Japanese Halo 3 finishes the foreign fight in first place

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Oct 4th 2007 at 1:25PM }

There are some caveats to consider, but first place is first place. Media Create's Japanese software sales chart (as detailed by Gamasutra) shows Microsoft's absurdly popular sci-fi shooter in first place having sold 59,000 copies in the last week. It's a relatively modest debut in a sluggish sales period, but Halo 3 is one of a scant few titles to ascend the chart and indeed, the wall of apathy Japanese gamers have constructed around all things Xbox.

Master Chief even managed to best Nintendo's Pokémon franchise, if only because of Nintendo's habit of splitting each installment into two similar but separate versions. With 55,000 units sold, Pókemon Mystery Dungeon 2 nips at Halo 3's heels in second place -- had its sales been combined with its counterpart, Master Chief would be finishing the foreign fight sans legs. Of course, that's nothing $300 million can't replace.

Tags: BreakingNews, FPS, Halo-3, Halo3, Japan, Master-Chief, Pokemon

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Oct 4th 2007 1:32PM

Don't most places add pairs of Pokemon sales together?

It's like counting Legendary editions of Halo 3 separately from regular Halo 3.

Kudos to Microsoft. This was cute. But Master Chief better watch his back next week. The Flood are chump change compared to Pokémanz. They will be shown to him.

Ludwig Kietzmann @ Oct 4th 2007 1:44PM

Well, the Pokémon releases have minor differences in the games themselves, so they're considered separately. Special editions still present exactly the same game. It's a fairly minor distinction, but one considered by Media Create and even the NPD.

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Oct 4th 2007 2:01PM

Aha.

Negativecool @ Oct 4th 2007 1:33PM

Wow, western developer's game 1ST(?) in Japan?!...Congratulations Halo 3!

Chaotic (FDF - Fry) @ Oct 4th 2007 1:38PM

If I recall correctly, GTA: SA was #1 in Japan for a few weeks. It's not impossible.

Still, it's a notable achievement for Microsoft. Maybe 360 sales will have picked up this week.

Grant @ Oct 4th 2007 4:53PM

i think this is huge news for MS, not just bungie.
just watch, they are going to hold a press conference soon.

"Good news everyone, our original estimates on the japanese market were originally wrong. We are actually a roaring success and have sold at very least 59,000 consoles in japan!"

beano @ Oct 6th 2007 12:42AM

Nah, Western Console + Western Game = 2 * Western. That's big news, GTA being #1 for a few weeks on a Japanese console (PS2) isn't really that big...

Konny @ Oct 4th 2007 1:37PM

uh-oh.. no WiiSports on that list... it usually has a 1 to 1 sell rate with Wii consoles sold.. meaning that Wii probably sold less than 20k this week.. and the downward spiral continues; thats ok, more Wiis for NA this xmas.

brandon @ Oct 4th 2007 2:43PM

Actually the Japanese Wii isn't bundled with Wii Sports if I remember correctly, so it means nothing about Wii sales itself.

beano @ Oct 6th 2007 12:42AM

No, what he meant was that usually when people buy Wiis in Japan, they do buy Wii Sports. They buy it because it doesn't come with their Wiis, so looking at Wii Sports sales would be a fairly accurate way of measuring actual Wii sales in Japan. (No, I don't actually think it's accurate, but based on what Konny was saying, it should be accurate)

Mr Khan @ Oct 4th 2007 1:37PM

This isn't unheard of

They play good games just like the rest of us, certainly biases are present, but its not like this is a miracle

Zach @ Oct 4th 2007 2:17PM

They play good games like the rest of us? Doesn't exactly explain the fanatical obsession with Dynasty Warriors over there...

JodyAnthony (FDF - Hedonism Bot) @ Oct 4th 2007 1:39PM

pokeymans are doom'd!

Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Oct 4th 2007 1:50PM

Why your avatar is a Cactaceae plant?

Slaziman @ Oct 4th 2007 2:18PM

That's the cactus enemy thingy from Final Fantasy

I love them!

StrangeBum @ Oct 4th 2007 3:06PM

It's a cactuar! Wewt! I love them, one of the quirkiest and coolest enemies in Final Fantasy.

Crono (NDF - French Taunting from Holy Grail Ring) @ Oct 4th 2007 3:03PM

Cactuar FTW!

Zsavior @ Oct 4th 2007 1:43PM

WOW damn this are really low in Japan I didn't really understand it, good for Halo 3 though. But does anybody know why this is happening? Is there a major holiday coming out in Japan why spending suddenly gone so low?

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Oct 4th 2007 2:05PM

Japan already had a hundred holidays this year. Maybe they're broke.

HineyWipe @ Oct 4th 2007 1:44PM

That picture...a far away teabagging...from Japan!!

FrankTheCrank @ Oct 4th 2007 1:47PM

Uhm, the biggest game of the century is number one everywhere. What's the news here?

Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Diddy Kong, Blue Ghost...it's all over...Master Chef is king of all media. Fla fla fooey.

Crono (NDF - French Taunting from Holy Grail Ring) @ Oct 4th 2007 1:50PM

Its a little early in the century to be calling this the biggest game of the century, isn't it.

Thats like calling the 1920's dracula the movie of the century last century. Do you expect there to be no games better than Halo 3 between now and 2100 AD?

FrankTheCrank @ Oct 4th 2007 1:53PM

Crono,

I'm with you man...but all this hype. I'm starting to believe the hype. I almost bought a 360 and a copy of teh haloz. Phew! That was a close one.

Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Oct 4th 2007 1:53PM

Overall, BioShock is a better game than Halo 3. It mya be the most hypeg game of the century, but certainly not the best game.

FrankTheCrank @ Oct 4th 2007 1:58PM

Whoa...even Fernando thinks it's overhyped. I'm getting a screenshot of his comments. He's the biggest 360 fanboy on this website. I mean that in a good way Ferrrrrrrrrnando!

Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Oct 4th 2007 2:02PM

Wii60 fanboy, actually (But Nintendo fanboy mostly)

And yes, I have the Legendary Edition, and its a good game, but not great. Bioshock is a lot better.

FrankTheCrank @ Oct 4th 2007 2:07PM

Fernando,

You are my arch enemy as I am a PSWii owner. But I agree with you about Bioshock, I have the PC version...it's a great game. Tons of atmosphere...great graphics...and the whole spook factor.

Game on!

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Oct 4th 2007 2:24PM

I'm reasonably sure that Mario Galaxy and Bioshock will do their part to put Halo 3 in it's place come Nomination Season.

Word of the street(IDF-Digital Ruler). @ Oct 4th 2007 2:25PM

Actually Fernando Halo 3 is the best overall game for the XB360.Let me explain that.

Bioshock is the Best story wise game for the XB360 with Darkness in close second

Halo 3 is the Best overall game in the XB360,why? Well Halo 3 doesn’t excels in any area in fact is a game that combines a bit of everything while again it doesn’t excel in any area everything it does is well executed if not greatly executed in other words is a game that is easy to pick and play basically is a system starter another overall game would be the less popular PDZ which combines many elements except that PDZ is a little more harder to pick up.

Forza 2 is the Best racing game on the XB360 with PGR ¾ in close second

The best action game for the XB360 is Gears of War. Gears is almost an overall game except that Gears of war is more Action based in fact Gears of war is a game that excels in Action more than any element including multiplayer since well IMO the best of Gears of war is the campaign especially in Co-op.

The best RPG for the XB306 is Oblivion for obvious reasons.

The best horror game in the XB360 is well there is a tie between condemned, FEAR and Dead rising. I would say Dead rising is the best but I would be lying because after you hit LVL 50 is more a Zombie GTA, Condemned is awesome but is not much about horror in fact it could be up there in the Story wise section.

Best multiplayer game well I’m probably being hasty about this one but Call of Duty 4 with Halo 3 and Team fortress behind it.

VampireHunter Z @ Oct 4th 2007 4:49PM

@Word on The Street
Actually I would say Halo 3 is more than a jack of all trades. It excels in the online area. Online multiplayer is perfect and 4 player co-op is godly. Everything else is a matter of opinion.

Word of the street(IDF-Digital Ruler). @ Oct 4th 2007 1:54PM

An American game taking over the Japanese software sales, the PSP selling more than the DSL now If Duke Nukem Forever is released by December or at least the release date it's announced by December is official THE END IS NEAR.

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Oct 4th 2007 2:03PM

Japan's already had a hundred holidays this year. Maybe they're just broke.

dan stabbingworth @ Oct 4th 2007 5:35PM

Have you considered a photoshop class? Most community colleges have them these days...

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Oct 4th 2007 9:40PM

What's your point dick? I used PhotoShop to make my badass avatar. Jealous of my moustache much?

Sean @ Oct 4th 2007 2:07PM

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon 2? *facepalm*

StrangeBum @ Oct 4th 2007 3:11PM

Do a barrel roll!

But yeah, that was the first thing I thought too when I read those words..why on Earth..would there be reason to create a sequel to possibly the worst game in one of the better (if only slightly) franchises out there.

Sean @ Oct 4th 2007 3:30PM

Don't get me wrong, I played Blue, Red, and Yellow, took a break, but got back on the Poketrain for Diamond/Pearl, but that Dungeon game looked whack.

Donald @ Oct 4th 2007 4:27PM

It was a dungeon crawler, which most people either love or hate.

Though I ended up trading my Red Rescue Team in to get some money off Diamond. I'm in the "hate" category as far as escort missions go.

djricekcn @ Oct 4th 2007 3:43PM

it's only 50-60,000 though. Those aren't really great numbers. Not bad, but not super either

Sidepocket @ Oct 4th 2007 4:17PM

The sales numbers were low and the titles for that week were lame as hell.

Halo 3 getting first place this week is like a mentally sound person getting first place in the Special Olympics.

chimp o death @ Oct 4th 2007 5:32PM

That's how I feel about the Japanese sales charts every week!
:)

chimp o death @ Oct 4th 2007 4:57PM

At last! Now all we need is the for the Japanese to admit that not only did the Americans invent videogames, but most of the genres as well, including RPGs.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

blooh (CDF - Ass Ring) @ Oct 4th 2007 6:16PM

yeah they all need some humble pie

but those proud bastards never eat it

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Oct 4th 2007 9:43PM

But Japan (err, Miyamoto) invented platformers, which is kinda what got the industry booming. What the hell is your point? Japan kicks ass.

chimp o death @ Oct 4th 2007 10:00PM

My point is:

While I have a full appreciation for all of the advances in gaming that Japan has given us, they didn't invent videogames. Literally.

I think you're right about platformers, but almost every other genre was minted in the US of A. Remember, I'm not bashing Japanese games, culture, or gamers (I'm not even American. I'm Canadian, and we haven't done crap all for games). I'm just tweaking the notion that the "supeiority" of Japanese games or gaming opinion lies in them having created the form.

P.S.

Did you know that SEGA was co-founded by an American? Discuss amongst yourselves.