ASCII Media Works tracks Japan's top selling games of 2009 (so far)

Not a bad list. I'd say 12 of those games are pretty good.

Wonder why Platinum did so bad in Japan, in comparisson to the other Pokemon titles.

Yay for Monster Hunter(s)!

What's this Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G ---> [PSP the Best]

Am I the only one who saw "ASCII" and thought for a second it might mean "Assassin's Creed 2"?

Maybe, but I stand by the resemblance.

Crazy, I thought WKC had sold somewhere near 400K over there in it's first couple weeks. Oh well crazy people and their crazy Wii games.

Dragon Quest, Pokemon, Final Fantasy, and Monster Hunter.

Yep, that's a list from Japan

"Yes, the year technically isn't over yet -- but let's be honest: Nobody's going to be buying any new games over the next four days."

I dunno.. I think FF XIII might be able to take #3 if we can get numbers for it up to store closings on 12/31...

What's new.. basically japanese games for japanese gamers from japanese developers on japanese consoles crack the top 30 in Japan. :)

@JRM,

While your theories may have some validity, I think you may be forgetting some key things. “Group and class based RPG” mechanics in “JRPGs” are actually all inspired by Dungeons and Dragons, which originated in America and popularized those concepts in the 1970s, perhaps a decade before “JRPG” video games really began their rise to fame. Every D&D game is about party-based and class-based play.

D&D itself was at least partially inspired by the fame of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, which is a book of “party-based” characters, each of whom have rigid roles to fill in terms of racial abilities, skills, and combat preferences (Legolas the dexterous elf archer, Gimli the strong dwarven axe user, Gandalf the intelligent magic wielder). LOTR came out in the 1950s.

I think people like Tmac should stop confusing their opinions with fact. And for people who only like Western RPGs, FPS and sandlot action games, YES, i do understand why you may feel uncomfortable with this list. But please remeember it has one or more entries is from each of the following, which make up some of the most classic and the most popular series of all time. And in each case, they're pretty damn good entries in the respective series I might add:

Super Mario = Check
Mario Kart = Check
Mario & Luigi RPG = Check
Monster Hunter = Check
Professor Layton = Check
Dragon Warrior = Check
Phantasy Star = Check
Final Fantasy = Check
Resident Evil = Check
Tales = Check
Pokemon = Check
Taiko Drum Master = Check

Some of us still like platformers, JRPGs, Adventure games, and third person shooters! On top of all the classics, there's still room for some newer Nintendo Franchises like Wii Sports Resort, Rhythm Heaven, Tomodachi/Mii Collection, Wagamama, and Wii Fit.

You also have to remember that b/c of this, they continue to get games we don't get, whether it's RPGs, Fatal Frame, new Nintendo IPs like Disaster and Captain Rainbow, or even retail releases of franchises once popluar in the West like Bombmerman (Japan got a fleshed out Wii game several times as big as our Wii/PSN/Live releases). Hell, my fingers are crossed that we get Sin and Punishment 2!