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These Were The 30 Best-Selling Games Of 2011 In Japan

By Ishaan . January 16, 2012 . 12:30pm

Japanese sales tracker, Media Create, have released a list of the 30 best-selling games in Japan in 2011. The tracking period was January 3rd, 2011 – January 1st, 2012. You can view the complete list of titles below:

No.	Title	2011 Sales	Sys	Publisher
01.	Mario Kart 7	1,160,169	3DS	Nintendo
02.	Super Mario 3D Land	1,080,192	3DS	Nintendo
03.	Monster Hunter 3G	985,498	3DS	Capcom
04.	Final Fantasy Type-0	746,203	PSP	Square Enix
05.	Final Fantasy XIII-2	704,236	PS3	Square Enix
06.	Monster Hunter Portable 3rd	682,651 (4,532,557)	PSP	Capcom
07.	Rhythm Heaven	654,403	Wii	Nintendo
08.	Tales of Xillia	627,346	PS3	Namco Bandai
09.	Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 Professional	602,664	DS	Square Enix
10.	Wii Sports Resort	579,220 (802,974)	Wii	Nintendo
11.	Wii Party	546,738 (2,223,629)	Wii	Nintendo
12.	Kirby’s Return to Dreamland	537,128	Wii	Nintendo
13.	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D	483,432	3DS	Nintendo
14.	Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy	465,198	PSP	Square Enix
15.	Dynasty Warriors 7	455,996	PS3	Tecmo Koei
16.	Just Dance Wii	453,411	Wii	Nintendo
17.	Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs.	453,084	PS3	Namco Bandai
18.	Nintendogs + cats	443,400	3DS	Nintendo
19.	Pokémon Black/White	433,876 (5,400,613)	DS	Nintendo
20.	Pro Evolution Soccer 2012	425,771	PS3	Konami
21.	The 2nd Super Robot Taisen Z	423,972	PS3	Namco Bandai
22.	Yakuza of the End	416,050	PS3	Sega
23.	Monster Hunter Portable 3rd HD Ver.	415,943	PS3	Capcom
24.	Dragon Quest Anniversary Collection	403,953	Wii	Square Enix
25.	Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity	376,534	PSP	Sega
26.	Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle	361,503	3DS	Level 5
27.	Dark Souls	353,549	PS3	From Software
28.	AKB1/48: I Fell in Love With an Idol in Guam	350,350	PSP	Namco Bandai
29.	Kirby: Mass Attack	349,899	DS	Nintendo
30.	The Little Battlers	346,608	PSP	Level 5

A few highlights that could perhaps serve as a basis for discussion:

1. Should Final Fantasy Type-0 have sold better?

2. Should Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy have sold better? The original Dissidia: Final Fantasy had sold close to a million copies by 2009.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D is on the best-sellers list. Skyward Sword, however, didn’t perform nearly as well.

Data obtained from 4Gamer, Media-Create and Geimin.net.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Ricardo-Guedes/100000507969412 Ricardo Guedes
Dissidia is pure sh*t.. what an awful and irritating batle system…

http://www.youtube.com/user/Kamek20xxExtra?feature=mhee Michael Stevens
ಠ_ಠ

Suppa Man
Sounds like someone got pwned and ragequitted :P
(Ricardo)

http://twitter.com/Laith_Rem Laith Rem
I try to respect different opinions and before I go blindly defending a game which I personally rate “The best FF ever” I feel the need to ask what is wrong about it?
http://www.youtube.com/user/EnvyMizuhashi Garyuu
*laughs for 5 minutes*
Oh, sorry. Please, do tell us why. xD

http://www.crunchyroll.com/user/ArtFanIam Samantha Stevens
*laughs with Garyuu*

James Beatty
I loved the first one, but i felt no encouragement to buy the sequel since it felt like more of an expansion pack than an actual sequel.

http://www.youtube.com/user/EnvyMizuhashi Garyuu
Well, for an expansion pack, it was a pretty damn good one. The battle system was tweaked along with the new tag system. There’s twice more content in the sequel for it to be standalone, and it does not leave out the first game’s story mode either. Sure, there are weapons that require a lot of grinding, but the grinding itself can be pretty easy once you have the right stuff. In fact, the grinding objectives are the only thing I dislike about it.
And Prishe. Boy, do I love her! xD

http://twitter.com/Shadowmen19 Shadowmen #19
Really dude…. Cause I think it pure awesome.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Kevin-Miranda-Salazar/643669155 Kevin Miranda Salazar
My, isn’t that a typical loser excuse? :/
As a non PvP player I say the gameplay is pretty adicting and refreshing from the usual fighting games mechanics, after a couple of fights you get used to it easily. (Lemme guess, you’re whining about the blocking system no?)
Granted the story is a bit poor for Square standards but for a fighting crossover game I say they did it right.
If Square would had kept going with the DLCs until this day I would still be pretty hyped for this game.
Personally I believe 012 deserves to be in the list and perhaps in a higher position in the list, its way superior that it’s predecessor.
http://www.crunchyroll.com/user/ArtFanIam Samantha Stevens
I don’t even know if I should take this seriously. XD
theworldofnoboundries
Well for myself i can said that Dissidia is quite a fun game with his unique battle style however if someone would go and compare this game with “Real” fighting game like SF or KOF i can said that Dissidia is weaker on that state.
Maybe it is just that i have grown up playing SF and KOF so Dissidia fighting style does not really knock in myself.

http://twitter.com/DanijoEX DanijoEX
I’m still surprised that Kirby Mass Attack is still on the list.

theworldofnoboundries
Wut!?? U think is Kirby is not supposed to be on that list??? U have never ever get eaten by hundreds of kirby don’t u?

http://twitter.com/DanijoEX DanijoEX
I’m just saying that I’m surprised that Kirby Mass Attack is still on the list.
…And what does “never ever get eaten by hundreds of Kirbies” have do with this…??? Are you just joking?
Cause…it seems you’re not…>lU

theworldofnoboundries
lol it is just a joke. As in Kirby Mass Attack we can be like so many kirby to defeat the enemies.
Anyway Kirby Mass Attack comes out in the last quarter if i am not mistaken so i am not surprised that they are still there on the list.

http://twitter.com/DanijoEX DanijoEX
Oh…okay. Sorry about that.
theworldofnoboundries
No problem. It seems my word is kinda rude and not like a joke there. Really sorry for making u misunderstand.

http://twitter.com/katamariTo Juliano Cuomo
wow, Japanese gamers buy a lot less than I thought, only two million sellers…

Suicunesol
If I were you, I’d include Monster Hunter 3G on the “million sellers” list too. It is nearly there, if not already there.

Solomon_Kano
Supposing he did, I doubt 3 would’ve made much difference to him as opposed to 2. It’s still a (comparatively) small number considering what he’s saying.

darkraiders
True you don’t have as many millions selling game in Japan as what you got in America but you have to think Japan get much more games then everywhere else in the world

Solomon_Kano
That and the fact that Japan has a smaller population than the US to begin with so, presumably, they’d have a smaller potential consumer base for games altogether.

darkraiders
Yes true if you count Canada in it too since most games released in US are also released in Canada that make almost 3 times the populations of Japan.

Solomon_Kano
True.

theworldofnoboundries
Well firstly their country is much smaller compared to U.S so the sales
would probably not as big as U.S and in this kind of bad economy i can
said that lots of people also cuts the number of games that they bought.

http://www.youtube.com/user/EnvyMizuhashi Garyuu
I’m quite impressed with the titles past the 45k mark. Well done DW7.
Should Final Fantasy Type-0 have sold better? Why not? It came before XIII-2.
I do think Duodecim could’ve sold more though.
It’s such a strange irony that Skyward Sword is such a “masterpiece,” yet people didn’t buy into it. How much did it sell in America?

http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
Skyward Sword — Best opening for a Zelda in the U.S. to date.

http://www.youtube.com/user/EnvyMizuhashi Garyuu
To elaborate on my last reply, I say if the both Type-0 and XIII-2 were released in the same week, Type-0 would’ve been outsold in a landslide, even though portable gaming is very efficient and profitable in Japan.
On the other hand, XIII-2 alone probably wouldn’t have sold over a million copies as far as FF spinoffs and sequel go. I’m sure these results conclude that people are waiting for the Fabula Nova Crystallis to be over and done with, starting with Versus XIII.

http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
If they’d come out the same week, I agree, FFXIII-2 would probably have outsold it on account of being a numbered game.
That having been said, I think they did try to distance Type-0 as much as they could from the Fabula Nova Crystallis series. They make a few passing references to FBC, but there’s barely any connection between Type-0 and XIII.

Solomon_Kano
I have to wonder how great the difference between XIII-2 and Type-0 really would’ve been had they come out the same week considering the dropoff from XIII to XIII-2.
Of course, that can be attributed to it being a sequel to a numbered game as opposed to a full on numbered game, but who’s to say that the audience that bought Type-0 didn’t consist entirely or, more realistically, mostly of those who bought XIII but passed on XIII-2? There’s a large enough dropoff that Type-0 could -potentially- have been bought entirely by those that didn’t buy XIII-2 but did buy the original. It’s VERY unlikely, but we really have no idea what segment of those that bought Type-0 overlaps with those that bought XIII-2.
Eh. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t think we have enough data to say something like that occurred for certain, but I turned around and made an equally hard to prove argument haha.
http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
I agree, that’s a very interesting question. :P
I suppose the reason I’m so obsessed with PSP software is because I just can’t get this nagging suspicion out of my head that, for whatever reason, PSP is holding some of these games back from selling more. Monster Hunter is the only thing that people seem to buy on the PSP by the truckload.
It’s a point of concern because I don’t think publishers should look at selling 200k copies of a game on PSP, and being like, “OK, great! This is our new definition of a hit!”
I think they should strive to go higher, and if third-party software sales on 3DS are higher in the long run, it would mean that the PSP and its relatively narrower audience was indeed the issue.
Of course, I could be completely off the mark, and it could just be that the market itself is in such major decline that no system could possibly reinvigorate it to the extent that I’m hoping for. I hope that isn’t the case.
Solomon_Kano
Yea, I really hope that isn’t the case. I’d hate for the market to ever get to that state, so hopefully it’s just the PSP.
I think part of the reason why publishers are happy to sell 200,000 as opposed to striving higher on PSP has to do with how many have tried to jump to PS3 and saw less. With the (generally) lower development costs and whatnot, 200,000 might as well be a hit. 200,000 on a PS3 or 360 budget would be nothing, so I imagine that has something to do with it. It’d be nice if they did strive for more, but seeing how Sega went from Valkyria Chronicles doing poorly on PS3 to moving significantly more copies while also being produced on a lower budget after shifting to PSP, I can understand why that’s enough for some pubs.
Now if, as you’ve said, 3rd-party software on 3DS gets to hitting higher numbers w/o just being a MH or some other such huge brand, then I think we’ll be able to conclude that the PSP was holding some series back. Hopefully, that is/was the case. If not, then that could mean trouble.
That said, I do have to wonder how the 3DS’ appeal compares to the PSP. The DS was clearly more appealing to general consumers (and gamers as well, one could argue) than the PSP, but I wonder how the 3DS fares?
http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
Well, for starters, I think it’s safe to assume that most PSP owners also own DSes, given just how much the DS sold over the course of its life. Given that PSP has sold only about half of what the DS did, it means the missing half comes from a demographic that wasn’t interested in the PSP.
This is where Nintendo’s wider appeal comes in. Mario Kart, Style Savvy, Tomodachi Collection, and even games like Dragon Quest and Professor Layton. In fact, last we heard, more women owned DSes than men, and that’s a very, very impressive feat.
Given that 3DS will still have those exact same games exclusive to it, I’d say it will be able to appeal to nearly as wide a range of people as the original DS. Some of the demographics we might lose out on are older players that were attracted by Brain Age and Vision Training and the like. We’ll have to see if they can bring that audience back.
But yea, for the most part, I think 3DS will appeal to a far wider range of people than either PSP or Vita, simply by account of having Nintendo games on it. Developing for markets that everyone else ignores is something they’re very good at. We’re already starting to see stuff like Style Savvy 3D and Girls RPG announced for 3DS.
Now, the question is, can having that varied audience (which PSP maybe didn’t have) help give wider exposure to third-party 3DS games? I certainly hope so, because if 3DS can’t do it, we’re in trouble.
Gatchaman1
At this point I feel they really need to do that with Versus as well.
Might as well rename it to either FF Versus-Zero or….FF XV
http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
Calling it FFXV at this point would probably be a disaster. I don’t know how Versus will do in Japan, since it’s an action RPG. Kingdom Hearts is popular, but then, KH has always been an action game. Final Fantasy, not so much.
Gatchaman1
Why would it be a disaster? I see it less risky then making DQ X a pay to play MMO (considering how staunch and traditionalist the DQ fanbase is). We know DQ IX “action RPG” idea was originally overturned…
The title of “XIII” now carries a heavy negative connotation in the West (and partially the East I would imagine with the not so great sales of XIII-2 in comparison to past FF’s).

James Beatty
Zelda has never been that big in japan, as for US, it sold surprisingly well for the platform it was on and it not being a multiplat.

theworldofnoboundries
Well has also been a big thing in Japan, it is just Japan loves portable more than hand held which causes the sales to be lesser meanwhile U.S is more of home consoles players which makes Skyward Sword into that big.

IceRomancer
I think alot of people couldn’t get over the weird character design and art direction of skyward sword. It doesn’t look like the Zelda most people know. I’m sure its just as good though.

James Beatty
It’s my favorite Zelda to date. The game has a ton of tiny stupid faults, but the gameplay and overall atmosphere of the game makes up for it. It does some things that might anger old time gamers, like the world being more “linear” and there not being a lot of that exploration element, but i found that there is more to do in those linear paths than there was to do in the entire hyrule field in previous installments. The bird kind of sucks though, not as good as epona.

Gatchaman1
On of the reasons I like Shadows of the Colossus was that instant nostalgia feeling I got from riding around on horseback that reminded me of LoZ OoT and the awe of just being able to do that in a game for the first time.

Gatchaman1
Link looks like Link but I didnt like Zelda’s new design. I’ve grown to like Twilight Priness Zelda since she’s also in Smash Brothers

http://twitter.com/Laith_Rem Laith Rem
Ok then,
“Should Final Fantasy Type-0 have sold better?”
It probably could have sold better if it wasn’t because of the delays that it had. If it’s 80% as good as people make it out to be, then maybe reaching the 900K line would have been fair.
“Should Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy have sold better?”
No, because as much as I like the game, most of it is the first game. While this is true for most fighting games, in this case is literal, half of the game is the first game.
“The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D is on the best-sellers list. Skyward Sword, however, didn’t perform nearly as well”
Portable gaming in Japan is strong, and while I don’t know the exact standing of the wii in Japan, I guess that it is something similar to America, in which most of its user base are people who play casually so there is that.

http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
Agreed that the state of the Wii market (in particular) and that the decline of the console market (in general) have both had a bearing on Skyward Sword.
The interesting point to note is that Japan still seems to care about Zelda to an extent, as all of the most recent portable versions have done reasonably well, all things considered.
As for Type-0… I don’t know what to think. On the one hand, I’m considering the idea that the game was held back by the PSP, which has demonstrated itself to be a platform on which nothing can climb higher than a certain plateau, save for Monster Hunter games.
This is speculation on my part, but I’m going to blame this partly on the lack of software on PSP that appeals to people outside of the core games audience.

godmars
Why hasn’t FF Type-0 been announced for the West is all I care about. Even if its only a PSV release, it need to be announced NOW.
Or even E3…

http://myanimelist.net/profile/Kuronoa Kuronoa
Its been stated it is coming…
http://www.siliconera.com/2011/11/29/final-fantasy-type-0-team-already-working-on-western-version/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Ivanir-Ignacchitti/100002728780712 Ivanir Ignacchitti
But did SE officially said anything about the localization beyond that? :S
I find it a little odd. Even more that they say “International Version” (if I recall correctly), which reminds me of the International versions of some of S-E’s FFs. =/
And the lack of any confirmation (as far as I’ve seen) makes me wonder about the localization of the game. =/
EDIT : Because, as far as I’ve seen, it could mean a Chinese release or anything like that. :( And if it were really like that, I’d be really sad.

http://myanimelist.net/profile/Kuronoa Kuronoa
No they didn’t, but hopefully they do.
International are usually inspired by the western versions (does China count as international for Japan when they are both Asian?), which this currently lack. If they do make a version with English and not release it in the west that’ll be such a stupid idea but at least importing is an option.

AoNoise
I put on a ridiculously enormous smile everytime I see Type-0 imagery in Siliconera.
Then I actually read the title and most of the time it’s on a sales report. :ok:
thaKingRocka
Japan loves sequels and rehashes too. See, the world markets aren’t really so different. 28/30, and that’s only because I’m not sure of The Little Battlers, and AKB48′s sales are not subject to the same discerning tastes that most games are.

theworldofnoboundries
Well AKB48 game is not only targeted towards normal gamers, they also targeted those idols lover who probably does not really love gaming however because of their loves toward one group of idol they will even went to buy the game.

thaKingRocka
That’s why I said it wasn’t subject to the same discerning tastes that most games are. Half of those sales or more are likely from the superfans who would buy anything branded with their name.

Joanna
Actually that AKB48 game on the chart is a sequel. The first one was just called “fall in love with an idol” and this one is “fall in love with an idol in guam.” So that just leaves Little Battlers (although I personally would also include Dark Souls and Wii Play as new I.P.s, but that’s still not much better in the end).

http://twitter.com/KeionKirby HoshiKirby
Great list until I saw AKB1/48: I Fell in Love With an Idol in Guam… Japan why???

theworldofnoboundries
Because we are OTAKUUUUUUU!!!!
http://myfigurecollection.net/collection/ashgail Ashgail
You have no idea how popular AKB are…

James Beatty
MK 7, Super mario 3D land, and MH 3G where only out for the last two moths of the year on a supposedly ”doomed” handheld that hasn’t’ been out in the market for a year…Damn

theworldofnoboundries
Lol that just shows that a handheld consoles can only be doomed when no companies release game on the consoles like Game Gear. however if the consoles still have good game coming, no matter how bad people says the console are, they will still be able to sells.

http://www.facebook.com/shawn.dickenson1 Shawn SomethingOtaku Dickenson
Mario Kart 7 FTW yeah!!
http://twitter.com/Shadowmen19 Shadowmen #19
I WANT MONSTER HUNTER 3G NOW!!!!
Go2hell66
Hmmm that list baffles me, pokemon is only no 19 what? Not sure quite sure how this list was put together,is this total sales throughout the year?

DlanorKnox
It came out in 2010 in Japan.
http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
It’s total sales -only- for 2011. For games that were released prior to 2011, total lifetime sales are mentioned in brackets underneath the 2011 sales.

Ryan Baer
No Skyward Sword makes me laugh.
http://twitter.com/sakurairomemori Alphabet Soup
I don’t know why, but I think Type-0 did well, considering how late in the year it released. And…no Skyward Sword? When did it release in Japan?

http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
Skyward Sword was on the top-20 weekly chart for a couple of weeks before it vanished and was never heard from again…

a b
dark souls out sold demon souls already , that nice. but form the sales it seem the Japanese market is shrinking. i wonder if i has anything to do with japans negative birth rate?

Solomon_Kano
To be clear, you are asking if the decreased sales of video games have to do with Japan’s declining birth rate, right?
If so, I’d say probably not. I see what you’re saying since, as people in Japan get older, it’s assumed that they would have less interest in buying games and, thus, that would cause their video game market to shrink. I just don’t think we know enough about that to point to it as a cause for shrinkage in the Japanese market.

Joanna
If I’m not mistaken it’s slowly been shrinking for awhile now. But I agree with you, I highly doubt this is caused by a single thing, let alone birth rate. Logically a declining birth rate should have the opposite effect as less children means more money for the parents to spend on themselves and the child they do have. If you have 3+ children, that’s a lot of money you have to spend on each child (food, clothing, education, etc.) To me it seems it has more to do with Japan’s economical slow down. If I’m not mistaken, Japan’s been in a slow slump for awhile now (and the Yen and crash of the dollar last year is not helping). Aaaanyway, I think I’ve rambled on too long already. ^__^;;;

Solomon_Kano
Haha. I’d not call it rambling, it’s an interesting topic. As gamers, we often separate our hobby from the rest of reality as it if it isn’t affected. If I were to generalize, I should say, as you clearly demonstrate that not all of us are so… unaware, I guess. So it’s interesting to me to think about how such things impact this industry that we give so much of our time (and money) to.

Dantis
I find it disappointing that Mario Kart still sells so many copies. Not that it’s a bad game, but it would be nice to see people branch out a little more…

theworldofnoboundries
Why? It is always better to sell more especially if the game is so addicting when i played online or with my friends.
Ur statement makes like people should not play Monster Hunter so much and go and plays some game lol.
Solomon_Kano
If it’s not a bad game, then what’s disappointing about it selling well?
I could understand, perhaps, if it were some yearly series that people just kept eating up, but that’s not the case.

Dantis
Because I feel that the sales deserve to go to something that did a little more. I find it disappointing that a game which is such a safe play is so successful.

Solomon_Kano
If that’s the case then you should really only be worried about whether or not you gave the game a sale. I mean, I understand what you’re saying, but why lament the sales of a good game at all, whether it was a safe play or not?
If this was some bad game making oodles, then I’d agree with you, but I couldn’t care less if a game is a safe play if it’s good. Ah well. That all boils down to opinion anyway. I just wanted to know your reasoning, is all.
http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
Think of it this way. It’s the job of the A-tier games (sales-wise) to sell the platform and create a space for developers to put their games. If stuff like Mario Kart and Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest didn’t exist, these platforms wouldn’t sell in the first place and there’d be very little incentive to develop games for them. :)

http://www.facebook.com/people/Altin-Bujupaj/1157167838 Altin Bujupaj
I can partly understand that, Dantis. Though, The people dig these games (Keep the same formula, sells like hot cookies).
Wish to see some new IP’s climbing on the charts too though.

AzureNova
Wooooo! Go Tales of Xillia and Final Fantasy XIII-2! =^_^=
theworldofnoboundries
Umm guys i believe that Gundam should be Namco Bandai not Tecmo Koei or it is me who is wrong here?
Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs.453,084PS3Tecmo Koei

http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
Fixed!

Lion’s Paw
Not many Western games, only Just Dance Wii or are there more I’ve overlooked?

http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
Just Dance is actually technically not “Western” either in this case. Nintendo licensed the base Ubisoft game, localized it with Japanese music (yes, AKB48 are in there) and put it out as a completely different title from the US/EU versions of Just Dance 1, 2 and 3.
kuro_chan666
Actually, some western did sell well in Japan in 2011, but I don’t see it here, which makes me happy. I don’t want to see it.

http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/members/55321.html FinalArcadia
I SO BADLY wish that the bestselling games in Western countries would be more similar to this list.
Also, nice to see Kirby making a bit of a return to his glory days. Sadly, I see Sonic Generations didn’t sell that fantastically in Japan, though… Great game, with one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing.
neo_firenze
1. Should Final Fantasy Type-0 have sold better?
A: It’s not as if it performed badly – it was the #4 highest selling game for the entire year, behind only two heavily pushed Mario titles and another huge name in Monster Hunter. It was also the best selling non-3DS game of the entire year. Judging by the rest of the market, I’d say Type-0 sold as well as it should and could have (especially as a spinoff game and not a “true” main series FF title). Anyone who expected more probably had unrealistically high expectations.
2. Should Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy have sold better? The original Dissidia: Final Fantasy had sold close to a million copies by 2009.
A: No, because it was not a brand new game. Considering it was really just version 1.5 of a game that had already been out for years, I’m not at all surprised to see it selling far less than its predecessor. Plus, as a non-RPG, Dissidia was more of a novelty to most FF series fans, who got their curiosity satisfied with the original.

http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
I would agree about the Dissidia 012 comment, but not Type-0. FFIII on the DS sold far more than Type-0 did, and as far as I can recall, FFIV on DS isn’t far behind Type-0 either.
The difference is that both of those were lower budget remakes of old games, whereas Type-0 was being treated like the next major Final Fantasy title for all intents and purposes.
Using the FF series itself as a measuring gauge, I personally think Type-0 could and should have sold a lot more than it did. Now, whether this is a result of FF being in decline or the platform that Type-0 was on remains to be seen, imo.

Ryos
It should have sold better on the basis that Type-0 is purportedly such a great title, but I think that in general, FFXIII and possibly FFXIV significantly lessened the enthusiasm of of Japanese gamers for the FF brand, as can be seen in the rather mediocre sales of FFXIII-2 (in comparison to FFXIII). There’s such a thing as oversaturation so that’s always a potential issue as well. It’s also possible that people were/are waiting for a possible PS3 upscale for the title and so didn’t go get it.

http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
I would agree that the brand is well and truly damaged at this point. Wada himself admitted as much. The question now is if there’s anything that can be done about it. :(
I doubt people are waiting for a possible PS3 upscale, though. Portable gaming is the primary battlefield in Japan, since that’s where most people play their games.

neo_firenze
Re: FFIII sold “far more than Type-0 did”, I’m not sure that’s even the case. From an article I see from late 2006 (http://bit.ly/zbzvtW) by… Ishaan?? hehe :), FFIII, released August 24, 2006 in Japan, was at 860,940 units sold in Japan as of November 12, 2006. Type-0, in a little less time (released October 27, 2011 in Japan), sold 746,203 according to your numbers. About 100,000 units difference in a similar time frame is really not a huge difference.
Another factor… are PSN downloaded copies of Type-0 even included in these sales figures? That’s particularly meaningful for this game since that is the version that will be backwards compatible on Vita and everyone knew that going in. If those numbers aren’t included, the totals shown might be lower than true sales.
Plus, the consumer market is not too hot right now. 2006 was a different time, but consumer sales in Japan in many industries, including games, is down in 2011. I’d say that only two games cracking the 1mil mark in Japan is more a sign of the market (at least in Japan) as a whole being in decline as opposed to singling out any particular franchise. Type-0 being the BEST selling non-3DS game in the country for the entire year in only 2 months on sale is telling me that competing in the industry market conditions the game was facing in 2011, it actually performed quite well.

Solomon_Kano
I’m cracking up at you citing Ishaan against… well, Ishaan. Good stuff lol.
You’re right though, these numbers don’t include PSN downloads, so they aren’t -completely- accurate but, with that being an impossible market to gauge, for all we know nobody bought the PSN version so it doesn’t really do much to mention it. Of course, I expect that people bought the PSN version for the reason you suggest, but I’m doubtful that it was too significant an amount of people.
http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
Thanks for the reply. I don’t even remember writing that! How time flies. :)
First, those were Famitsu numbers in the article you linked to. Here’s Square Enix’s Annual Report from 2007: http://bit.ly/xG97aL
That report reveals that FFIII DS sold 990,000 copies in Japan (page 8).
I’d say there’s a gigantic difference between nearly 1 million and the 750,000 listed here for Type-0, and I don’t see Type-0 climbing to that number. The key thing to note here is that Type-0 was in development for a really long time and is a much higher budget game than FFIII was.
On the subject of download sales: while I agree that it’s always best to keep in mind the fact that download sales of PSP games are possible, I don’t imagine that they would make up a high enough number to actually make that much of a difference. Especially in Japan, where the PSPgo was outright rejected.
I also agree that 2006 was definitely a different time. Also, Final Fantasy isn’t what it once used to be. Those could certainly be contributing factors. I’m just of the opinion that, given the amount of time/resources and the marketing effort poured into Type-0, it “should” have brought in greater returns.
I suppose we’ll have to wait a couple years until there’s a similar game on the 3DS to gauge in retrospect if Type-0 was merely the first of many FFs doomed to the 800k mark, or simply a “one-off” instance.
On a similar note, I’m very keen to see what sales of Kingdom Hearts 3D will be like, too. 3DS isn’t anywhere near what total PSP sales in 2010 were, but it should still be interesting to see how KH3D debuts in comparison to Birth by Sleep. 3DS software sales in comparison to PSP at its prime are something to watch for in the years to come.

Gatchaman1
Also, like Ni No Kuni for NDS, I believe Type-Zero was an expensive PSP game?
http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
Yea, Type-0 was far more expensive than your average PSP game. I feel like that must have helped recoup some of the costs, but low sales are low sales. :/

Guest
The DS has a bigger user base than the PSP, so it makes sense that a game there would sell more. While Type-0 was a new title, it wasn’t a FF 15 or 16, consumers went for the games they had more background, more information. They had a better idea of what to expect with those remakes, unlike type-0 which is a different flavour.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Akshat-Jiwan-Sharma/1187421478 Akshat Jiwan Sharma
We can be sure that S.E will release an enhanced version of the game and even a Vita port which would boost type 0 sales even further.Also I think if you consider other Se releases on psp(the big ones) they have all hit about the 700k-800k mark initially(during the first few months of their release).So type 0 did not under perform.If Crisis core couldn’t cross the million mark it would have been unrealistic to expect type 0 to do so

http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
That is precisely my point. Crisis Core -didn’t- cross the one million mark. FF Type-0 didn’t cross the 1 million mark. Birth by Sleep didn’t cross the 1 million mark.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Akshat-Jiwan-Sharma/1187421478 Akshat Jiwan Sharma
What I wanted to say was that type 0′s sales on the psp are on par with other S.E releases,so it can’t be taken as a sign of final fantasy’s decreasing hold on Japanese gamers.Final fantasy XII-2 sales however can.
Is psp holding the titles back?
Let me try to answer this with some other questions.
Why has monster hunter been so successful on the psp if it is only a port of an old ps2 game(mh1 and mh2 were and they were both popular on the ps2 and even more so on the psp)?
Have any other Japanese developers tried to built a game on psp that people would want like monster hunter?(The only one I can think of putting in serious effort is Hideo Kojima with peace walker,which did amazing in Japan by the way on par with any other metal gear game)
Don’t you think that psp has been a life saver for some IP’s(phantasy star portable,Vlakyria Chronicles,and even some companies like Nippon Icchi)?
Is it not true that psp has always been an underdog,in the gaming populations subconscious even in Japan?(In my opinion it is but a second fiddle to ds,something that people go to play when they are bored of their favorite console)
In my opinion game developers go to psp when they are in need of quick cash when they need to get out of troubled waters.There were few who took the psp seriously and those who did were rewarded with good sales and a cult loyalty.

Solomon_Kano
Skyward Sword and Dissidia should’ve sold better, but I think Type-0 did fine — especially considering that EVERY game in the top 5 was released in the last 3 months of the year. Hm… though, I will say, looking at it next to what else is up there with it, you’d -think- that it might have done a bit better given the PSP’s larger (in relation to the 3DS) install base and the FF name. Then again, Mario and MH are easily bigger than an FF spin-off.
I’m actually very disappointed that Skyward Sword didn’t make it. Having played the demo at Best Buy, it appears to be the best use of the Wii’s technology thus far. That aside, it’s actually fun to play and… well, it’s Zelda! I figured it’d have done better, but I guess the series is actually more popular in the west? I do recall Ninty saying that it’s the fastest-selling Zelda ever though, so it’s interesting to me to think that that status is based on its sales in other territories rather than in Nintendo’s home.
I also thought LBX would’ve done a bit better considering all that Level-5 did with it. I mean, it has as an anime and modeling kits. That’s not exactly a common thing amongst game series afaik, much less for a brand new series. Perhaps we’ll see what effect that has when Level-5 releases the next entry in that series, but I thought that expanded promotion would’ve, ahem, boosted it further.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Altin-Bujupaj/1157167838 Altin Bujupaj
To the numbers:
1. Maybe. Type-0 seems like a good game.
2. No. It is more of the same just with some new characters (most times, characters that none really asked for, imo.)
3. SS deserves more credit, since apart from Ocarina which is yet again a remake sold like bread again.
BadenBadenPrinny
Even though I shouldn’t expect such a thing, I still wanted to see Atelier Meruru on the list
http://nocturneadagio.blogspot.com/ LainaLain
Wow. I didn’t think FF Type-0 would’ve gotten that far. Maybe it’s a pretty good game. I’m not surprised Ocarina of Time did better than Skyward Sword. OoT is a classic. Dissidia should’ve done better because I always hear people say how great it is….well, the sales aren’t looking so great. It isn’t horrible though, it made it into the top 15.

Chiupon
It is a good game. :C
http://www.facebook.com/Zekushion Dylan Anantha
Dissidia 012 was an expansion, I think most peaple might have decided to stick with the original and wait for a completely new game instead.

axelfire250
I wonder if digital sales were included in the sales chart.

Solomon_Kano
I don’t think Media Create tracks those.

http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
@axelfire250:disqus @Solomon_Kano:disqus
Correct. M-C don’t track PSN/Amazon sales and the like.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Danny-Lee/100001803906692 Danny Lee
Wow I’m more surprised at how FFXIII-2 Achieved 5th rank when it only sold about 500k copies on its first week.
PrinceHeir
i think the reason why FFXIII-2 didn’t blow up that much like FFXIII is because not alot of people like XIII after playing it.
not to mention judging by the videos it’s basically FFXIII with more expanded and pretty much bigger scale in terms of area and world.
i think it would be best if they waited on FFXIII and put all these content on one game.
i bet despite hating the first part(FFXIII) they will love the second part(FFXIII-2) and will be amaze how much they improved it and put all these on one game.
though then again they would have known people hated the way FFXIII linearity and changed it on FFXIII-2 without feedback.
so all in all despite the FFXIII series being mixed and such. it’s still an enjoyable game that every fan should try to at least play it once.
not surprised PS2 is still not giving up :P
heck i bought tons of PS2 games last year
Megman Anniversary Colllection, Megaman X Collection, Samurai Shodown Anthology, The King of Fighters 98 UM, Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2, Street Fighter Anthology, Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne, Shinobi, Nightshade, Xenosaga Episode I-III(all in black label :P)
still love the system, and will keep buying past games that i have missed.
same with gamecube :P
shame about no Deus Ex HR, Catherine, Uncharted 3 T_____T

kuro_chan666
Yeah, really a shame Catherine’s not on the list. Dusex and that other movie-game don’t matter.
Also, I do agree about PS2, I bought tons of PS2 games in 2011, and I recently ordered another one(that’s 2012 already)

Gatchaman1
It’s almost like Japan has stopped playing video games. (there are 126.4 million people in Japan)

http://twitter.com/Cudgeon Raji
Since this is only store sells (- amazon, psn, etc.) I think the numbers are pretty neat.
It would be great however to get a complete list. Especially FF type 0, a lot probably bought it digital to play it on the PS Vita

http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
Considering that very few people have bought a Vita, I highly doubt that.

Guest
They haven’t, is just that they only play the same 3 or 4 franchises and nothing more. Just in the same way that western gamers don’t play anything else aside from the same big franchises and popular genres. It’s ironic how video games have become bigger with the technology, but the market keeps shrinking in terms of diversity.

Bio_liquid
Wow I am surpised Pokemon is lower then Just Dance. On the plus side, I am happy to see Kirby up there twice :)
I love that pink puffball with an endless stomach!

Joanna
Pokemon is so low because it was originally released in 2010. I’d say it’s amazing that it even charted in the top 30 a year later.

http://www.facebook.com/Chrome.Cell Bernard Yanga
I thought that was Little Busters! hahaha I fooled myself
http://meikiyou.deviantart.com meikiyou
Skyward was released in november and has moved around 300k copies, while in the same time span of twilight princess it has sold more.
RaikageV
Sykward Sword, where are you?
And Monster Hunter on third place? They just NEED TO release it in the west.
http://www.youtube.com/user/keyblademaster333#p/a/f/1/oAlztMvvNkk Keyblademaster333
Still no love for Catherine -_-
ShadowWolf
no Over My Dead Body?
i am sad now.

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