Yo-kai Watch 2: Shin Uchi beats Pokemon re-releases

Dec 18, 2014 07:16 GMT  ·  By

Japan is no longer the crucial market for gaming hardware and software it was ten years ago, but the country is still seen as a useful barometer for future trends, and for the week that ended on December 14, the most impressive performance was that of the PlayStation 4 from Sony.

The best-selling device was the 3DS, according to Media Create data quoted by NeoGAF, with more than 157,000 units moved to gamers, which is a better performance than during the previous seven days, but under the level seen in the same period of 2013.

Nintendo is still heavily promoting the handheld and there are plenty of big games launched for it.

Second place in the Japanese hardware chart is linked to the PlayStation 4, which has gone from 15,971 units to 68,041, which is an impressive boost and might reflect the long-term potential associated with the home console.

It’s unclear whether the platform can maintain this sales pace in the long term or it will drop down to its usual level when December is over.

Third place on the podium is occupied by the Wii U from Nintendo, which has seen an increase of about 3,000 units to reach 27,334 for the tracked week.

The PlayStation Vita is accustomed to second place in the chart, but for this week it needs to be satisfied with fourth, where it landed with sales of a little more than 25,000.

The PS3 has also seen a small boost, but the Xbox One continues to be irrelevant for Japanese gamers, only managing to deliver 724 units to customers.

A new title manages to dethrone Pokemon re-releases

Yo-kai Watch 2: Shin Uchi for the 3DS from Level 5 is the video game which dominated the software chart in Japan, with sales of more than 1.2 million copies on less than one week.

Second place is occupied by the dual release of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, which has reached close to 2 million in overall sales.

Grand Theft Auto V, from Rockstar and Take Two, is in third place and has managed to sell 81,659 copies on the PlayStation 4.

The rest of the video game top ten includes: Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Shining Resonance on the PS3, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Yo-kai Watch 2: Ganso / Honke, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate on the 3DS, Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U, and Assassin's Creed: Rogue on the PS3.

Japan Charts Images (7 Images)

Still at the top in Japan
Rising home consoleGoing strong
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