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This Week In Sales: Christmas Works Its Magic

By Ishaan . December 28, 2011 . 4:32pm

Period: The week of December 19th – December 25th (2011)

Top-seller: Mario Kart 7 – 260,836

Nintendo 3DS sales: 482,200 | Total sales: 4,084,190

PlayStation Vita sales: 72,479 | Total sales: 397,338

Media-Create’s sales figures back up what Enterbrain reported earlier this week: Christmas saw Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 cross the 1 million mark in Japan, while Nintendo 3DS sales crossed 4 million. Monster Hunter 3G had another week of reasonably strong sales as well, and should cross the million mark itself in about two weeks’ time.

3DS saw a new release last week, too: SD Gundam G Generation 3D, which had a very nice 3DS bundle. This game sold close to 91,000 copies in its first week. For the curious, here are first week sales of the PSP G Generation titles:

SD Gundam G Generation Portable (2006): 155,634

SD Gundam G Generation World (2011): 192,981

Future SD Gundam G Generation titles will likely sell more as the 3DS acquires a greater user base over time.

Tecmo Koei released Warriors Orochi 2 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 last week, too. While the 360 version didn’t chart, the PlayStation 3 version sold 200,526 copies. Further down the list, Inazuma Eleven Strikers Xtreme 2012, an upgraded re-release of Inazuma Eleven Strikers, sold about 10k more than the original in its first week.

Overall, you can see the holiday effect in all its glory in the sales chart below. Several Wii and DS titles third and first-party titles received boosts from the holidays (compared to the week prior), and even Mario Kart Wii made a return to the top-20. Konami’s new Magician’s Quest title on the DS is doing well, too, and I expect we’ll see it brought back on the 3DS sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately, PlayStation Vita sales took a steep dive, with only 72,000 Vita devices selling during the week. No Vita software was present in the top-20, and the system was outsold by the PSP by a wide margin (PSP sold 100k). Meanwhile, Konami’s Frontier Gate, released last week on PSP, failed to chart in the top-20.

The full top-20 for the week is as follows:

Lw	Tw	Title	Weekly Sales	Total Sales	Sys.	Publisher
03.	01.	Mario Kart 7	260,836	1,050,706	3DS	Nintendo
New	02.	Warriors Orochi 2	200,526	New	PS3	Tecmo Koei
05.	03.	Super Mario 3D Land	174,566	1,011,709	3DS	Nintendo
02.	04.	Monster Hunter 3G	155,069	885,456	3DS	Capcom
01.	05.	Final Fantasy XIII-2	118,816	643,033	PS3	Square Enix
06.	06.	Kirby’s Return to Dreamland	114,545	513,061	Wii	Nintendo
09.	07.	Just Dance Wii	96,771	420,064	Wii	Nintendo
New	08.	SD Gundam: G Generation 3D	90,873	New	3DS	Namco Bandai
04.	09.	Inazuma Eleven Go: Shine/Dark	86,026	221,285	3DS	Level 5
New	10.	Inazuma Eleven Strikers Xtreme 2012	85,117	New	Wii	Level 5
11.	11.	Wii Party	71,461	2,200,697	Wii	Nintendo
New	12.	Magical Lyrical Girl Nanoha A’s Portable: The Gears of Destiny	57,320	New	PSP	Namco Bandai
10.	13.	PokéPark 2: Beyond the World	55,344	219,362	Wii	Nintendo
17.	14.	Taiko no Tatsujin: Definitive Edition	55,256	155,539	Wii	Namco Bandai
13.	15.	Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games	52,611	117,185	Wii	Nintendo
New	16.	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Dubbed Version)	51,156	New	PS3	Square Enix
12.	17.	Magician’s Quest: The Stylish Wizard	50,074	131,184	DS	Konami
20.	18.	One Piece: Gigant Battle 2 New World	49,921	257,379	DS	Namco Bandai
16.	19.	Wii Sports Resort	48,929	782,975	Wii	Nintendo
21.	20.	Mario Kart Wii	43,752	3,428,903	Wii	Nintendo

Sales data acquired from 4Gamer, Media-Create and Geimin.net.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Kamek20xxExtra?feature=mhee Michael Stevens
I’m so happy that Mario Kart 7 is at the top (even though I still don’t have the game yet) and Super Mario 3D Land’s still in the Top 5. X3
“PlayStation Vita sales took a steep dive, with only 72,000 Vita devices selling during the week. No Vita software was present in the top-20, and the system was outsold by the PSP by a wide margin (PSP sold 100k.)”
Oh…..well I heard from one person here before (who showed a video) that the Vita had many errors when released in Japan, so maybe that’s why? Either that or getting all the necessary accessories is too expensive for them…..or the Vita itself is too expensive there? Those are my guesses…..

http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
I doubt the launch firmware issues had much bearing on sales.
It’s more a question of price + lack of software that sells well + 3DS.

James Beatty
…and MH 3G. That probably has something to do with it. Or at least that’s my guess.

Testsubject909
When MH Vita comes out, sales will probably start shifting again.
After all… high crisp graphics, twin analog stick Monster Hunter action will probably move quite a few.

James Beatty
MH 4 will have both those things on the 3DS ;)

http://www.crunchyroll.com/user/ArtFanIam Samantha Stevens
Won’t they get even more weary about the PSvita because of those issues? Isn’t the news about the issues spreading across Japan or something? :/

James Beatty
Yeah, but that won’t stop most people from buying it especially with the news being so late. But i am surprised there where so many problems out at launch. Didn’t sony delay it to get games, get enough stock, and work on the firmware? That’s what i understood. :/
malek86
I don’t think so. First, with today’s technology, people have got somewhat used to stuff not working too well. Look at how the RROD didn’t seem to affect 360 sales all that much. And second, they are minor issues, since you just know that a firmware release will be issued quickly, like it always happens.
Price and lack of games seem to be more likely reasons, as well as the 3DS stealing its thunder. Also the PSP still being an attractive purchase doesn’t help.

Testsubject909
The RRoD probably helped the 360 sales since Microsoft was making profit off each unit early and with fanboys desperately wanting to keep playing their new shiny games and show off, they needed to dish out extra.
Though that’s only if you don’t consider the replacement 360s they’d get.
That said I always wondered if they counted the replacement 360 as a “sold” unit…

http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
It’s pretty much what @malek86:disqus said. Patches and firmware updates aren’t uncommon in this day and age. PSP itself was constantly updated with new firmware, so I’m sure people are used to it.

riceisnice
Well, In Japan, The PS Vita is freakishly expensive. And with Japan’s economy not doing so hot and all… It’s still not bad. I’d be a little concern if I was Sony though.
http://twitter.com/DanijoEX DanijoEX
Somehow I figured Mario Kart 7 would have good sales.
I’m hoping the Vita will catch-up.
James Beatty
Hell yeah! the 3DS is kicking ass and it’s still at number one since the price drop :P

Testsubject909
For handhelds in general? If so I’d think the DS would be number 1…
If you mean in the next generation handheld. Well, it had one huge lead from an early release so I don’t really see how they’d feasably get knocked off that spot.
You really should give it a few years before you start spouting things like that with such pride.
And no, not mad. Just bored.

Fritzroy Woods
He means the price drop- and sales wise.
Ever since the drop its been number 1 in JP.
Vita’s launch/christmas was the only threat of that being taken away-
and now that its failed to do so theres nothing stopping the 3ds from keeping the tittle until April. JP has a crap ton of games arriving in Q1.
James Beatty
Talking about sales per month. The 3DS has been in the number one spot in japan since the price drop.

http://tristsantithesis.tumblr.com/ Tsunayoshi Sawada
Nintendo isnt really allowing for their competition to actually survive. I think they may have done too much too fast with the release of Mario Kart 7, Super Mario 3D Land, and then having Capcom to do 3G as well. I wonder if Nintendo is looking back and wondering if price dropping the system was even necessary. It seems to be the same issue they ran into with Wii where they were selling so many that they could have really charged for higher price to make more.
Price drop for Vita incoming before release in western territories…unless of course this is in line with Sony’s expectations, which we never hear of. I guess selling less units at a loss is good news.
Oh and in other news, excellent for One Piece. Shonen battle series games are the best games and genre ever and its amazing to see the DS’s 2nd best game this year chart (after the phenomenal Bakuman game)

malek86
“I guess selling less units at a loss is good news.”
Well, the whole point of selling at a loss is because you want to sell more. So, no.
But I’d say the 3DS price cut was indeed necessary. While the console was doing ok in Japan, in the other territories it was selling real badly.
James Beatty
I think the 3DS’s price drop was necessary, at least to some point. If they had these games ready about 3 months ago they could have done without it but $250 really is TOO much for a handheld now a days, unless you are dedicated to a company, but most consumers aren’t. As for the vita’s price drop, i don’t think they can afford it. Sony said that they are selling it at a loss and they expect to keep selling at a loss for 3 years (i think it was for that long, Ishaan knows) so i don’t think they can afford to give it a price drop (at least not a significant one to drive sales like the ps3 and 3DS price drop), they already gave the memory cards a price drop but i think that’s where they expected to make some of their money back.

http://tristsantithesis.tumblr.com/ Tsunayoshi Sawada
I think Sony could price drop it $50 or so if they are serious about driving sales of it. They never said how much they were losing it, and I cant imagine that, under their leadership, it is HUGE losses that PS3 was. Plus with components coming down in price, they can probably make up the cost. I dont think memory cards received a price drop as Sony only officially announced them in the west last week or the week before.

James Beatty
I saw an article that the memory cards where now about $10 cheaper each. I don’t know if it’s true though. I think i saw it at destructoid. As for the price drop of the actual system, i thought i heard that it was estimated that they where losing approx. $20-30+ bucks. Don’t know if it’s accurate, but i doubt they will give it a $50 price drop anytime soon. They CAN but i don’t think sony would. They have lost enough money with the ps3 this gen and they just started making money off of it, I don’t think they will start selling another console and they plan on losing $50+ on each one just to try and compete.

xxbrothawizxx
In NA MK7 and Super Mario 3D Land are definitely killing the competition and setting the stage for terrible third party sales, but in Japan the situation isn’t nearly as bad. Many NA 3DS would buy a 3DS and only buy Mario games while many Japanese owners still put up the cash for other franchises. I’m really just concerned for Resident Evil Revelations. I’m not sure that Capcom is expecting the game to do unbelievably well ($50 price backlash, relatively small core audience that buys 3rd party franchises on Nintendo consoles) just because I think they likely will announce the game for another platform at E3 2012. The bad part is that Revelation’s performance will tell core developers whether the system is worth supporting.
I seriously doubt there will be a Vita price drop for a while. I think Sony said they didn’t expect the hardware to become profitable for 3 years.

http://www.facebook.com/jsivenegou Jaden Sivenegou
While it is true, that MK7 and the rest of the First-Party titles are really getting the 3DS back on track, I doubt third-party will suffer in the long run, contrary to what most think, the Nintendo community is pretty strong with Third-Party games (Hell if memory serves, both RE4 on GameCube and Wii we’re one of Nintendo’s best selling TP games) And taking into account how well SSFIV3D and DOA:D did in sells, I’m quite confident the games that follow (MGS, RE, and TEKKEN, etc.) Will have no problem picking up core/casual consumers. The 3DS all in all sends a message way past it’s 3D “gimmick” IMO and devs. Are seeing it too, with all the strong pre/post launch support and really fleshing the underestimated power that the handheld holds. As for Vita, I’m sure like the 3DS it will find its bearings in due time, while I am quite surprised at the numbers it’s nothing they can’t bounce back from like Nintendo.^_^

malek86
A much faster drop than the 3DS, and during the biggest holiday week no less. That is certainly not very encouraging for Sony. I thought the console was gonna have trouble, but this is actually below my expectations.

http://tristsantithesis.tumblr.com/ Tsunayoshi Sawada
I think its interesting, 3DS really had no competition when it released beyond PSP. PS Vita has competition, perhaps people should have scaled down expectations. Oh well I wonder how it will do outside of holiday?

Shadow_Raskolnik
While I’m still hoping that the PSVita will have enough juice to give the 3DS some decent competition seeing these numbers brings some doubt to mind. I mean this was one of the biggest sales season in the year and the system still managed to do poorly. Not to mention that compared to the 3DS Q1 software the PSVita’s own Q1 offerings are pretty much nothing.
But I think we should take a wait and see stance here, maybe it’s fortunes will turn.
malek86
That is true, but I would say that on holiday season, all platforms usually sell more. This drop is way too much. I thought it would stay at least above 120k for the second week.
But then, I also said that the PSP would start outselling it real quick. So this is just my prediction coming true sooner than I expected. So… I’m a genius, I guess?

http://tristsantithesis.tumblr.com/ Tsunayoshi Sawada
I think the PSP probably stole sales off the Vita to be honest. Oh well, low numbers this holiday means Vita will be up YoY for next holiday season :D

http://myfigurecollection.net/collection/ashgail Ashgail
I came into this post expecting a good figure and I nearly got a heart attack when I saw the figures.
http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
I think the question we have to ask ourselves at this point is, is there a real “need” for the Vita?
The PSP succeeded off the back of games that couldn’t be replicated on the DS. In situations where both systems received games from the same series, the DS variants tended to outsell the PSP ones (Kingdom Hearts in particular comes to mind).
In the case of 3DS, it’s both a DS and a PSP rolled into one. I don’t know what else you could ask for, honestly, and I’m sure a lot of Japanese developers see it that way, especially considering that they now have access to both the DS and PSP audiences on one single platform.
For all the shiny tech the Vita has rolled up inside it, there’s only a tiny fraction of developers who are ever really going to use it to make these huge budget HD-level games.
The issue here is that Sony need to create a need for the Vita to exist. I think one marketable opportunity is that they can encourage developers in Japan to include Vita in their cross-platform plans. That way, there’s a chance that the Vita version of certain games will sell decently in Japan (on account of being on a portable), while the console versions will do the job in the west.
The problem is, this requires a larger upfront investment on the part of the developer, and before most devs will consider it, it requires a game to lead the way, set the example, and show that it can be done.

malek86
Cross-platforming is interesting, but on a second thought, it would imply that you either need to make a console-styled game on a portable, or a portable-styled game on a console. Both of these cases have shown in the past (especially the first case) that they aren’t really too appreciated.
Unless you make two different versions, but that would make things even more expensive. Also, you’d need to have PS3 devkits too, which would kind of defeat the point of PSV devkits being super-cheap.

Testsubject909
We’ve already seen cross platform gaming with the Wii or the Gamecube, i can’t remember which one at the moment (I didn’t sleep, so my memory’s not working 100% properly).
But there was a Final Fantasy game I think that incorporated online multiplayer that functioned between portable and console.
Seems there’s already a few games that’re going to be working that way for the Vita.
http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
Yup, the added devcosts are the issue here. I see it being a benefit for bigger publishers. But then, smaller companies like NIS are probably going to develop for Vita anyway. Just that their games won’t make any difference to sales.
It’s possible that we’ll see a variant of the DS/PSP situation in the years to come. One will have the more high-profile, popular games, while the other will have more of moe niche titles. There’ll probably be a decent number of multiplatform games across both as well.
Right now, it looks like the trend is for adventure and visual novel-style games to be multiplat, which I’m happy about. Those are the games that really need a crutch to lean on and improve their sales, so hopefully this is a way to do it.

http://tristsantithesis.tumblr.com/ Tsunayoshi Sawada
You make it seem like we need a one handheld future? was handheld gaming that great when it was just game boy, game boy color, and gba on the market?
Couldnt we say the same thing for the consoles? Was there a need for an Xbox 360 or PS3?

http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
Not necessarily a one handheld future. Like I said below, I think Vita will provide an important space for niche developers who don’t have the talent to reach out to other markets, such as NIS and so on. Perhaps it’s best to have a separate platform for the usual moe/loli fluff that so many of these smaller developers put out, since it would be very difficult for them to compete on a platform with bigger, more high-profile games.
But in terms of the overall market, I have to wonder what the real “point” of Vita is. Sony did exactly what the vocal minority asked for: two analog sticks, a nice big screen with HD graphics, all sorts of expensive tech packed into the device.
However, the majority of the portable market doesn’t need or seem to be swayed by these things. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days sold really well, regardless of being a DS game with no analog stick and inferior graphics to Birth by Sleep. So did the Final Fantasy remakes. So did The World Ends With You. Tons of new I.P was developed on the DS by many, many different Japanese developers.
Then, after the DS more or less phased out, the PSP caught on and companies managed to churn out a few neat games that weren’t possible on the DS, and satisfied the need for portable PS2-level games.
Now that 3DS can do what both the DS and PSP could do, you’ve got to wonder what the Vita’s defining feature or market is. It’s not going to be the Android integration– the majority of people that want to play Android games will do it on their phones. It’s not going to be the dual analog sticks. (You know what my stance is on those. :P)
Sony have to “create” a market for the Vita, because the way I see it, people that like to play games on portables are perfectly fine with 3DS-level technology. The question is, CAN they create that market? They couldn’t do it on PSP. Capcom did it for them. Capcom will not be doing that again, so the question is, who will?
Also, about Xbox 360 and PS3: One could argue that PS3 was the worst decision SCE ever made. I mean, it’s making money for them now, but was it worth the financial strain it put on the company for those 3 or 4 years? They’re still feeling the effects of that one bad decision.
Oh, and yes. Handheld gaming was perfectly fine with just the Game Boy, GBC and GBA. The Wonderswan wasn’t even released outside of Japan. :P
James Beatty
”
was handheld gaming that great when it was just game boy, game boy color, and gba on the market?” ….yes

http://tristsantithesis.tumblr.com/ Tsunayoshi Sawada
From my knowledge handheld gaming almost died when it was just one on the market, wasnt it stated that without pokemon the game boy line would have failed? So the market couldnt have been great when it was just one, especially if it gave rise to needing another competitor in the field at the successor to the gba era.
http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
It was the other way around. The Game Boy was immensely successful thanks to Tetris and some other stuff, and Pokémon arrived just as the Game Boy was starting to phase out, which gave it a second life.

https://twitter.com/#!/Ojsinnerz Firo_Prochainezo
Nintendomination…. It’s sad to see the Vita numbers so low, but I’m sure it’ll go up when more quality titles hit!

http://twitter.com/Pedazodezoquete Gabriel
Give it time and games it will do well, just look at the PSP it got such a wonderful boost during the last years of it’s life.

Shadow_Raskolnik
That’s true, but it’s because the PSP had Monster Hunter to prop it up long enough for it to stage a comeback. The Vita doesn’t have anything of that caliber to help it for the next few months.
Also I’m pretty sure the PSP had a better second week in sales then the Vita is currently having.

Michael Vincent
What do you think are the key franchises that the PS vita needs on its system? The Trails franchise is what I’m thinking right now. But I don’t know what else.
Nintendo has fantastic franchises with fantastic name-recognition that they will almost always sell well. I can’t think of any for the PSP at the moment except for MH which is now on a Nintendo console.

PrinceHeir
in any case yes it’s very surprising FFXIII-2 dropping so fast then again we’ll wait to see how the western release fares well.
all in all it’ll probably like PS2-PS3.
sells at a slow start but it will pick up the pace once more and more developers invest on the system :D
Lexaus_the_Alchemist
Have to give Nintendo credit where it is due. With the high entry price negated and with some of their largest titles already in stores, I don’t think anyone could expect any less of those sales numbers. And with the next few months of 2012 being just as large, Nintendo doesn’t have anything to worry about on that front for a while.
Sony, on the other hand, does. Maybe it was because there wasn’t enough likable software with the launch (dunno how that’s possible). Maybe it was the relatively high entry price (price = hardware + memory card + a few games) for the new handheld (a bit more understandable). I guess we’ll really have to wait until it hits international waters and is around for at least 8 months (like the 3DS) before any real judgement of its worth can be made. At least the NA and EU launches should look a bit better with a more variety of games to choose from.

http://tristsantithesis.tumblr.com/ Tsunayoshi Sawada
Hm? It was expected that Nintendo would have large sales numbers. Nintendo themselves stated they sell most of their hardware and such during the holidays. It would have been unexpected if PS Vita or PSP sold more than Nintendo hardwares.

James Beatty
Most companies sell most of their hardware during the holidays. Also, most people where expecting the vita to beat out the 3DS, at least on it’s first month. At least that’s what most mainstream news articles said.

Michael Vincent
There where news like this too pre-3DS launch remember? And then what had happened? the 3DS majestically poorly. I am not a Sony Fanboy, but to be fair, I think we can always go down to the price.
Why?
3DS launch – high price with not so impressive titles = sold poorly
3DS price drop with not so impressive titles (except OOT) = 3DS sold average
Holidays + the current 3DS price + fantastic softwares = 3DS sold well.
I think the trend is always the price right now. The games just comes next (but also important.)
Another thing are the franchises. I think Monster Hunter hit the nail. If it was on the Sony Vita, I bet things will be a little bit different.

James Beatty
Well, reports are saying that the vita was being sold at a loss, so i don’t think they can do a tremendous price drop without losing a TON of money. The 3DS was overpriced because of the good publicity it was getting at e3, but nintendo could afford that price drop and they are now currently taking a loss. The $250 for the vita IS technically the price drop. That’s why everyone was shocked at it’s price when it was unveiled.
Michael Vincent
Hmm. I see. Then another price drop would be very very bad for Sony especially at this point in time when depreciation of the materials will not kick in for atleast some years. But what can they do? Announce a new model with less expensive materials? Or rather reduce the price of the propriety cards? I will just hope now that the handheld see some sales in Europe, NA, and elsewhere.

http://www.youtube.com/user/jodecideion?feature=mhum TheWon and Only
People just don’t want to buy a handheld for a console price. The Vita launching with more of a western lineup than a Japanese lineup is one of their major problems. Still in the end it comes down to price.
Like DCharlie said over at Neogaf.
The lowest cost you can get into a Vita for , with one game is (using RRP) :Wifi model : 24800 yen+4 GB card : 2200 yen+Dark Quest : 2800 yen= 29,800 yenALTERNATIVELY, you can get the following :3DS : 15,000 yen+Mario Land : 4,800 yen+ Mario Kart 7 : 4,800 yen+ Monster Hunter Tri G : 5,800 yen= 30,400 yen Just let that sink in a bit….
More for the buck when you not spending it all on the hardware, and accessories. The problem is Sony can’t cut the price of the Vita. They are already selling it for a major loss. Similar to the PS3, but not as much overall. They thought they could use the comparison effect when Nintendo decided to be greedy, and launch the 3DS at 249. At that price the Vita looks like the better deal so it was a smart move. They never expected Nintendo to relaunch the system with a Handheld price. Now they are in a PSPGo type situation, but not as bleak. Things will turn around once they start releasing handheld games, and not games that are better on the PS3. Still knowing how stubborn Sony is they are going to take some major lumps before they change anything.

Testsubject909
Judging from how Sony’s been playing things for the past few years, they’ve always been about the short term sacrifices for the long term profit. Vita doing mediocre out of the gate is nothing important, they’ll keep pushing until the Vita finds it’s stride and puts up a strong and fierce competition.
You can’t deny it’s possibility and the current foreseen lineup is very strong as well. Though you can list certain flaws with the Vita, the 3DS is not without it’s own list. You can bring up the issue of Vita’s starting price but it’s already far lower then most people expected to begin with, so that also plays in it’s advantage.
Plus, once some of the typical sony household name games in Japan starts releasing, the Vita will start flying off shelves (let’s be honest, a new Monster Hunter on the Vita will probably get a few hundreds of thousands sold in a very short time, if not a million.)

xxbrothawizxx
Will people finally stop saying that the 3DS is not the Vita’s competition now……?
Vita sales are quite unfortunate, but I expect the European and US launches to be pretty different. Nintendo locked down almost all major Japanese franchises for the 3DS and the sales numbers show it. The Vita’s lineup definitely appeals to western audiences. I doubt Vita numbers will be better than 3DS even in the west though because of the wide audience that wants a 3DS and the huge range of software for all audiences that 3DS has and Vita does not.
If Nintendo can continue to provide quality core titles to the west (localize all those damn games Ninty) and bring out a great Pokemon title many of the core will end up picking up a 3DS, especially when you consider the much lower price point. I still don’t exactly see the western developer support for either titles though. For Vita there is Bioshock, Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, and Multiplats and 3DS has the inevitable Call of Duty (unless Sony cut a deal with Activision to keep them from making a 3DS version), Conduit, Heroes of Ruin, and multiplats. Truthfully, I think the ability for Nintendo to repeat DS level of Handheld domination rest on their ability to localize the core games coming in Japan because western devs don’t seem to have much interest in supporting handhelds. Vita has an unbelievable amount of core first party titles and those should carry the system for a good while.

darkraiders
I don’t know about European but i’m pretty sure it will sell more poorly in America because
1st American play handheld much least the japanese
2nd Vita price is to high i mean 250$ for Vita when for the same price you can get a PS3 with 160GB often you find bundle with a game too and at 250$ you have nothing with your Vita.
3rd Vita have really few original games Sony didn’t learn from their mistake on the psp and did the same on the Vita…. port and remake mostly…

aoihana
I’m actually quite surprised with the Vitas’ sales, I honestly thought they’d be doing much better by the end of the week. Honestly, I’m a bit weary at this point, but it’s only one week, so I guess I shouldn’t worry just yet. I have hope that things will shape up! (☆^ー^☆)
Anyway, as for the 3DS, it’s great that it nearly pulled in 500k units, must be a good day at Nintendo right about now! (◕‿◕✿)

Testsubject909
It doesn’t surprise me, but I don’t really see it as a bad thing.
Think of it like this. The 3DS has already established a library and with it’s price drop it’s become far more friendly on the wallet, there’s a struggling economy over in Japan and if you consider the parents who’ll be buying a gift to their children, the 3DS which stems from Nintendo is a more family friendly company in terms of it’s image.
That image Nintendo possesses which has in recent times been even further ingrained as being the family friendly/casual friendly/highly approachable console of choice certainly helps it.
For the Vita, I’m staying optimistic about it for the long term. Sony tends to show that it plans for long term profit over short term results. It might have a slow start, but it’ll certainly make a big bang.

http://twitter.com/VXLbeast VXLbeast
I am not going to pretend to know the reason why the Vita sold poorly, scratch that, unsatisfactorily. Still, it hurts. I really want to see things pick up.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000219473939 Danny Garcia
Mario Kart Wii FTW!
darkraiders
I knew this would happen to the vita and since a loooonnng time ago and i even said it on multiples websites ( and was most the time bashed by fanboy XD).
I’m not a professional when it come to know what will sell and what won’t sell but Sony did so many mistakes with the Vita that it was obvious this would happen.
It’s possible it will change in the coming weeks but i really doubt if the Vita sold so low this week during the holiday it will suddendly start to sell a lot on the next few weeks.
Sony need to do something if they want to sell more Vita.

http://zerodestinypro.blogspot.com/ Zero_Destiny
Yes I’ve said in a couple of my past post and to some of my friends how I really don’t see a market for the PSV at this time or at least in the west. It’s super expensive and is about this whole “hardcore” thing. But who really wants to pay $250 for a handheld (even if this is a great deal all things considered and Sony will sell at a lost, I still don’t find this price reasonable personally). Likewise the “hardcore” gamers over here in the states play console games. They have LAN parties, they all bring their controllers over and play, they hook up their Xboxes together, they play on their big screen TV’s, they yell, they scream, they have a good time. They don’t play on handhelds.
The Technophiles have their smartphones and iPods so I don’t see why they would go out and purchase a $250 console with $50 games? Even if they snag games for $30 though you can get games much cheaper then that on your app store .Plus it’s $250 for just for Wi-Fi, $300 for the 3G and that has a monthly fee, right? So yeah why bother if you got your smartphone with your data plan that you are already paying for? This seems like one hell of a big expense.
Personally that’s my foreseeable issues of the PSV, I’m no expert but I just kinda feel like Sony is aiming for a market that is ether not ready or more importantly not willing. The PSV is coming off as this sleek older cool guy “hardcore” system but I don’t think that’s really a market like that for a handheld videogame system, at least not here in the US. This sleek older gadgets are pretty much a smartphone market. I’m not sure if Sony can compete with that. I don’t see people who have $400 phones going out to buy the PSV.
Not saying it’ll fail and I believe that it can and will do fine in the future. But I see it being much more like the PSP. Give it some years and it’ll catch wildfire in Japan everywhere else well it won’t suck but it probably won’t be too stellar ether. That said I doubt the PSV will really be used to it’s fullest potential most of this gen. It kinda seems like it has too much power for its own good, you know? Anyways I’m sure the next few weeks in Japan will probably start to fare better. I think Sony just needs to ride it out. The PSP being as active as it is I imagined probably caused them some of this grief.

http://tristsantithesis.tumblr.com/ Tsunayoshi Sawada
I think its too early to say that there is or one cant see a market for it until its sold. People said there was no market for a motion experience on Xbox 360 and look how well Kinect sold.
To say there is no market for PS Vita when 3DS is also as powerful and offers console like experiences almost says there is no market for handheld dedicated gaming systems. At Value both 3DS and PS Vita costed the same at one point in time, was there no market for 3DS at that point in time (it still sold millions then)

http://zerodestinypro.blogspot.com/ Zero_Destiny
Well a Nintendo Handheld and a Sony Handheld is a totally different breed really. I’m sure you can ask a lot of people here and they’ll tell you that the Nintendo 3DS and Sony PSV are aiming for different kinds of demographics. I see the Sony PSV doing fine just like the 3DS’ initial months never said it’s current price is gonna be absolute death but I do think it will certainly hamper it, especially in the west.
Maybe it’s too early to say but I just don’t feel that the PSV has a market. Not saying it to rain on anyone’s parade but it’s what I actually think and I see no problem with bringing it up. The Kinect had some legs to stand on too, I think the doom and gloom was just some people who don’t like motion gaming and whine a lot whenever people mention it. They show up everywhere on the net.
Anyways there’s lots and lots of people who owned a 360 already so the Kinect had a pretty good base to build on. But this is different for PSV. It’s a whole new system and a system that is trying to get into an already pretty cut throat market (more mature aged players who mostly use their smartphones). Anyways that’s my 2 cents. And yes I found the 3DS’ price unreasonable at first too. I refuse to pay more then $200 for any handheld system. I still think the $40 price tag for games is a bit much to but I can live with it.

TheMysticalNinja
Glad to see One Piece: Gigant Battle 2 New World get some much needed boost in sales.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CA2UGKXZ4J5VHTG2FHL4OHKSXA Jaden
Oh no logged into Fb when I posted that comment LOL! >_<!
OverlordZetta
Pity about the Vita. I imagine people are slowly jumping on board, given the cost of the console and memory card issue, and despite the surprisingly nice selection of games, I don’t actually see a lot of game announcements for it – there’s still announcements coming out left and right for the PSP after all. I imagine these two factors might really hurt its overseas releases, where there is no real PSP fanbase to waste time with while waiting for more Vita games.
Michael Vincent
Now I’m also getting a feeling that they should have just released a PSP2 – something with an additional analog stick (with both analog stick in the same as in the Vita now) and nothing more.

http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
I don’t know if that would have done much good either. In Japan, perhaps, but I doubt anyone would’ve cared about a new PSP model with a second analog stick in the U.S.
Quite frankly, I’m not sure -what- they could/should have done, to be honest. Their main problem in the short term is the 3DS, and they couldn’t have stopped Nintendo from releasing that, or stopped them from courting developers, since I suspect plans for 3DS software have been in the works for a while.

Ixbran
itts good to see Musou Orochi 2/Warriors Orochi 3 being so high on the list, on #2 in fact!
: D
Thats so awesome!
poisui
I’m happy that 16 out of those 20 titles are either on the Wii or the 3DS. Nintendo is doing well. :)

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