Big in Japan: Sept. 7-13: Pokemon catches 1.4 million

By Tom Magrino, GameSpotPosted Sep 18, 2009 11:57 am PT

Nintendo's HeartGold, SoulSilver open to platinum sales as Sony's PS3 Slim sees significant sales drop-off in second week.

Sony's $299 PlayStation 3 Slim debuted big in Japan during the first week of September, selling an impressive 151,000 units upon its initial availability, according to industry-tracking Media Create. Into its second week on the market, the 120GB system has again easily outsold its primary competitors, though by a much smaller margin than the week prior.

The flames mean he's happy!

For the week of September 7-13, Sony's PS3 shifted 55,344 units, well above the Wii's 17,568 units and Xbox 360's 7,568 consoles. Nintendo's DS and DSi easily took the week on the handheld front, with combined sales of 77,677. The PSP shifted 18,375 units on the week, while the PlayStation 2 added 2,612 systems to its lifetime total.

The latest release in Nintendo's ever-popular Pokemon franchise undoubtedly boosted DS sales during the week. Pokemon Soul Silver and Heart Gold sold a respective 723,000 and 720,000 units. Tomodachi Collection continued its strong run on the DS with 74,000 additional units, while fellow DS hit Dragon Quest IX: Defenders of the Starry Sky added 37,000 units to its total.

Last week's top performer, Mobile Suit Gundam: Battlefield Record U.C. 0081, slipped to fifth, selling 33,000 units, a figure that just edged out Wii Sports Resort's 32,000 weekly performance. Konami's Love Plus on the DS finished the week in seventh with 22,000 units, followed by Monster Hunter 3 on the Wii with 15,000, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite on the PSP with 13,000, and new release Maplus Portable Navigator 3 for the PSP with 12,000.

Week of September 7-13, 2009
Software:
1) Pokemon SoulSilver Version (DS) - 723,000
2) Pokemon HeartGold Version (DS) - 720,000
3) Tomodachi Collection (DS) - 74,000
4) Dragon Quest IX (DS) - 37,000
5) Kidou Senshi Gundam Senki Record U.C. 0081 (PS3) - 33,000
6) Wii Sports Resort (WII) - 32,000
7) Love Plus (DS) - 22,000
8) Monster Hunter Tri (WII) - 15,000
9) Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP) - 13,000
10) Maplus: Portable Navi 3 (PSP) - 12,000

Hardware:
DSi - 66,498
PS3 - 55,344
PSP - 18,375
Wii - 17,568
DS Lite - 11,179
Xbox 360 - 7,568
PS2 - 2,612

93 Comments

  • sirfrieden

    Posted Sep 23, 2009 10:39 pm PT

    @ madSomnambulist

    Well said, and not a hint of fanboyism in the statement. Everyone take note of halfway intelligent people please.

  • decoy1978

    Posted Sep 22, 2009 11:21 pm PT

    The markets in Japan are totally different from US. Just because Sony does extremely well there clearly does not mean it will do well here. But I do agree that releasing PS3 slim will acquire a lot of new customers. If Sony does keep up this pace throughout the holiday season.. they may start to come around.

  • madSomnambulist

    Posted Sep 22, 2009 8:11 pm PT

    It was obviously to be expected that the massive PS3 Slim spike would go away, but if Sony can keep up even half that sales number a week through the holidays-- and outsell the 360 anywhere between 4 and 8:1 in the process, it'll be a very strong statement to the 360 worldwide. Not that it's that popular in Japan anyway, but this event would be akin to abolishing it.

    Maybe Microsoft has saved a few tricks for Tokyo Games Show and can make a stand in a place its at a disadvantage, just as Sony managed to survive at least 2 full years of the PS3 in North America before turning it around.

  • naveh3

    Posted Sep 22, 2009 12:29 pm PT

    in here is a clever funny and interesting filled with big new and amazing info about pokemon and ps3 sales comment

    i seriously consider importing a soul silver or a heart gold but i don't know if i should and which one... also, why dont they sell the pokewalker separately from the game? (on ebay) why does it costs 60$ on ebay? i want it 30$ with shipping please!

    pm me with which one should i buy

  • robinson_chase

    Posted Sep 21, 2009 11:06 pm PT

    god damn i swear everyone in Japan must have like 6 DS's lol. how in the hell are they still selling that many of them 5 years after it came out?!?!

  • togusss

    Posted Sep 21, 2009 7:28 am PT

    @MSG-deathscyth hmmm There are a deeper rpg element in pokemon ... if you realy get into the game you will see that there are a lot of rpg element in it... even more in the newer games... it is not any more just about caching them all there are a ton of things to do ...

  • MSG-Deathscythe

    Posted Sep 21, 2009 3:41 am PT

    @kavadias: i felt the same after emerald. yep, i did not play diamond/pearl/platinum. i probably would come back to the series if they make a version for mature audiences with deeper rpg elements.

  • kavadias1981

    Posted Sep 21, 2009 1:38 am PT

    I guess PS3 sales like last week wren't meant to last. Still, some strong sales there. Completely fed up of Pokemon now. After owning almost all of them and devoting well over 400 hours to the series I can safely say that I won't be buying anymore of the ruddy franchise. Time for something equally as addictive but definitely something new please.

  • Vonzom

    Posted Sep 20, 2009 11:19 pm PT

    Pokemon SS/HG should've shipped with more extras than it did. It may be a remake of the most popular game in the Pokemon series but in terms of gameplay it's obviously the same as D/P/Pt, hell maybe just throw in a couple of new evolutions or whatever...I can safely invest my money by betting they're holding out on us and saving new features (very few ones probably) for Pokemon Crap Crystal.

  • mvang

    Posted Sep 20, 2009 9:42 pm PT

    immm done with pokemon lol ps3 is better then XBOX

  • kardon16

    Posted Sep 20, 2009 7:36 pm PT

    I lost a coin toss bet with my friend to decide who was gonna get the soulsilver version and I lost

  • SilvrSlayr96

    Posted Sep 20, 2009 12:39 pm PT

    sony is da best. always will be

  • HerbalVideogame

    Posted Sep 20, 2009 11:54 am PT

    I wish I was a Japanese Gamer. *Sigh* Maybe in my next life...

  • gtracer65

    Posted Sep 20, 2009 11:50 am PT

    PS3= Nuke Bomb to the 360!

  • sartnd

    Posted Sep 20, 2009 10:39 am PT

    @riariases

    PS3 outsell 360 in the US last week , so you saying they are eating more sushi in US this days?

  • gameking5000

    Posted Sep 20, 2009 8:54 am PT

    Pokemon SoulSIlver and HeartGold= Twin towers

  • kamizuka

    Posted Sep 20, 2009 5:19 am PT

    ps3 slim sold 150k to STORES and then 55k ppl and More bought ps3 and now the STORES are getting more ps3 because they are running short and thats in japan only not worldwide.

  • jb9776

    Posted Sep 20, 2009 3:06 am PT

    ,,

  • sergioalb64

    Posted Sep 19, 2009 11:34 pm PT

    With Pokemon or not, the DS continues to dominate worldwide hardware sales, after almost five years in the market.

    Now THAT'S impressive. DS = King

  • Orasion_Seiz

    Posted Sep 19, 2009 10:28 pm PT

    wow the first 4 top games are DS games...

    i myself have not played a Pokemon game being a DS owner..maybe someday i'll dig myself into the world of Pokemon.

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