Wii Music debuts at No. 1 in Japan

by Ross Miller { Oct 23rd 2008 at 10:15AM }

Another day, another bajillion dollars. Sure, we all may give Wii Music some flak, but we never thought for a second that the game wouldn't sell like gangbusters. In its first week of release, Nintendo's rhythm experiment moved 92,000 units, according to Famitsu (via Ch art Get!). That's about half of Wii Sports' first week of sales in Japan (approx. 182,000, via VG Chartz) -- and that launched unbundled alongside the console.

Rounding out the top 5 software for the week of October 13 to 19 are Pokémon Platinum (DS; 72,000), Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida Or 2 (PSP; 59,000), Rhythm Tengoku Gold (DS; 51,000) and Culdcept DS (50,000). According to the data, the top 30 was comprised of 14 titles for DS, 8 for Wii, 4 each for PSP and PS2 and zilch for PS3 and Xbox 360. The Media Create figures will be out this weekend. We won't get the North American sales data from NPD until next month.

[Via CVG]

Tags: japan, nintendo, softwaresales, wii-music

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Alvin @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:19AM

no surprise there

ExMcCloud @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:23AM

You know what Alvin....There is suprise....Im pissed....After looking at your scowling SACK BOY(how did that name make it past marketing) I cant cotrol my rage.....HOW is nintendo so good at marketing mediocre games...HOW....I don't understand....They are single handedly building the Game market to titanic size BUT they are also making our LIFE STYLE so commercial, every N00B, little kid, and Madden Player on the planet will think they are a gamer now.......Who would have thought...GAMING is cool now? I guess Hell froze over....sigh

The-E @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:42AM

Deep breaths.....

jarhead906 @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:11AM

I feel your pain ExMcCloud.

Nintendo is spewing forth nothing but mediocrity and conforming gaming into something everyone can do (you know what I mean).

I come home for Fall Break and guess what I see in my living room? Oh! A Wii Fit board. My mother had seen one commercial for it and went out thinking it would be so fun and she'd exercise / lose weight significantly. Its going to collect dust just like the Wii console is currently doing. (Note: my lil brother got a Wii and now has his own PS3 and doesn't touch the Wii)

I lol'd at the comment how Madden players think they qualify as gamers.

Duke @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:18AM

I thought it was scary how Yahoo shows Wii Music as one of their top searches today. So be prepared Ex, there are a lot more "gamers" coming out of the woodwork.

Hell, I bet someone's grandma is sayin she's l33t at WiiFit in some sewing club right now.

ExMcCloud @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:22AM

DUKE its not funny...We are about to become extinct..lolz....I mean Even Itagaki one of the most hardcore developers out there said that Ninja Gaiden 2 had been reworked so even the casual players could get into it...Thats why they put a easy mode from jump....Its like we are slowly dying off for these new easy loving grandmothers and children who look at games as entertainment....I see ART...They see 30 minutes of time to kill or a babysitter for the kids!

Games ARE ART!!!! I think?

Mr Khan @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:28AM

Deep breaths is a good term. Your Ninja Gaiden example is flawed, because that was a game that needed to be made more accessible even to reach the bulk of core gamers, many of whom found the difficulty maddening

Accessibility is the wave of the future, but unless everyone reading this site goes broke in the next few years (possible, if everyone here has invested heavily in housing securities), our money won't just evaporate. Even if core becomes niche, it's still a very powerful niche (as strong software sales of core games on all platforms represent)

ExMcCloud @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:36AM

Sorry I don't think its flawed...Ninja Gaiden was hard yet forgiving....Thats why its one of the best games ever....Not including the great level design and fighting system.....When striving to make it more accessible they made it so easy my little cousin(a non gamer) picked it up and beat it in 3 days....I don't think that's right....Some games I feel should be reserved for US, or atleast people who want to put in the TIME and EFFORT to master and really appreciate what it represented....We were the whole reason the game got a sequel and the first damn place......When EVERYBODY can do something it losses appeal, it happened to all popular music, and its gonna happen to games...I think thats bad.

Killjebus @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:57AM

Like I have been saying for nearly 2 years...Nintendo is DEvolving gaming as we know it. This is and will continue to be the biggest reason as to my hatred of the WSM.

I am appauled by the Japanese sheep buying the latest crap that Nintendo has spewed upon them. (b4 you cry racist...I am half-Japanese and I lived in Japan for 4 years)

I can only hope with the release of LBP that the Japanese start wanting to be in the 21st Century again. I also am GLAD that the 360 is starting to do better there, so that HD consoles made with technology from THIS Century will hopefully flourish.

FUCK THE WII and FUCK THE PLUMBER

Markez @ Oct 23rd 2008 12:12PM

Oh, I didn't know Madden players weren't allowed to call themselves gamers.

tmacairjordan87 @ Oct 23rd 2008 12:29PM

@Markez

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqf2spb7PjA

Now do you think they're gamers?

borland502 (SDF Macross) @ Oct 23rd 2008 12:43PM

Simmer down emo Cloud. I'm sure the intelligensia of the time felt the same way about the printing press: "Gawdamn it good boy, now I must read the trash novels of petty plebes."

So fuck yeah, if you don't want to grind level after eternal level. Or you don't play Space Marine #3 on Ancient Artifact 4...you don't belong. Go back to abusing our pastime, we like it that way!

UltimateQ @ Oct 23rd 2008 2:13PM

None of you dudes have even tried it. Your just judging the book by its cover. Mind you that's easy to do. I did the same thing, I think Wii Music looks lame. But who knows, maybe there is more to it than what meets the eye. (psssh HAHAHAHAH)

TwEE @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:03PM

First, wii music and then Resident Evil 5. Can you believe they are dumbing down the controls perfected in the first few resident evil games to something more like the controls from Gears of war? NEWS FLASH REAL GAMERS DONT want that.. REAL Gamers don't even play Gears of war.. Its beneath them.

I saw this guy buying Gears of war in future shop they other day.. who did he think he was trying to pose as a gamer, and with such a low class game? So I did what any right thinking gamer would do, followed him around the store and educated him over and over again (much like the fine gentlemen tmacairjordan87 and Killjebus do on every nintendo post) about the wrongness of his choice. I even tried to pull the copy from his hand and replace it with a few RTS games but he got pissed..WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!?!

Gaming as we know it is dooooomed!

Metal Geario 360 @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:47PM

Im going to agree with Alvin.

No surprise.

Japans market is just that, Japan's. They're taste in alot of things i find to be very niche. I could go on, but i don't want to come off as berating the Japanese, which im not.

All i know is if anyone "i know", buys this, i will give them 2 minutes to puff they're cheeks out while waggling a saxophone before i hurl they're Wii across the room. *Guess i wont be invited over again...

/cries

Xfire40 @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:21AM

In other news: Nintendo making new headquarters of money

Xfire40 @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:22AM

*out of money.
(shouldn't type while eating >:( )

Deeznuts420 @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:54AM

eating money?

PSN: HinchyFC @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:23AM

bleh. :|

ryan @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:30AM

EDIT: Site pimping.

baby sea tuna @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:35AM

I was hoping that link was something clever. Unfortunately you're just a spamfuck who's just been reported. Good job.

ryan @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:40AM

why does it have to spam, i dindt tell u to click any link you dumbfuck!!

Jack of No Trades 85 @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:48AM

Hey Ryan

FUCK OFF!

ryan @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:56AM

Jack of No Trades 85 @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:31AM

Thats alot of idiots.

Duke @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:20AM

In before someone attacks because you said "alot".

Jack of No Trades 85 @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:39AM

Forgive me, I live in Wichita, Kansas.

WRE @ Oct 23rd 2008 12:16PM

Witchita, huh? So you DO know a lot about idiots...

Ashraam @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:03PM

One good thing about living in Wichita (I live just outside of Wichita, myself.) is that when people spell it "Witchita" it makes it that much easier to spot said idiots. ;)

(No offense meant to WRE. I just couldn't resist pointing that error out, since so many people do it.)

WRE @ Oct 23rd 2008 7:30PM

Aw shit. Thanks for pointing that out, Ashraam. I almost got away with it!

Questworld @ Oct 24th 2008 2:28AM

Don't start Jack. How many self-professed "hardcore" gamers got "suckered" into buying a game that was niche/unpopular or something later they'd considered "not worth it." I'm willing to be you're no guru of good taste or good judgment with regards to what you might think you like or is good for you, let alone label others as idiots just because they may like this game.

baby sea tuna @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:32AM

Shocked and/or awed.

What, no new Monster Hunter game over there this week?

Dirty @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:33AM

You cant get mad about this. Its like getting pissed because tickle me elmo is selling well.

This isn't a game for us (except Mr Kahn Im guessing).

ExMcCloud @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:43AM

I can get mad...lmao....Tickle me Elmo is what we thought it was....It Was WHAT WE THOUGHT IT WAS!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDAq5tyfk9E

But any way they wanted to show Wii Music at E3 the biggest gaming convention of the year....Go show that shit at the Elmo convention not at my supposedly hardcore gaming convention! Gah!!!

Miguel @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:50AM

I agree with Dirty, good analogy.

Now if Wii fanboys start coming around saying Wii Music is a better music game than Rock Band or Guitar Hero then you might have a bone to pick.

t_m @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:30AM

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=UguxIQMsmr0

Mr Khan @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:32AM

My defense of the game isn't out of any personal desire to play it, i'm just trying to set the record straight, to invalidate the idea that it's just a fischer-price game

It can be, if that's all you want to make of it, but it can be quite a bit more. Personally even with that expanded functions, i (not caring much for music games period) wouldn't get much out of it, certainly not $50 worth.

I could just imagine the same crew of people still putting out the occasional Mario Paint MIDI tune tooling around with this for hours, fine-tuning their takes on various Nintendo, classical, and old-pop beats.

Vcize @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:48AM

And American Idol and Dancing With The Stars have by far the highest ratings of any TV shows every year.

What a f***ed up world we live in.

WRE @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:48AM

Okay, so I picked up Wii Music last night along with Far Cry 2, Order of Ecclesia and Dragon Quest 4. It was a present for my wife, who is currently 37 weeks pregnant and on bed rest. Anyway, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and my 2 year old nephew brought over some dinner so I broke it out to show them. Long story short, we spent the next hour trying out different instruments and goofing around. My nephew started crying when we finally put it away.

Guys, he was CAPTIVATED. Now, I know you're thinking, "Exactly, it's a game for babiez, lol." But as I'm about to become a dad, it's nice to know that I'll be able to share my hobby with my child even when he's very young. Nintendo is opening this gaming thing to everyone and I'm starting to see this as a very good thing. Vote me down if you want, but I'm a believer.

ExMcCloud @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:51AM

I can't vote you down for that...You talked about your son playing video games.....Its a great thing. lolz

killroy420 @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:57AM

You know, the moment I read in reviews how awesome it is as a game for kids, I started contemplating buying it. My daughter and her three cousins that live right next door LOVE playing Rock Band. Unfortunately they aren't very good because the mechanics are too involved for them. Wii music on the other hand has their kind of music, plus intuitive controls that I could see them enjoying it for a long time.

WRE @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:03AM

Killroy420,
Yeah, Jennifer from 1up really nailed it in her review. It's not really in the same category as GH or RB since those are rhythm games and Wii Music is a music game. I would highly recommend picking it up for your kids. As soon as my nephew heard Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star he was hooked.

t_m @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:32AM

I like the improv ability. Its not a game (as in something with a challenge) its something to experiment with, almost sandbox style.

Its almost closer to LBP than GH in its philosophy.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=UguxIQMsmr0

koehler83 @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:50AM

It's really no wonder that nothing good comes out of Japan anymore. Why should developers over there try and create a genuinely exciting product, when this.. THIS can debut at #1? (Along with WiiFit.)

All the Japan devs out there who feel they're falling behind the west, just point your finger at Nintendo.

The do what Capcom is doing and forget about Japan and cater to North America and Europe, first and foremost.

Mr Khan @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:33AM

The myth lives on

ExMcCloud @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:51AM

I can't vote you down for that...You talked about your son playing video games.....Its a great thing. come on me we're not cold hearted

Dirty @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:19AM

I really want to though. I hate kids, filthy beasts all of them.

killroy420 @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:53AM

Wii Music selling well is really no surprise for several reasons

(1) Shigeru Miyamoto is Japan's premiere developer, meaning people will blindly buy what he produces just because he is the one that produced it.

(2) Wii owners are getting desperate for new software that doesn't have "Bratz" or "Circus" or any Japanese equivalents.

(3) Wii Music is admittedly a "different" experience, which is what the Wii is all about; and people buy different.

(4) Did I mention that Shiggy produced it?

(5) It is a party game and great for kids, which is the core audience of the Wii at this point.