Japanese hardware sales, May 28 - Jun. 3: Custom excuse edition

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Jun 9th 2007 at 2:30PM }

"Double you tea eff, Ludwig," you say. "It's Saturday! These charts are late! I demand an explanation, you wretched excuse for a human being!" And an explanation is just what you'll receive, one that is meticulously crafted to your exact specifications. Find it after the break and substitute as necessary.

- DS Lite: 123,140

4,321 (3.39%)
- Wii: 69,748

11,104 (18.93%)
- PSP: 26,358

261 (1.00%)
- PS2: 11,814

503 (4.45%)
- PS3: 8,998

629 (6.53%)
- Xbox 360: 2,219

175 (8.56%)
- Game Boy Micro: 310

97 (23.83%)
- GBA SP: 247

41 (14.24%)
- Gamecube: 226

30 (11.72%)
- DS Phat: 71

10 (12.35%)
- GBA: 16

1 (5.88%)

[Source: Media Create]

See also: Previous Japanese hardware sales charts

There I was, calmly [action] across [place], minding my own [object] and thinking to myself, [catchy phrase]. It's a [descriptor] start for a story such as this, and one would expect it to end in much the same way. Only it didn't. [sound]! One more step and I found myself [action] into [place], my march having been thwarted by a [descriptor] [object] lying in plain sight. "Hey," I exclaimed, [catchy phrase].

As if to answer, a [descriptor] [female] suddenly appeared before me. "My deepest apologies, sir," she stated with a [descriptor] grin on the part I suspected to be her face. "That [object] actually belongs to me, I'm afraid I was unable to prevent it from [action] and thus allowed it to escape the confines of my [object]." Dusting myself off, I noted something disingenuous about the apology, as if her [descriptor] mouth had shared nothing more than a [descriptor] lie with me. [catchy phrase], I said, "you left it there intentionally!"

Acting on a [descriptor] instinct, I reached into my [object], quickly [action] out my trusty [object]. [sound]! Within seconds, she was [action], embracing the floor with a satisfying [sound]. I had shot her right in the [object]. I looked at her [descriptor] body, now entirely motionless. In her hand, a [descriptor] piece of paper.

"I'm sorry," it read, [catchy phrase].

Objects

time machine
enchanted pie
rancor
houseboat
Fabergé egg
Hitler's mustache
defective PEZ dispenser
Perfect Strangers DVD collection
rocket-propelled sloth
crystalline form of a Jimi Hendrix guitar solo
copy of The Eye of Argon
anvil parachute
fiberglass bicep
amorphous mystery liquid
Game Gear
tap-dancing platypus
Batmobile replica
spleen-shaped kidney
vintage shoulder pad
ineffective jester

Actions

plummeting
reeling
exploding
evaporating
pontificating
swooping
escaping
enslaving
pwning
vibrating
flip-flopping
roundhouse kicking
gyrating
migrating
time traveling
disintegrating
bouncing
gesticulating
strutting
smooching

Places

The depths of Hell
Ken Kutaragi's private island
Hogwarts
Studio 54 (in its prime)
A random street serving no real purpose other than to establish a setting for this waste of time
The trenches of World War I
J. Allard's exposed head
The &#%@ Water Temple
The safest part of Nowhere
Umbrella Corp. Headquarters

Females

Jessica Alba
Sigourney Weaver
Shodan
Martha Stewart
Charlize Theron
Chun-Li
Dame Edna
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Vaan
Hilary Clinton

Descriptors

refreshingly plump
dubiously endowed
disturbingly crispy
devastatingly obnoxious
unbelievably saccharine
questionably appealing
ridiculously mauve
potentially wistful
enigmatically aroused
objectionably suicidal
tediously moist
ethically delicious
pristinely glistening
ludicrously decadent
maddeningly pusillanimous
onerously petulant
gratuitously attractive
exceedingly boisterous
particularly vague
endearingly inept

Sounds

KAPOW
THWIPT
PERPLACK
FOPT
JUPLANG
KOINCK
BFFFT
ZORP
FWHOOP
HWISS

Catchy phrases

"This is unacceptable!"
"Let's get with the jazziness!"
"Your mother uses DVORAK!"
"Eye patches are for night vision!"
"This makes no sense!"
"LOL newb I h@xx3d u1"
"I'll keelhaul your pets!"
"An abacus is all I need!"
"Believe it!"
"Curse you, conspiring meat people!"
"One does not simply jiggle into Mordor!"
"I woke up and hated everything!"
"I need another amoeba, stat!"
"The miracle never happen!"
"This explains nothing!"

Tags: Japanese hardware sales, JapaneseHardwareSales

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

driven2sin @ Jun 9th 2007 2:36PM

nice pace Sony

BPM @ Jun 9th 2007 2:36PM

I love the set up for this post (mad libs are fun), but am too tired to construct one myself.

But I'm sure many others will.

Really minor changes from last week to this week. With exception of DS Lite going down over 4,000 units.

BPM @ Jun 9th 2007 2:37PM

Oh, and Wii went up over 11k units... Missed that, heh.

Kamizar @ Jun 9th 2007 2:39PM

How can sales be down, school 's almost out and those kids need their video games...

Slaziman @ Jun 9th 2007 2:55PM

anvil parachute, hahaha

Fatima @ Jun 9th 2007 2:58PM

I swear there are more DS lites than people in Japan.

Lynx @ Jun 9th 2007 3:11PM

If someone told a layman that the PS3 is outselling the 360 4 to 1 in Japan, they'd probably say it was doing pretty well.

Then you tell them the Wii is outselling the 360 35 to 1...

Ikke2003 @ Jun 9th 2007 3:12PM

Xbox360 is catching up... soon they will take over the world!

Mainman @ Jun 9th 2007 3:12PM

The catchy phrases were the most fun. I spotted at least two 4Chan memes and the famous line of Engrish from Phoenix Wright.

Chris @ Jun 9th 2007 3:13PM

Ten points each for "The &#%@ Water Temple" and "The miracle never happen!"

Mr Khan @ Jun 9th 2007 3:37PM

lawl

and i don't use that term often

CB4D @ Jun 9th 2007 4:04PM

Does anyone, like, actually care about the japanese hardware sales? Where are the real figures we care about, like the NA and EUR sales?? Do you have to pay for that or something? :)

Kamizar @ Jun 9th 2007 4:23PM

American figures come out monthly, and Euro doesn't really track sales...

And yes some people do care about sales from J-pan...

syco @ Jun 9th 2007 4:34PM

No, there are not more DS's than people in Japan. Nintendo has sold 17.4 Million DS's (both Phat and Lite) in Japan, Sony has sold 21.8 Million PS2's, but there are an astounding 127.4 Million people on that little collection of island. They pack them in like sardines.

Mark @ Jun 9th 2007 4:51PM

@12 Since Nintendo and Sony are based in Japan, a lot of us are always interested in seeing how things are faring over there.

Also, I think gamers of all creeds are interested to see what comes of the NDS buying frenzy that's been going on for months now over there. The total sales are staggering on an island of 130 million people.

horngreen @ Jun 9th 2007 5:24PM

Why doesn't anyone do US/Europe sales data? Everybody does these Japanese hardware sales...Why? Do people STILL think Japan is the biggest player in the videogame business? Is it still 1998?

Craigo @ Jun 9th 2007 5:33PM

16: If you'd bothered to read and/or understand any of the comments before posting, you'd know that US numbers are compiled monthly, and PAL numbers are done sporadically. This is not the fault of Joystiq or anyone else who reports on them. They do more posts on Japanese numbers because more nimbers are available.

And despite the borderline-xenophobic hatred that many "hardcore" gamers have for the Japanese market, it represents over a quarter of the videogame industry and is the home region of two of three most important companies in the business. So no matter what you think, these numbers are very, very important for everyone. You don't like reading about them? Too fucking bad.

Doink @ Jun 9th 2007 5:40PM

Japan has a large population and like 40% of all ds'es and 30% of al PS3's are sold in Japan.
So they are not very usefull for XBox 360 sales that only take up 4% of global sales. But if a Sony or Nintendo product sells bad in Japan it won't be an exception.
Proof is the PS3 that sells bad everywhere: 6 million units produced by the end of march and still only 3.37 million sold. Sony PR statement could be: we have the largest amount of unsold consoles in stock and they are good for over 1.6 billion dollars. But we will still ship like 10 million units this year. Also we plan shipping 4 million robots programmed to buy those unsold PS3's.

Rubang B @ Jun 9th 2007 5:43PM

Japanese hardwale sales kick ass! Respect!

http://www.vgchartz.com is trying to do weekly sales for the U.S., but they're not as reliable as these Japanese ones from Media Create or the monthly U.S. sales from NPD, but I still think they're worth czeching out, and they have some cool graphing tools for comparing all console launches.

Pedrocas @ Jun 9th 2007 5:49PM

You are pure genious! I just forgot the chart...

Man what do you do for living? You can't be just a blogger.... Pure genious!!! Congratz

BPM @ Jun 9th 2007 6:07PM

Japanese sales are provided WEEKLY by MediaCreate, and are FREE to obtain.

American sales are provided MONTHLY by NPD, and you have to PAY for them.

European sales are provided sporiacally. Not sure if they're free or not.

I should probably just save this message as a TXT, and post it at the beginning of every Japanese chart comment section so people stop asking about it...

Frankie @ Jun 9th 2007 6:45PM

You, as a hardcore gamer should pay attention to Japanese sales cause it directly translates to how much Japanese publisher support a console will get. Especially JRPG houses(Square Enix, Atlus, NIS, etc.)

Kent Houseman @ Jun 9th 2007 7:03PM

Well since the moron who had to ponder if anyone cared about the Japanese sales numbers got fried (rightfully so) I almost didn't want to add any input. But I couldn't help myself.

The future of 3 consoles rest on the American and Japanese market. I don't think Europe has enough pull...yet.

A company looking to choose a console to make a game for looks at the userbase pool. How many people out there has the system that I am making the game for? They also look at sales trends. Are the numbers increasing? Decreasing? Maintaining? Where is the console going to be at in 6 months? A year?

There is only one console that seems to be going strong in both markets. The Wii. The Wii is also cheaper to develop games for. The gears are already in motion but a lot of companies are stepping up an effort to get games out for the Wii. The fair sized userbase that is growing at a very fast rate AND the cheap development cost is what game developers want. The fact that the console is doing good in Japan and the US means a company has 2 markets to take a crack at. Unlike the PS3 which has sold a fair number of consoles but the sales forecast doesn't show anything too promising. Or the 360 which had done great in the US but has failed in Japan.

Also, since a lot of quality games come out of Japan that were designed for the japanese gamer. A successful console in Japan will probably get the brunt of the Japanese targeted games. Which happen to have a ton of fans in America. This works both ways too. It seems only one console will fair strong in both markets. The Wii.

Sure a lot of people don't want and "Japanese" games. But a lot of people DO want RPGs, adventure games, etc. Also, the ones that say they are not interested, will never know, since they probably would never even have the opportunity to consider a game that won't make it stateside.

How succesful a company is in the gaming area is huge. When a company has a lot of good buzz it makes investors look the companies way and stockholders are pleased. When a console is failing to meet any of the expectations or can't crack a huge market, it causes problems in that aspect.

You could say that 2 of the 3 comapanies are so big that they can cover any loss and it doesn't matter. Well the people who have a lot of money invested in the company DO care. Moreso about the final numbers than what system is "cool". These investors probably are still investors by not being fanboys of any company too.

The bottom line is, unless something very drastic happens, the Wii is going to "beat" the other consoles soundly. The growing userbase will attract more and more companies to make titles for it. It will come down to: "I own a Wii and a _____". Which "harcore" console will the average user deem worthwhile to buy?

We can sit around and just refuse to buy a Wii. Thats fine and you have to respect the choice...But to think that we would be anything other than a very small minority (which gets smaller every month)would be idiotic. What is even worse would be to still throw mud at a system while somehow ignoring the market trends, the sales numbers, while refusing to let go of your personal opinion and whatever your "friend that owns one" ("he sold it a month after buying it btw, the 360 station is where its at")says. After a certain point you have to realize that admitting something is a success isn't an admition that you like it and you will still get your fan boy merit badge, along with all the games for your console when they go on clearance.

joesiv @ Jun 9th 2007 7:19PM

4. How can sales be down, school 's almost out and those kids need their video games...

Kamiza, just because North America has classes ending for the Summer doesn't mean other places like Japan have the same school schedule.

Japan still has school all through our summmer vacation.

- Joseph

Kamizar @ Jun 9th 2007 8:11PM

They get all of July off, I know how the japanese school system works, its just that it's still summer...

Hell even with school out most of those kids will still be going back to school everyday thanks to club activities and the like, but they can still play video games more than they previously could...

But my statement is still somewhat accurate, July isn't that far away and therefore, school is almost out...

unosturgis @ Jun 9th 2007 8:37PM

@ #23 wow i was with you until you said "admition" lol! Nice try though...its admission :)

dontplaygameswithme @ Jun 9th 2007 8:39PM

its is important but it is not the deciding factor on will we get a rpg. For instance Japan has less than 88 million people America has 300 million. The average American spends more money on games than Japanese. Translation if Microsoft takes lions share of USA and none of JAPAN it STILL may be decided to support USA! because it means more money! Much more money! Also it will be a easier translation for Europe! Get the picture? Now in the past it was you won Japan you won USA that is not happening this time. So its not simple for a change. no need to exagerate to make a point the wii is outselling the 360 31.4 to one in Japan and outselling the PS3 7.75 to 1. See! Honesty is easy!

Number Six @ Jun 9th 2007 9:35PM

Since no one else is gonna mention it, the Wii's sales increase alone was greater than the total number of PS3's sold. That's pretty amazing. I know it's tired to say this, but if anyone had speculated a year ago that this kind of slaughter would be going on today, that person would've gotten laughed right off the internets.

Purple Haze @ Jun 9th 2007 10:29PM

I notice Vaan is in the females section. Smart Ludwig.

Kent Houseman @ Jun 9th 2007 10:31PM

Yea, I just got back and saw all the errors. *sigh*. I was in a hurry. Ah well.

protoss @ Jun 9th 2007 10:48PM

@12...

Japan = The Spice.

You control Japan, you control the universe.

Nintendo are dunecat.

YoYoBoY @ Jun 9th 2007 10:51PM

I used DVORAK for a while. It sucked.

Purple Haze @ Jun 9th 2007 11:33PM

Wait a minute after actually doing this thing (I was bored), I notice that I had shot Vaan with my trusty crystalline form of a Jimi Hendrix guitar solo. Wtf?

hvnlysoldr @ Jun 10th 2007 2:06AM

Did you get that quote "Eye patches are for night vision!" from me? What with me having written that for some dozen articles on patches.

Catprog @ Jun 10th 2007 4:10AM

27

Is Microsoft wining in the USA?

ill trooper @ Jun 10th 2007 6:21AM

Limited engagement, tonight only:

Kent Houseman's Text-Tower of Power™!

NintendoFanbot @ Jun 10th 2007 8:24AM

Yeah, Japan must not be relevant anymore because Sony isn't doing well and MS never did well there. Get with the program, Joystiq.

*rolls eyes*

davydee77 @ Jun 10th 2007 12:16PM

There I was, calmly migrating across the safest part of nowhere, minding my own enchanted pie and thinking to myself, "Eye patches are for night vision!". It's a particularly vague start for a story such as

this, and one would expect it to end in much the same way. Only it didn't. KAPOW! One more step and I found myself flip-flopping into The trenches of World War I, my march having been thwarted by a

enigmatically aroused rocket-propelled sloth lying in plain sight. "Hey," I exclaimed, "An abacus is all I need!".

As if to answer, a disturbingly crispy Sigourney Weaver suddenly appeared before me. "My deepest apologies, sir," she stated with a objectionably suicidal grin on the part I suspected to be her face. "That

tap-dancing platypus actually belongs to me, I'm afraid I was unable to prevent it from gesticulating and thus allowed it to escape the confines of my houseboat. Dusting myself off, I noted something

disingenuous about the apology, as if her refreshingly plump mouth had shared nothing more than a tediously moist lie with me. "One does not simply jiggle into Mordor!", I said, "you left it there

intentionally!"

Acting on a questionably appealing instinct, I reached into my Batmobile replica, quickly vibrating out my trusty fiberglass bicep. JUPLANG! Within seconds, she was smooching, embracing the floor with a

satisfying THWIPT. I had shot her right in the spleen-shaped kidney. I looked at her dubiously endowed body, now entirely motionless. In her hand, a exceedingly boisterous piece of paper.

I'm sorry," it read, "Your mother uses DVORAK!.

Jake @ Jun 10th 2007 1:44PM

If you are just interested in playing sweet games, the Japanese numbers only translate to one thing. That is, how many Japanese style games come out on a particular console. Otherwise, who really cares. Japan is the third most important video game market out there, with NA and Europe being the most important.

But if you are like me and don't much care for Eastern games compared to Western, Japan doesn't matter. Do I care if FF is going to be delayed an additional year and never come out on 360? Not really, and that is what these numbers tell me.