%)- DS Phat: 182
97 (34.77%)- GBA: 30
18 (150.00%)- Xbox: 6
3 (100.00%)[Source: Media Create]
See also: Previous Japanese hardware sales charts
Thank you, DS Lite -- for teaching us that puppies are adorable for approxiately five minutes, after which they become needy little monsters that are better off trapped for eternity in tiny little cartridges. Also, thanks for making us obscenely rich in the seedy sales chart betting scene.
Thank you, PS3 -- for letting us watch Talladega Nights. It was pretty funny, even more so in Ultra Full To The Maxxtreme Definition.
Thank you, PSP -- for Lumines and porn. That's ... pretty much it.
Thank you, PS2 -- for having the only games lineup this year to feature demonic detectives, sky pirates, wolf gods and martial arts morons.
Thank you, Xbox 360 -- for being one of the few gifts that keeps on taking. (Watch out, microtransaction joke!)
Thank you, GBA SP -- for making the GBA obsolete and cutting down on our electric bill in the process.
Thank you, Game Boy Micro -- for demonstrating that we really were hanging out with the wrong crowd. Bunch of posers.
Thank you, Gamecube -- for letting us play delayed, inferior versions of your previously exclusive and highly anticipated games.
Thank you, DS Phat -- for enabling us to annoy countless many with the term, "DS Phat."
Thank you, GBA -- for comically highlighting the original Xbox's performance in Japan.
Thank you, Xbox -- for Breakdown. Seriously, it was pretty good.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MetallicDragon @ Nov 24th 2006 9:38PM
"GBA: 12 ^ 18 (150.00%)"
Does that mean it sold 18 more than last week, for a total of 12?!? I think theres a typo here.
Zac @ Nov 24th 2006 9:44PM
Are numbers for North America unavailable?
I've always wondered this.
nintendo fan @ Nov 24th 2006 9:51PM
@SkillCoil
It was just a joke.
Lorben @ Nov 24th 2006 9:58PM
Is it? I think that fits Zelda Twilight Princess to a T.
Andrew @ Nov 24th 2006 9:58PM
the numbers for north america come out every month while the japan numbers come out every week
CP229 @ Nov 24th 2006 10:04PM
How long before someone says "How come they didn't put how many Wii's were sold in Japan???/???"
Sofar @ Nov 24th 2006 10:10PM
How come they didn't put how many Wii's were sold in Japan???/???
Catprog @ Nov 24th 2006 10:17PM
And once again the DS Lite out sells everything combined (including the original DS)
skyrous @ Nov 24th 2006 10:24PM
The Wii doesn't go onsale in Japan until December 8.
socrates @ Nov 24th 2006 10:48PM
SkillCoil -
Uh, what features does the GC version of TP have that the Wii one does not? I haven't heard what those things are, that would make the original post either "baseless" or "biased".
Zozart @ Nov 24th 2006 10:56PM
"The Wii doesn't go onsale in Japan until December 8."
No, that's Europe. Japan gets it on the 2nd.
Foetoid @ Nov 24th 2006 11:17PM
Obviously the Gamecube comment was solely based on Twilight Princess. Nevermind the fact the best survival horror game ever is best on GC, and Metroid Prime 1 and 2 are better than Halo 1 and 2...easily (yes i have finished all 4 games, i have an informed opinion). I am looking forward to seeing how Japan attaches to the Wii. Nintendo have always fought it out in japan, with Nintendo having the lead if you take into account portable sales. What Nintendo is doing with the Wii and all the motion-sensor controls is exactly the sort of thing the japanese will jump into. I am surprised that sony even have more sales on the ps3 this week. Did they manage to ship a few more consoles?
Szu @ Nov 24th 2006 11:30PM
Oh no, the Xbox has lost it's infinite percentage rating. This might be bad news for the system in Japan.
sev4 pri1 @ Nov 24th 2006 11:50PM
if 360 kept up its 1/10 install rate, would that be enough to spur PS2 levels of "eccentric non fps" games?
dokool @ Nov 25th 2006 1:26AM
Here's what I want to know - where the hell are all these DS Lites going to? They sell around 100k-200k/week, sooner or later there are going to be more DS Lites than Japanese citizens...
O_o @ Nov 25th 2006 3:54AM
@16
And there're still people in japan that are unable to find stock of DS lites in their local stores.
In other words, there're more people in japan than you would've thought... 127,463,611 is the number.
elmer @ Nov 25th 2006 4:16AM
It seems PS3 has had an 'inverse halo' effect on PS2 and PSP sales as Sony would put it, because both are significantly shorter than their usual weekly 20-24 thousand. What does this say about the differences between American and Japanese gamers? Does this say anything?
daniel @ Nov 25th 2006 7:33AM
why is there such an overall drop in console sales this week most seem to have dropped quite a bit and the few that have gone up havent gone up by much
bobeotm @ Nov 25th 2006 9:07AM
Well it did seem the Sony at least managed to get a few PS3's into stores last week. And I heard many were able to get one on Black friday here in the states as well, so at least it isnt a total drought of hardware.
Jonathan @ Nov 25th 2006 11:11AM
#19 daniel - I think some Japanese gamers are waiting for the Wii to come out.
J.Goodwin @ Nov 25th 2006 11:29AM
Yeah, it's awfully interesting that just one week later, Sony was able to put half as many units into shops in Japan as they had on launch day.
I don't know if these charts are reliable.
Jeff @ Nov 25th 2006 12:18PM
"I don't know if these charts are reliable."
Being that they are tabulated from *actual* sales (similar to SoundScan), I would say they are close to 100% reliable.
Japanese sales charts are not counted the same way US sales charts are; at least not MediaCreate's. Famitsu charts are done the same way NPD charts are in the US - through surveys and statistical sampling. This way they don't have to count individual sales and they can get the data out earlier. But MediaCreate counts actual sales, so their numbers are the most reliable. (How else do you think they'd even know that MS sold 6 Xbox's last month? That's not the kind of number you get through surveys and sampling.)
I know people don't want to believe it, but Sony *is* continuing to ship PS3's. Not a lot right now, but however many they can make. And the system is sold out there just as it is here, so they're selling as many as they're making. There's plenty of demand.
Jeff @ Nov 25th 2006 12:19PM
"How else do you think they'd even know that MS sold 6 Xbox's last month?"
Er, that would be last week, of course.
Chris Lawrance @ Nov 25th 2006 7:23PM
EWWWWW YUCK! A Ginger!
LongshotX @ Nov 25th 2006 2:04PM
Psssh...Metroid better than Halo I think not.
Ooops I lost all my armor now it is up to me to traverse all the worlds all over again and reclaim it while in the process fighting against my darker self and space pirates using lock on targeting.
Ciaran @ Nov 25th 2006 5:50PM
Xbox 360 sales have increased most likely because of Microsofts efforts there... but the PS2 is STILL outselling the 360?
I do understand that though considering the fact that there are barely any asian games for sale on the 360, plus the PS2 is cheaper and stuff.
jron @ Nov 27th 2006 11:10AM
That kid has a bad case of gingervitus.