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Japan game charts: July 10-16

  • By Walt Wyman, GameSpot
  • Posted Jul 21, 2006 2:27 pm PT

Latest chapter of Konami's cartoonish baseball franchise hits a home run as notables from last week drop off this week's tallies.

Media Create's weekly software sales figures are in, and topping the list is Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyu 13--which, despite its title, proved not to be jinxed. The baseball simulation from Konami, released on July 13, sold 152,000 copies in its first three days on the market.

Jikkyou's success came in spite of some fierce competition from other high-profile new releases, such as Ape Escape: Million Monkeys and LocoRoco. However, compared to two previous Powerful Pro Yakyu titles, 13 seems to have lost some of the series' fire. Pro Yakyu 11 and 12 sold 205,000 and 278,000 copies, respectively, during their debut weeks.

A number of new titles jostled for position in the top 10. Xenosaga Episode III, which debuted at the number two spot last week, plunged down to the 16th position, as New Super Mario Bros. was bumped from its position atop the charts. Persona 3 stole a bit of Motto Nou o Kitaeru Otona DS Training's thunder, dropping it from third to fifth place. Tekken: Dark Resurrection took a beating, plummeting from fourth to 14th.

42 Comments

  • ApeEscapeExpert

    Posted Nov 7, 2006 11:13 pm GMT

    This is Impossible! It can't take a year to translate and rate Ape Escape Million Monkeys! It only takes months! NOT A YEAR! It takes 4 days for ESRB to rate E or T on Ape Escape Million Monkeys. Gamespot, is this real information or are you trying to scare the hell out of me?

  • ApeEscapeExpert

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 10:01 pm GMT

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
    OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
    OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
    WHY SCEA WHY?! WHY PUSH THE FCKING DATE TO THE END OF 2007?! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?! YOU PROMISED THAT IT WILL COME ON DEC 2006 AND NOW DEC 2007?! I pity you! I RATHER GET THE JAPANESE VERSION RATHER THE US VERSION FILLED WITH POOR VOICING ACTING!!!!! YOU ARE DISAPPOINTING MILLIONS OF APE ESCAPE FANS!

  • ApeEscapeExpert

    Posted Oct 4, 2006 10:43 pm GMT

    Good Ape Escape! and Sony!

  • elythemonkey

    Posted Aug 2, 2006 2:08 am GMT

    Unlike the American lineup, the Japanese lineup of games for the 360 is mediocre. Hell if i was a Japanese gamer i would avoid the 360, thank God i'm not.

  • mayiyahe

    Posted Aug 1, 2006 3:26 am GMT

    Not a xbox game up there... Yay!

  • SOLIDUS_SNAKE

    Posted Jul 31, 2006 3:53 pm GMT

    its weird how most of the games are on handheld systems

  • ApeEscapeExpert

    Posted Jul 30, 2006 11:43 pm GMT

    I am terribly confused... Is the US version for Ape Escape Million Monkeys coming out in August 31, 2006 or December 30, 2006? Please reply back.... I really appreciate it!

  • Car200N

    Posted Jul 28, 2006 2:54 pm GMT

    Yeah Ape Escape!!

    ...yes..
    ..I still play Ape Escape...

  • Havoc19

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 8:50 pm GMT

    sony is still dominant ofcourse

  • Ponsardin

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 8:17 am GMT

    DS Training 2 is still powerful, but deserves that for its quality. And why Project Hacker: Kakusei isn't in the GameSpot database yet?!?

  • rey06

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 6:34 am GMT

    wow. no comment

  • Maquis_UK

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 6:08 am GMT

    wow all the hype for Locoroco.. and where did it go..? nowhere LMFAO @ psp.

  • tyler2010

    Posted Jul 23, 2006 3:01 pm GMT

    Good to see PSP and PS2 up there

  • relset

    Posted Jul 23, 2006 5:51 am GMT

    oops..I don`t even know at least one of them...maybe mario !!

  • Mechakucha

    Posted Jul 23, 2006 4:37 am GMT

    Poor poor Xenosaga. The series started off with some much promise.. now it got ended only half way through and the final game is 16th after only two weeks. Oh well, time to move on.

  • Optimusv2

    Posted Jul 22, 2006 4:34 pm GMT

    When Blue Dragon comes out it will most definetly be on this sales chart in a top 3 spot atleast just wait and see.

  • rokkuman09

    Posted Jul 22, 2006 9:53 am GMT

    What's project Hacker d00d its game for H4x0rZ swweet lol

  • kinncolts

    Posted Jul 22, 2006 9:50 am GMT

    "Japanese don't want blood soaked FPS or the same old sports games. They want to expand their minds and try new things"...

    wow....okay then wat did PS2 or PS1 the best selling consoles in Japan offer that was new and mind-expanding????????......

    oh and the best selling games in Japan .....rpg's....u know the kind where its the same story over and over again that offer nothing new!

    (young boy or girl...attacked or has ammnesia and then goes on epic quest and defeats a great evil and totally saves the world!!!)

    for once stop bashin other companies and bein an ignorant fanboy

    for the record i like Japanese rpg's..and own a DS which i luv

  • solidusScott

    Posted Jul 22, 2006 3:03 am GMT

    i need to get a ds, but im not giving up my psp for one like others.

  • faridmon

    Posted Jul 22, 2006 2:01 am GMT

    nice to see the Ds is still the boss of the japanese chart,to see NSMB at second place is kind of sad but thats ok since the japanese is like Baseball crazy, nice to see Naruto RPG for the DS in top ten after horrible reviwe from Famitsu and hey its a 3rd party title, and happy to see persona 3 there, i loved Shin Megami Tensei seres and Devil Somuner games, but never tries Persona prequels, maybe righ time to explore persona now.

  • friky00

    Posted Jul 22, 2006 2:00 am GMT

    I remember reading a manga called Sanctuary, where explains why the japanese hate US products, the main character s a senator who ends up like a hero when he expels of the country an US negotiator who came to try to let american cars in the japanese market.(well the manga was old).

    So it will be hard for Xbox to hit in Japan, and is Microsoft biggest failure.

  • thug_angel123

    Posted Jul 22, 2006 1:49 am GMT

    its good to see loco rocco and some good ps2 titles on it damn i need a psp..

  • nintendorocks

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 10:06 pm GMT

    A baseball sim at number 1? Wow. I never expected that to knock New Super Mario Bros. off the top. I wish we could try this game over in the US...

  • gamer_10001

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 9:14 pm GMT

    DS isn't #1 but it still has majority.

  • konel01

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 6:39 pm GMT

    "It is hard for us to believe because the Xbox rules in the states (and elsewhere). "?!?

    The Xbox doesn't rule here in the states or anywhere else. It's Sales are Decent at most here, but's it's still getting owned by the PS2 and DS. Not that I'm a hater or a fanboy. I'll pick the Xbox 360 when if offers something I want. Right now it's Mostly Blood FPS or Action RPG's that don't compare to whats on the PS2.

    "bignfanboy" Loco Roco isn't a 360 game?!.... and you like it?. Like I said, I'll pick LocoRoco up and give it a try. It nice to see a DS like game on the PSP. To bad Sony has to steal Idea's to stay Afloat. I laugh when I see Sodoku games in the PSP side of EB. Then again MicroSoft can learn a thing or two.

  • bignfanboy

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 6:06 pm GMT

    I'm happy, considering that I haven't seen any Sony or MS fanboys going:

    "OMGZORZ, teh DS is teh suck!!!!1!!!one! What be wrong with those asian pplz? Any systemz besides teh 360 suck!"

    LocoRoco...what can I say? Besides it's good to see it on there, of course. I've only played it for about five to ten minutes, but those were some good minutes...

  • Cool-AN

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 4:13 pm GMT

    Where did Tekken go?

    Any way, good to see Loco Roco that far up the list.

  • Zeromind_Eric

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 3:52 pm GMT

    Yea...the Xbox may never get a chance out there. I visit Japan quite a bit and they just love their Nintendo and Playstation....period. It is hard for us to believe because the Xbox rules in the states (and elsewhere). You thought the PS2 game section was huge here...in Japan is it amazing. Xbox section....pretty small and dusty.

  • ffmarco

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 3:37 pm GMT

    "no next-gen console on that chart" like there are many next-gen consoles available right now... And anyway, the current games available on the xbox360 don´t appeal to the south-eastern asian market.

    It might look like an alien market, but actually its the japanese market. If you lived or grew up there, I am confident it would be a normal market to you.Or if you ´ve been mainly interested in the games most gamers play in Japan, just like me, it would seem normal to you too.

    I´ve heard most of them though, i like informing myself on markets I usually buy from

    Can anyone remember for how much time the ds games have been ruling the japanese charts? When the Wii and ps3 come out there, it´s gonna be really interesting to see if the ds will lose its ruling positon or overpower the next-gen consoles.

  • konel01

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 3:31 pm GMT

    The DS is Kick major tail with Half of the top 10 spots. Sad to see New Super Mario slipping from it's Months and Months at First. Nice to see a PSP game hit the top ten. I might actually pick up Loco Roco and dust of my PSP. No next gen games though.

    360 Might as well as make a 180 and head out of Japan. Without any Unique games that try something different, the Japanese public almost doesn't even notice America's little System that couldn't. Japanese don't want blood soaked FPS or the same old sports games. They want to expand their minds and try new things. It will be laughable when Wii games hit market and crush the 360 chances in Japan. No one can argue with that prediction.

  • Paul_TheGreat

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 3:29 pm GMT

    Japan needs to start opening up.

  • Kayrod29

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 3:29 pm GMT

    We'll never see an Xbox 360 game on those charts.

  • mhder

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 3:22 pm GMT

    LocoRoco is good but not enough PSPs owners to outsell the DS. But it may be a game that sits in the top 20 for a while.

  • diggyzoom

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 3:13 pm GMT

    come on Japan , LocoRoco should be numero uno

  • azad_champ

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 3:11 pm GMT

    no next-gen console on that chart.....

  • SulaMoon

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 2:57 pm GMT

    yeah,... it sounds like an alien market =p

  • Platyphyllum

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 2:57 pm GMT

    Good to see Persona 3 up there! I loved Persona 1 and 2 and I am eagerly looking forward to the NA release of Persona 3. I also like that a new APe Escape game is out in Japan! Ape Escape: Million Monkeys in 3rd following behind Persona 3! And all the DS games there! Go DS!

  • blackIceJoe

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 2:55 pm GMT

    Sad to see LocoRoco at seventh but new about this for a couple of days.But did not know where other games where on the list.Weird to see Mario in second place but next week most likey back at first.

  • korn18m

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 2:52 pm GMT

    It's good to see some new games on the sales charts atleast.

  • DanC1989

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 2:46 pm GMT

    Good to see LocoRoco on there

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 2:46 pm GMT

    ive never heard of most of them

  • ConManWithGun

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 2:38 pm GMT

    i love all games on that list equally yet ive never played them

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