Japanese hardware sales, June 16 - June 22: Summer blockbuster edition
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Jun 29th 2008 at 9:00PM }
The still night air wafting over the Hardware district of the bustling metropolis of Salesbury, Japan, is punctuated with the crackle of gunfire. The town's many residents realize with a start that Sunday's midnight hour has come, and quickly retreat into their bullet-riddled homesteads. From the shadows of the city's seemingly endless alleyways emerge the six gangs who fight weekly for the unspoken control of Salesbury: the powerful reigning champs known as the "Park Street Pistols", the young and lively contenders known simply as "The Wii-vils", the once invincible "DoorStep Lighteners", the mercenaries of "The Third Order of Private Soldiers", their once-parent organization "The Second Order of Private Soldiers", and the mysterious, poorly-funded outfit known as "The Xterminators of 360th Street".
Who will come out on top at the end of this four-hour-long cinematic masterwork? Only time, and the purchasing habits of the people of Japan, will tell. Starring Samuel L. Jackson as Coolidge, the leader of the Park Street Pistols; Kevin James as Archie, his carefree sidekick; Rose McGowan as Belladonna, the feisty captain of The Wii-vils, and a guy who kinda looks like Bruce Vilanch as the menacing "Red Arrow".
- PSP: 59,351
5,324 (8.23%)- Wii: 41,037
4,527 (9.94%)- DS Lite: 36,599
2,602 (6.64%)- PS3: 20,336
54,975 (73.00%) - PS2: 6,346
951 (13.03%)- Xbox 360: 2,555
392 (18.12%)[Source: Media Create]
See: The bullet-riddled archives
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Vol @ Jun 29th 2008 9:09PM
Wow, the PS3 lost its legs 2 weeks after the launch of MGS4.
Wes @ Jun 29th 2008 9:47PM
HA! They must be hiding the evidence. Joystiq is sooo clearly xbox 360 bias :P the one month they go up and everyone else goes down the numbers in the picture are super small hehe.
*Just kidding*. Joystiq is fairly fair all around switching side's from time to time taking cheap shots at everyone.
Raikage (GOLDEN Gun Of The Patriots) @ Jun 29th 2008 9:09PM
Nice to see MGS4 fighting the fine(al?!) fight.
Why is the PSP doing so well? Another Monster Hunter? It's a good handheld? (NO WAI) Everyone already has 2 Phat and 3 Lite DSs? (Ding Ding Ding!)
I need to get me one...
Mr.ESC @ Jun 29th 2008 9:13PM
I think is because a Gundam game was released.
You know your avatar reminds me that I never got a chance to play MGS:ops.I would like to play even if that means buying the greatest hits version with the fugly GH sticker on it.
Raikage (GOLDEN Gun Of The Patriots) @ Jun 29th 2008 9:20PM
Never seen the PSP GH sticker but as long as it's not a huge yellow stamp or a silver case screaming "I'M CHEAP!" then it can't be that bad... :P
Mr.ESC @ Jun 29th 2008 9:25PM
The GH sticker is just the regular red sticker like the ones in the Ps2 games for the Euro/ American versions.
The Japanese GH version is a silver case with a yellow sticker pointing out how cheap you are but is better than nothing.
Mr.ESC @ Jun 29th 2008 9:10PM
Go xbox 360!
Someone had to say it.
Fernando Rocker @ Jun 29th 2008 9:11PM
How much MGS4 has sold?
Accordign to Media Crate, the game is at 550k in Japan; and less than a million in USA.
So, it only has sold more than a million in EU?
I'm confused...
*Is not bashing, I'm asking in a good way.
Raikage (GOLDEN Gun Of The Patriots) @ Jun 29th 2008 9:14PM
IRRELEVANT! It's still the best game of forever divided by zero.
Mr.ESC @ Jun 29th 2008 9:28PM
I loved the part where...
F*CKING HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD,STOP READING DAMMIT.
Ocelot and snake beat the sh*t out of each other is both awesome and completely ridiculous. Mortal Senior Citizens Kombat WTH? Its feel so bad to laugh at that but no way people that old could stand that beating.
Raikage (GOLDEN Gun Of The Patriots) @ Jun 29th 2008 9:38PM
MGS4 N00BZ DON'T RYEAD DIS! SPOYLERZ!
Yeah that crossed my mind too... then I kept punching the old man... too bad canes and walkers were not around...
Oh and Microwave Alley is the single greatest moment in gaming history, along with your first Colossus, Headshot, team kill, Portal song etc...
END SPOYLERZ
Anyway, I'm off to go freakin' swimming cuz It's freakin' 103 freakin' degrees in freakin' Idaho. (and it gets -10 or more in winter... Why do I live here?)
Mr.ESC @ Jun 29th 2008 9:55PM
Why the hell I typed "its" instead of "I".
Well there should be a fighting game like that, it would sell like pancakes on xbox live.
In case you want to know the weather here changes very quickly. Sometimes is hot as hell, other times is freezing and today is raining. We don't have natural disaster but is always a good idea to keep an umbrella in the car.
Abd I should be working right now.
ThePerfectCompanion @ Jun 29th 2008 9:12PM
Of course I knew the ps3 would fall like it deserves to...
Still though 20,000 is better than usual for it in Japan. Probably due to MGS4. That number will drop further next month.
Keep on trucking 360...
Raikage (GOLDEN Gun Of The Patriots) @ Jun 29th 2008 9:17PM
Hate the Triple if you will... but what do you think of MGS4? That's what I want to know.
The_Punisher @ Jun 29th 2008 9:25PM
Look! An annoying fanboy!
Didn't realize they still let those things out in the wild
Mr.ESC @ Jun 29th 2008 9:31PM
“Didn't realize they still let those things out in the wild”
The government reduced the budget of the pounds so sometimes one or two fanboys escape.Don’t worry I called the pound and they should be here any minute now to put this fanboy our of his misery.
Foetoid @ Jun 29th 2008 9:41PM
"Look! An annoying fanboy! Didn't realize they still let those things out in the wild"
*Pulls out Pokedex and hears electronic voice*:
Fanboymon. The Pre-evolution of Fernandomon. These small fat pokemon are devoid of all logic, intellect and reason. When they see something pretty they latch onto it and refuse to look at anything else. Only when one attaches to a Wii, do they evolve into Fernandomon.
Raikage (GOLDEN Gun Of The Patriots) @ Jun 29th 2008 9:46PM
Seriously Xbox fan dude, you need to answer this, do you like MGS4 or any of "Sony's" games for that matter? Or are you really that sad that you have to hate an amazing game because it's on a certain system?
I HAAAAAAAAAAAAATE the PS2 (Seriously, It killed my family and burned down a local orphanage...), But I still LOOOOOOOOOOOVE MGS 2&3, Shadow of the Colossus and a few more... don't let the dislike of a company/system keep you from playing these amazing games!
Mr.ESC @ Jun 29th 2008 9:56PM
Foetoid did you just mixed Pokemon with Digimon? You,you INFIDEL.
ThePerfectCompanion @ Jun 29th 2008 10:02PM
@ raikage
I watched some guys play it at a friends house, played it for like 10 mins and quit (explanation down below) and here's my honest to God thoughts...
Lots of cutscenes. Possibly too many. BUT I know a lot of MGS fanboys love that aspect of the series. Also I'll admit that the storyline and the world that the maker of the game series created does require a lot of explanation and dialogue which I can appreciate...
Gameplay wise I was intrigued by the "stealth" aspect. However in a way it was sorta frustrating watching a person play it just cuz it did get a LIL boring after a while. Plus it seemed at certain points in the game that it was IMPOSSIBLE to use "stealth" to accomplish your mission. I don't know if you get what I mean? Also I'm really fond of the 360 controller and while I was playing all I could think about was just how weird/uncomfortable the ps3 controller felt. It just felt awkward moving around, shooting, etc.
Character wise it was awesome. Liquid Ocelot may be the best villain of the year. It had lots of funny parts. The sequence with Meryl and Johnny where he OR should I say she proposes is hilarious. Loved the shootout. The B&B Gang was awesome. Loved Drebin's explanation of their past. Very interesting bosses to say the least. In short I found all the characters interesting to some degree even though it was my first time deeply exploring the game.
Graphically it was stunning.
Overall I felt it was interesting but I just didn't feel the absolute desire to rush out and buy a ps3 to play the game thru.
If it came to the 360 I'd probably pick it up just because of the controller and wanting to watch all the cutscenes from start to finish.
I think Final Fantasy XII and FF XIII Vs will truly be the test as to whether or not I avoid buying the ps3...
B @ Jun 29th 2008 10:07PM
@The_Punisher
Bit ironic that you jumped on him for being a fanboy when you make comments like, "Nice to watch MS die", "
If he's not Solid Snake, yawn.", "So how's life under a rock? Microsoft been treating you nice?", and pretty much everything Xbox exclusive to you is 'disappointing'.
playwhutyalike @ Jun 29th 2008 9:23PM
Hm. *back to playing Lego Indiana Jones*
Superstar90 @ Jun 29th 2008 9:24PM
Clearly Nintendo is stockpiling DS's for when DQ9 comes out lol...
On that subject, is it true that it's illegal for Square to release that game on Sunday because on one will go to work on monday?
It sounds ridiculous (I think it's pure BS), but Japan does love Dragon Quest...
Raikage (GOLDEN Gun Of The Patriots) @ Jun 29th 2008 9:28PM
Actually it is SERIOUSLY illegal for a DQ game to be released on a school day. I'm not even kidding.
Fernando Rocker @ Jun 29th 2008 9:28PM
Well... they can't release Dragon Quest on weekdays... the game is huge in Japan.
Regarding sales, Dragon Quest is a bigger seller than Final Fantasy in Japan.
Superstar90 @ Jun 29th 2008 9:49PM
That's whack lol, if that's the case, Nintendo need to make the DS go 5th so they can keep all those units for launch day.
Actually, DS will jump up again in July when the DQ5 remake comes out. I just can't wait for it to come to NA.
Donald @ Jun 30th 2008 3:04PM
It's not illegal, but it is a Square/Enix policy to not release new Dragon Quest games on weekdays.
WRE (PSN: WorstReviewEver; Gamertag: HaloKissesBoys; Wii Friend Code: 4204-4590-6106-3583) @ Jun 29th 2008 10:17PM
Remember last week when el serpiente, tmac and a shitload of Sony fanboy lurkers came out of the woodwork to declare that the Wii and 360 were officially dead and that 2008 was the year of the PS3? Yeah, good times. Hey, where are those guys?
Fernando Rocker @ Jun 29th 2008 10:21PM
More like the week of the PS3.
John McPoop (PSN:johnnynumber5) @ Jun 29th 2008 10:32PM
The game is awesome though ... MGS 4 that is ... How is Wii Fit treating you Fernando?
I know I still have to get up with you ...
Mr.ESC @ Jun 29th 2008 10:37PM
They are still here but this trap is too obvious, they will wait to a negative article about either Xbox 360 or Wii to declare victory or Sony to defend.
I don’t know why fanboys do this. When I was a PSP fanboy PSP fanboys received a lot of crap from ds fanboys in the forums and I was in charge to keep PSP forums clean (I got the Janitor from hell achievement) but I never gave a damn, I kept waiting for MK:U and the end I got MK:U and it sucked but I got so many good games at the end that I didn’t care.
Some guy then recommend me System wars ,he told I would be perfect for that he said:
Yada yada yada I got perma-banned 4 times.
Then I got a Ds to see what the buzz was all about, it was fun and I bought a few games for it. I’m still waiting for the new Kirby game but I haven’t played a JRPG since I don’t like them, in fact I was disappointed about Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.
Seriously why “Fire Pokemon” are so useless in story mode?
Mr.ESC @ Jun 29th 2008 10:41PM
Maybe is just me but MGS4 would sell more if the limited packs weren't so limited.
I would love to buy a PS3 with MGS4,instead I have to wait for the MGS4 bundles that could never arrive here and like hell I’m buying a Ps3 without MGS4 or Killzone 2,okay maybe I would buy a bundle with Socom or God of war 3.
Donald @ Jun 29th 2008 10:47PM
Wait till next year! Then we'll see who's laughing! HA!
tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 29th 2008 11:16PM
Don't fucking put words in my mouth I never said anything was dead. I WISH the wii died, but i'm not dumb enough to believe it will anytime soon.
I'm just amazed a game system can continue to sell with nearly nothing out for it. Maybe one day I'll understand this simple minded animal called the casual gamer.
Donald @ Jun 29th 2008 11:42PM
Yeah tmac, I wonder why the PSP is selling well also.
ThePerfectCompanion @ Jun 29th 2008 11:45PM
I'm also curious how the sony fanboy tmac will explain this occurrence...
WRE (PSN: WorstReviewEver; Gamertag: HaloKissesBoys; Wii Friend Code: 4204-4590-6106-3583) @ Jun 29th 2008 11:45PM
"I'm just amazed a game system can continue to sell with nearly nothing out for it."
That's pretty weak coming from a PS3 fanboy. The Wii had a couple of must-have exclusives within a year of launch. The PS3 just got its first one.
"Maybe one day I'll understand this simple minded animal called the casual gamer."
I know, right? It must take a fucking genius to blindly support Sony."
playwhutyalike @ Jun 29th 2008 11:50PM
Yep, all the systems except Xbox dropped. PS3's just fell alot farther than everybody else. Oh well.
Bitching and crying about anything you will never own is just stupid. Especially if you have to type out your thoughts in an internet forum. Believe me, I know, I bitched about GH and RB till I got my mind right by a certain Joystiq member.
Go ahead, check my comments. I'm not afraid to hide what I say so someone can use it against me later.
Mal F4cti0n @ Jun 29th 2008 11:52PM
Hope you guys realize that the small sales of the PS3 could be because they ran out of stock.
I wouldn't be surprised if next week there was a spike in PS3 sales due to restocking.
And why the hell did the 360 gain over there? Did they just release some new titty jigglin' on it over there or something? Maybe the Japanese are finally starting to fall in love with multiplayer games and it is finally catching on?
el serpiente @ Jun 30th 2008 12:27AM
lol @ Worst Review Ever
OH NOES, PS3 DINT SELLS AS MUCH AS DA LAST MONTH. HIDE UNDAH DE CARDBORD BOX AND BEEE VEWY QUIETS!
I pity you, that you actually bother to remember anything that anyone said on a videogames blog a month ago.
tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 30th 2008 12:33AM
I don't consider their usual rehashing of the same franchises must have titles anymore. Maybe back when they were fresh in 1996, but not 2007-2008. They should try putting some effort into creating a new game.
I'm an xbox fanboy too assholes, it's just not really worth even bringing up when talking about japanese sales.
zuburi @ Jun 30th 2008 12:35AM
Okay, I stay out of this lameness because I have all three systems and equate brand loyalty with being an asshole.
That being said, I almost fell out of my chair laughing when the guy above me said that maybe the poor PS3 sales were due to them being out of stock.
Thanks for the free entertainment you guys.
WRE (PSN: WorstReviewEver; Gamertag: HaloKissesBoys; Wii Friend Code: 4204-4590-6106-3583) @ Jun 30th 2008 12:57AM
"I pity you, that you actually bother to remember anything that anyone said on a videogames blog a month ago."
It was last week.
CGamble20 @ Jul 1st 2008 1:04PM
Hahaha...I'm sorry, but that was just a great close to this comment thread.
Foetoid @ Jun 29th 2008 10:18PM
Nope actually i've never watched Digimon. Geez i thought that comment of mine was the funniest and wittiest thing i've ever read on here (god i crack myself up sometimes). I thought it'd be +100 for that :( WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO PLEASE YOU PEOPLE LOL
Foetoid @ Jun 29th 2008 10:20PM
OMFG this reply system is bollocks!. Have any of you checked out MyWii.com.au, MyPs3.com.au and My360.com.au? They are some of the best gaming social sites ever cause of the ease of posting and topic discussion. Joystiq needs to fix this up. My comment was meant to be for Mr Esc further up :(
Levi @ Jun 30th 2008 4:10AM
Hey man, GTFO with your, "Ehhh, the comment system is so better at ______," and, "_______ does it way better. Joystiq's comment system is fucked up, and we like it that way.
Oh, and I did like your previous comment by the way. I [+]'ed it
Slayer @ Jun 29th 2008 11:15PM
meh fanyboys arguing on the internet is liek runnign in the special Olympics
even if u win ur still retarded
Donald @ Jun 29th 2008 11:48PM
Meh, typing with horrible spelling is like making a recycled, unfunny joke.
Even if it turns out ok you still look like an idiot.
Slayer @ Jun 29th 2008 11:56PM
Well that certainly didn't go over well. It's just a joke dude. It's really not that hard to scroll past it if it annoyed you that much, but whatever.