Gears of War shoots into Japanese top 10

Epic Games' popular third-person sci-fi shooter grabs number seven in the charts, reports Media Create.

No one can argue that Gears of War hasn't been a massive success. The title has sold more than 3 million units worldwide--it was the third best-selling game of 2006 in the US and the 18th best-selling game in the UK. It also won GameSpot's Game of the Year award and overtook Halo 2 as the most popular game on Xbox Live.

Now the Xbox 360-exclusive title can boast another feather in its cap. The game was released on January 18 in Japan--a region where Western-developed shooters have historically not proved popular. However, Gears of War managed to break into the country's top 10 sales list, selling 33,212 copies in its first week and debuting in the charts at number seven, according to Media Create.

There were a total of eight new titles in the top 10 of the Japanese charts last week, with .hack//G.U. Vol. 3 making it to number one, having sold 136,790 copies since its release.

312 Comments

  • trw534

    Posted Oct 22, 2008 4:39 pm PT

    good gears of war is a good game and deserves that

  • CausticBox

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 12:33 am PT

    Wow, it made it in Japan. I never knew Xbox games stood a chance in that market. It's totally different over there (like wtf is .hack//G.U. Vol. 3?!).

  • will6r

    Posted Feb 3, 2007 12:52 pm PT

    Not suprised at all

  • Cabose420

    Posted Feb 3, 2007 11:43 am PT

    amen psgored21, amen!

  • Jsrf7

    Posted Feb 3, 2007 6:33 am PT

    Yeaha!!!

  • psgored21

    Posted Jan 31, 2007 1:31 pm PT

    what i dont get is why there are so many people caught up in the fact there there isnt that much of a story line...in shooter x you are given something game specific and a gun, get to the end of the board...shooter y your given a team and you lead them to the end of the board....look around who cares about the story line when you shoot and chainsaw people????

  • kiro900

    Posted Jan 31, 2007 10:35 am PT

    the graphiocs are amazin but i dont really think its that great of a game to slow pace kind of boring idk i hate that ranked game junk u cant even play with ur friends but im proud its top 10 in jap..... im happy ps3 sucks dong and isnt on top 30 yet

  • lovermanxxx

    Posted Jan 31, 2007 12:42 am PT

    pdinny wrote:
    I have to agree with jamsiecolst, very good gameplay but my 4 year old son could have written a better story for the game. I prefer substance with my gameplay. Maybe I just expected too much after reading the reviews.

    reply:
    story? sorry, there was a story in GoW? lol. GoW story is thus:
    here is a gun. go kill.

  • pdinny

    Posted Jan 30, 2007 2:29 pm PT

    Nice to see a game like GOW doing so well in Japan. I have to agree with jamsiecolst, very good gameplay but my 4 year old son could have written a better story for the game. I prefer substance with my gameplay. Maybe I just expected too much after reading the reviews.

  • Strong_Bad101

    Posted Jan 30, 2007 11:55 am PT

    no surpirse here

  • ov3rdance

    Posted Jan 30, 2007 10:39 am PT

    wow.

  • nathanyc

    Posted Jan 30, 2007 9:39 am PT

    Why is it a suprise? Of course, Micro$oft thinks that all Japanese play nothing but JRPGS and mahjong. Shame.

  • louis_smith

    Posted Jan 29, 2007 6:33 pm PT

    Dang Even japan is Getting Violent lol...Oh well...Man Epic knew they tapped into the belly of the beast and all they have to do is Work on Part 2, 3, 4..cause the story isnt even finished yet..just like that game BLACK..What the Crap...it just ended out of nowhere...

  • john1912

    Posted Jan 29, 2007 1:16 pm PT

    Lol, PS3 games havent made the top 30 I read, least not in jan, not sure about durning Nov-Dec.

  • tamm2809

    Posted Jan 29, 2007 10:31 am PT

    WOW, this game rocks, congrats to the creators.

  • Imhotepp

    Posted Jan 29, 2007 9:24 am PT

    I have to agree with Seram. Never expected it. Thanks again Cliff. This could turn the tide on shooters in Japan (hopefully getting away from grown men training a digital puppy).

  • Seram

    Posted Jan 29, 2007 8:51 am PT

    Dang, never expected it to be big in Japan!

  • GogetaX

    Posted Jan 28, 2007 6:55 pm PT

    Yay for 360 in Japan! =D.

  • Stage_IV

    Posted Jan 28, 2007 5:45 pm PT

    Japanese people.

  • TrueIori

    Posted Jan 28, 2007 5:43 pm PT

    hahah insane it not impossible i pass it lol. And Gears is so a reason to get a 360 and it the best game online right now

  • jamsiecolst

    Posted Jan 28, 2007 3:39 pm PT

    I think GOW is a good game. I've completed the game (not on Insane though, impossible!). The gameplay is an original take on the shooter genre. However the storyline is weak and not much happens. We already know its a trilogy and i think this is another example of Microsoft trying to cash in. Although I enjoyed playing it and occasionally do on XLive, I dont think that it gives buying an Xbox 360 justice. There are gret games coming out on other consoles too. Probably better ones too.

  • everythingj

    Posted Jan 28, 2007 2:25 pm PT

    "Mowery003:
    You dont have an xbox 360 until you have bought Gears of War....by far the best shooter i have ever played."

    He's right folks. It's not like anything we've seen from shooters in the past.. It's on a whole other level and just doesn't compare well to games today. I'm interested to see if it will still put even Halo3 to shame later this year..

    I laugh everytime I read a post from someone who invested only in a PS3, and can't play this game.

  • RipVanWinkle_

    Posted Jan 28, 2007 1:20 pm PT

    Sil3n7Knight said:
    um guys these spikes in Sales are not gonna last... Next Week DS pwns all once again. It happened with Your Savior Blue Dragon it will happen with the overrated piece of garbage that is GOW....................................................... Sil3n7Knight, I'll bet my left arm you haven't even played the game, fanboy.

  • kdizzle815

    Posted Jan 28, 2007 12:46 pm PT

    Maybe the 360 will finally gain some traction in the land o' de rizin sizzun

  • Mowery003

    Posted Jan 28, 2007 9:55 am PT

    You dont have an xbox 360 until you have bought Gears of War....by far the best shooter i have ever played.

  • joshSF

    Posted Jan 28, 2007 9:47 am PT

    gears deserves this, its one of those games that you are proud to have on your xbox 360. doens't get more simple, its a amazing game. its so cool playing on xbl and seeing 'japan' as their region and stuff, on other 360 games you rarely see that, the game is massive to have attracted 'non-shooter' players

  • KingTheodon

    Posted Jan 28, 2007 6:46 am PT

    Well I thought the only reason to get a 360 was Halo 3 and Oblivion. But when I saw the rating of this game and bought it, I LOVED IT it is a must get to owners of all 360's. And I can get each game for 2 Dollars. =)), because im in china they have all the fake games all work as well no errors sooo good.

  • mc_reload1

    Posted Jan 28, 2007 3:16 am PT

    well i have the game & i can tell you there is no point having an xbox360 withtout it definatly a must get !

  • noxian

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 8:35 pm PT

    not to burst too many bubbles, but it should be noted that sales of games and consoles have slumped in Japan through January, and GoW's sales put it only a few thousand (note 3-4k) over other games that were pretty much considered flops.
    its hard to say since you could argue that GoW's sales were also affected by the overall current slump. but at the same time one could argue the only reason Gears of War made the top 10 is because sales were so low in general and it didn't take much to make it on the list this month.

  • george15gamer

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 6:39 pm PT

    Man i guess thats how good it is even in Japan.

  • Dantes_Monkey

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 2:07 pm PT

    i think Medal of Honor rising sun is still ironically the highest selling FPS game in japan

  • Codename33

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 1:08 pm PT

    Wow... it's sort of sad that GOW was beaten in sales by a .hack game... but it's Japan, so I'll let it slide.

  • WorstGameEver

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 12:04 pm PT

    GEARS >:-O!!!

  • RollingZeppelin

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 11:21 am PT

    Really? I thought the Japanese would have nothing to do with this game. Its pretty much as americanized as it can get.

  • anamnawshad

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 6:33 am PT

    Wow! I never thought this would happen!!

  • aaronannie68

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 6:22 am PT

    not a suprise...gears of war is tearin it up.

  • Sanguis_Malus

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 5:15 am PT

    Its quite sad when when gamers live in a national bubble so to speak so its good to see Gears getting recognition in Japan. I agree however, it won't last, the Japanese are very set in their ways when it comes to certain things.

    The UK market is different altogether, if the game was released earlier then it would have done better but a large portion of UK games sales appear to be Mummy or Granny buying for little Timmy etc. Hence, less violent titles seem to sell more, much more.

    Just picture Granny in the shops looking at Gears "Oh I say, that blood and Chainsaw action looks great"

    Me personally, I love killing games, bring em on !!!

  • ftjx

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 4:25 am PT

    "18th best-selling game in the UK." Wauuww.......... Great to see a western game on the top ten in Japan though! Maybe the japanese aren't so conservative/biased/nationalistic when it comes to videogames ater all.....

  • Sil3n7Knight

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 2:22 am PT

    um guys these spikes in Sales are not gonna last... Next Week DS pwns all once again. It happened with Your Savior Blue Dragon it will happen with the overrated piece of garbage that is GOW

  • trevera

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 12:51 am PT

    Gears of war,not surprised to see it in japanese charts as so many will already know the game is in a league of its own.Epic produced a game that has surpassed anything currently on any platform if you have not played the game you would have heard the shouts of those who have.so japanese gamers will hear and see gow likewise.

  • Kravyn81

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 11:33 pm PT

    I think this is damn great news.

  • hemakm3

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 5:41 pm PT

    Nice job

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 3:22 pm PT

    You know guys seriously, this may be unsual for a shooter for 360 do well in japan. But it doesn't break ground, a lot of unheard of games reach top 10 all the time and they overall end up doing poorly. The true testament comes if Gears can remain on the top 10 for several weeks.

  • Triton

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 2:30 pm PT

    Wonder if helped to sell any new system purchases?

  • Babomza

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 2:18 pm PT

    just proves how much Gears rocks!

  • MrNib

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 12:35 pm PT

    wow, japan got owned

  • LexLas

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 12:09 pm PT

    It sure does look like a great game, I would not expect less from it for sure.

  • Shingo

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 11:53 am PT

    If this is true then this is VERY VERY VERY interesting.

  • huskerman34

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 11:18 am PT

    Its about time japanese gamers start reconizing american games. Now we might see some games ported over to the 360. ITs all about the japanese. They have the number one gaming market in the world .

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