Media Create has released its weekly chart tracking hardware and software sales in Japan for the week spanning December 27 and January 2. In a little bit of a peculiarity, the company is listing the cumulative totals as the "2004 total" numbers. Theoretically, they'll reset the cumulative totals in the next chart (or we'll be extremely confused).
Hardware Sales (This Week, Previous Week, 2004 Final Total)
1. Nintendo DS – 209,522 – 396,674 – 1,495,596
2. PlayStation 2 – 207,108 – 188,134 – 2,898,774
3. PSP – 129,957 – 107,217 – 482,252
4. Game Boy Advance SP – 116,801 – 190,268 – 2,647,762
5. GameCube – 29,802 – 108,311 – 726,640
6. Game Boy Advance – 2,653 – 3,877 – 200,678
7. Xbox – 899 – 704 – 37,982
8. PSone – 134 – 90 – 14,163
9. Swan Crystal – 76 – 76 – 7,540
That's right folks, if you're keeping track, the PlayStation 2 sold the most systems in Japan during 2004 (2,898,774), with the GBA SP and Nintendo DS following a close second (2,647,762) and third (1,495,596). Nintendo sure isn't strapped for cash in Japan, are they? Sony has stated that they shipped 510,000 total PSP units by the end of 2004, and Media Create's number of 482,252 suggests that the system has enjoyed a high sell-through rate.
Software Sales (This Week, Previous Week, 2004 Total)
1. (PS2) Gran Turismo 4 – Sony – 634,769 – 634,769
2. (DS) Super Mario 64 DS – Nintendo – 108,937 – 525,062
3. (DS) Sawaru Made in Wario – Nintendo – 101,075 – 417,318
4. (PS2) To Heart 2 – Aquaplus – 86,485 – 86,485
5. (PS2) Metal Gear Solid 3 – Konami – 71,723 – 730,347
6. (PS2) Dragon Quest VIII – Square Enix – 71,019 – 3,174,496
7. (GC) Mario Party 6 – Nintendo – 52,366 – 468,929
8. (GBA) Rockman EXE 5 – Capcom – 49,658 – 49,658
9. (DS) Pokemon Dash – Nintendo – 48,056 – 48,056
10. (PS2) Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special – Square Enix – 40,877 – 241,822
What does this list tell us? First, that Dragon Quest VIII was easily the #1 best-selling game in Japan during 2004, with a whopping 3+ million copies sold. Not bad for a game that costs more than $70. The English version is slated to ship in North America sometime in 2005. Secondly, the list shows us that the Nintendo DS is doing very well despite the recent introduction of the Sony PSP. Finally, that Gran Turismo 4 is probably going to hit 1 million units sold by the end of January (you can count PSX Extreme as +1 in import sales).
