Japanese hardware sales, May 14 - May 20: Suggestive sandwich edition
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ May 25th 2007 at 8:55PM }
Lick your screen. Go on, do it. You'll find it to have a sort of artificial non-taste, with just a hint of static and dust. Incidentally, that's precisely what a DS sandwich tastes like, one freshly made from this week's Japanese sales charts. The sleeker DS Lite still reigns at the top while its older and comparatively obese sibling languishes at the bottom, slowly getting devoured by a seeping mustard menace. Which... would be the GBA, we guess. This paragraph doesn't make a lot of sense, we admit.- DS Lite: 111,213
52,572 (32.10%)- Wii: 52,193
351 (0.67%)- PSP: 27,505
6,928 (20.12%)- PS2: 10,881
467 (4.48%)- PS3: 8,659
180 (2.04%) - Xbox 360: 2,026
79 (3.75%)- Game Boy Micro: 428
20 (4.90%)- GBA SP: 330
13 (3.79%)- Gamecube: 276
39 (12.38%)- GBA: 33
15 (83.33%)- DS Phat: 26
13 (33.33%)If you'll cast your browser back in time to late February 2006, you'll note how the original DS was once the best selling device in Japan. Those were certainly crazier times, as evidenced by this snapshot of January. The PSP reigning supreme? Surely, you must have lost your mind! Hey, we did just see you lick a computer screen, Shirley.
[Source: Media Create. Image: An early and decidedly hideous version of the DS.]
See also: Previous Japanese hardware sales charts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Slaziman @ May 25th 2007 8:58PM
First post!
Wii pwning!
bobby @ May 26th 2007 3:08AM
sony hit for massive damage
NintendoFanbot @ May 25th 2007 9:02PM
Nintendo 3rd-Party confirmed.
[/NeoGAF]
Kye @ May 25th 2007 9:02PM
NDF Assemble!
TheGuy @ May 25th 2007 9:06PM
I guess PS2 sales went up because of Odin Sphere.
Muttley @ May 25th 2007 9:08PM
Wiilson is spankation Playstation
NintendoFanbot @ May 25th 2007 9:11PM
EarthBound!
FireEmblem!
WindWaker!
WaterPokemon!
HeartContainer!
By our powers combined WE ARE NINTENDO DEFENSE FORCE!
Kye @ May 25th 2007 9:27PM
LMAO at fanbot,
That was very well thought out
... but its wrong!!
Heres how its done...
First we all run to our stations to get into our lions, then I say:
Activate interlock
Dynotherms connected
Infercell Up
megahtrusters are go!...
EARTH!!
XGamerX @ May 25th 2007 9:38PM
man people in japan must recycle their DS lites every few months.
http://gamergeddon.com/
Daniel @ May 25th 2007 9:40PM
Well thanks joystiq! I had almost forgotten i spilled some LSD on my monitor a few months ago.
This is gonna be an awesome night :D
Slaziman @ May 25th 2007 9:45PM
WaterPokemon was tacked on :(
NintendoFanbot @ May 25th 2007 9:48PM
I was trying to think of an actual Nintendo game with 'Water' in it, but couldn't come up with anything.
Other than "Waterworld for Virtual Boy"
but then I thought NO
Martez @ May 25th 2007 9:50PM
Mmm, mustard menace. The mustard... OF YOUR DOOM!
3cubedminus3squared @ May 25th 2007 9:52PM
Mario had a water pack in Sunshine.
No, I guess that really doesn't count, huh?
generaldane @ May 25th 2007 9:55PM
@NintendoFanbot
lol at neogaf reference thats the exact attitudes those guys have towards the sales charts
Daniel @ May 25th 2007 10:19PM
Wait... Why is the nintendo defense force assembling.
Nintendo is still kicking ass in Japan.
We need to conserve our power!
Fatass of Kickassness @ May 25th 2007 10:28PM
I can't be the only one who thinks the original DS prototype design was kickass.
Ars @ May 25th 2007 10:35PM
Who the heck still buys PS2s? You'd think by now that everyone in Japan should have one...or are PS2s still breaking, perhaps? What a mystery, ey?
Skeg8 @ May 25th 2007 10:36PM
I was looking for stuff that I need to buy next month when I move to Japan and I glanced over the game machines page:
http://www.yamada-denkiweb.com/item/list.php/category/15/117/10/
Yeah, Yamada Denki only has PS2's in stock... Lets just say if I was in the market for some game play with some yen burnin a hole in my pocket (and rows and rows of ps2 games to boot) I might just smack my cash down on the ps2 over nothing.
Ytoabn @ May 25th 2007 10:44PM
Looks like Nintendo actually got hit for massive damage. 30% loss on DS sales... but it still is high on the charts.
jp @ May 25th 2007 10:54PM
omg who the hell are buyin all these ds's
n_revolution9 @ May 25th 2007 11:43PM
(Sigh)...Gotta love that Game Boy Micro...
Vexorg @ May 25th 2007 11:46PM
I've got to think they've stopped playing games there and started using DS Lites as construction materials or something...
Cool Gadgets @ May 26th 2007 12:14AM
Hello!
You have a nice blog. I like it!
I have a blog too http://www.gadgets-reviews.com.
Its name is Cool Gadgets. You can find here everything you want to
know about gadgets.
I'd be happy to exchange links with you!I hope you will be interested!
Waiting for your reply!
--
Best regards,
gadgets-reviews mailto:web@gadgets-reviews.com
mo @ May 26th 2007 12:02AM
the ps2 continues to pwn the much inferior ps3
relative to price i mean...
Grog @ May 26th 2007 12:31AM
Remember when the Japanese hardware sales were flamebait that generated hundreds of replies? I'm curious as to why that has stopped recently...
AssemblyLineHuman @ May 26th 2007 12:35AM
Grog: They're always the same...
BPM @ May 26th 2007 1:29AM
Yeah, very little has changed in the past several weeks...
DS Lite's on top, Wii comes in second, then PSP, PS2, PS3, 360, then the "dead" systems.
Interesting thing about those links... Even though DS was still king at the time (well, tied with PSP a lot, though), it was, on average, selling 30,000 units a week. Here we have the DS Lite, selling, on average, 100,000-150,000 units a week!
The DS Lite's success is nothing short of phenominal and abnormal.
Oh, and hey, Ludwig. How come you don't post at DS Fanboy anymore? :O
BPM @ May 26th 2007 4:13AM
Oh, FoK, I've wanted to try the original DS prototype as well. Though the final design was a better design (and the DS Lite is even better), I'd still like to have seen what could've been.
Whoever can sneak into Nintendo and get me a DS prototype, I will buy a DS Lite for. :D
Wes @ May 26th 2007 4:13AM
Are we sure about the accuracy of these statistics? I mean, wow. I'm honestly shocked and flabber ghasted at the sales data shown when it comes to ps3s and xbox 360s.
I mean honestly, out of the 100,000,000 japanese people only 79 bought an xbox 360 and 180 ps3s meanwhile they bought 52,000 ds lites? Literately 500x the ds lites than 360s?
Its weird because if I spent a day camping out in a gamespot in North America, I find it hard to believe, 500 people would walk in, buy a nintendo ds and only one person would walk in saying....ehhhh.... I guess I'll pick a 360. Its got a neat name.
Some statistics like '13 ds phats'. That's pretty exact. Did they call up each store in Japan and only 13 stores said they sold one? Where do these stats come from I wonder?
Even the wii only sold 351? 0.67% of the previous weeks sales? what the heck happened there :) Did they forget to add a decimal place or two the next gen consoles this week? Did someone inform Japan in a mass spam email, they were about to be laid off and the Japanese suddenly stopped spending on non-mobile electronics? :|
Slaziman @ May 26th 2007 4:16AM
The number to the left is the amount of consoles sold, number to the right (the one you are mentioning) is the change between this week and last week, and it's positive or negative depending on the red or green arrows of doom.
Revo @ May 26th 2007 4:22AM
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6528117&postcount=505
If Wii were to stop selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 183 weeks: on November 20, 2010.
Amazing... the already bad situation for the PS3 in Japan gets even worse with each passing week.
bm @ May 26th 2007 5:05AM
On a more serious note, does anyone know what's causing the red arrows across the board for the past few weeks? Golden Week exhaustion?
Kye @ May 26th 2007 5:12AM
Daniel
We at the NDF have near infinite power. We can assemble 5 times a day everyday and not even break a sweat.
*he laughs dismissively*
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...
NintendoFanbot @ May 26th 2007 11:43AM
GROG:
"Remember when the Japanese hardware sales were flamebait that generated hundreds of replies? I'm curious as to why that has stopped recently..."
Because the citizens were not pleased with the Playstation-brand overlord. When the DS began showing signs of hope and the PSP was still in contention, battles were raged on which system would be better for numerous superfluously-mentioned reasons. Eventually the light of the DS light blinded the Playstation demon and threw its smoten carcass onto the mountainside. Wii of The NintendoDefenseForce slew the Sony-engineered GiantEnemyCrab by throwing 5 Mushroom-shaped blocks at it and subsequently steaming it and consuming it with butter. The revelry shall last for ages.
BPM @ May 26th 2007 12:18PM
Mmmmmmm, buttered giant enemy crab...
Delicious.
[drools]
LongshotX @ May 26th 2007 12:56PM
Honestly I could care less what's going on in Japan. That ain't my country.
Aberu @ May 26th 2007 3:45PM
Sales stayed down two weeks in a row? I think it might be more than manufacturing problems in Japan, at least for the DS, since those were selling out at the high numbers, but I doubt they cut production by 50% right now. Whatever, I wish we had weekly American sales, or weekly World sales. Japan is hardly the dominant game market anymore.
Desiri @ May 26th 2007 5:19PM
And the Xbox 360 reduces the weekly sales gap with the PS3 by another 101 units...
Grog @ May 26th 2007 5:43PM
Aberu-
However, whatever your console leaning, Japan is still a major market for home consoles and handhelds (35% of PSPs and DSes sold there). It is also not completely separate from other markets, so you can rely on the numbers there to tell you the basics of how systems are doing worldwide (though Xbox numbers are still tiny).
Desiri-
The PS3 actually gained about 6,500 units on the 360 this week in Japan - they just gained ~100 less on them than they did last week. In other words, the PS3 is driving faster than the 360, it's just not driving as much faster than the 360 as it was last week (acceleration vs. velocity).
Jason Wishnov @ May 26th 2007 6:41PM
Ludwig doesn't post at DS Fanboy anymore because he knows can't compete with ME. Come join the dark side, folks.
- Jason Wishnov,
Nintendo Wii Fanboy,
DS Fanboy