News: Chart Analysis - Japan
Posted 20 Jan 2003 at 19:29 by Joshua Phillips
Software
1. Pokemon Sapphire (Game Boy Advance/Nintendo) 61,046
2. Pokemon Ruby (Game Boy Advance/Nintendo) 60,798
3. Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix (PlayStation 2/Square) 41,303
4. World Soccer Winning Eleven 6: Final Evolution (PlayStation 2/Konami) 36,445
5. Momotaro Railway 11: Black Bombee Arrives (PlayStation 2/Hudson) 33,923
6. Mega Man Exe 3 (Game Boy Advance/Capcom) 28,861
7. Unlimited Saga (PlayStation 2/Square) 25,061
8. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GameCube/Nintendo) 24,514
9. Mario Party 4 (GameCube/Nintendo) 21,495
10. Tales of Destiny 2 (PlayStation 2/Namco) 18,311
Hardware
1. Game Boy Advance: 95,400 (Annual: 95,400)
2. PlayStation 2: 79,095 (Annual: 79,095)
3. GameCube: 19,902 (Annual: 19,902)
4. Xbox: 3,900 (Annual: 3,900)
5. PSOne: 3,165 (Annual: 3,165)
6. Wonder Swan Crystal: 2,718 (Annual: 2,718)
7. Wonder Swan Color: 1,691 (Annual: 1,691)
8. Game Boy Color: 1,125 (Annual: 1,125)
Analysis:
I'm reluctant to even mention Pokemon again, the only question that can be raised about it's chart dominance is how long it will last, something which I wouldn't like to guess at, especially with sales likely to rise when Pokemon GameCube hits.
Many GameCube fans will rejoice at the fact that Zelda has pulled ahead of Mario Pary 4, a strange anomaly which can only be attributed to the Christmas season. Though sales have been somewhat underwhelming, Miyamoto's cel-shaded masterpiece does seem to be hanging in there, and is below a number of worthy titles which you would expect to perform well in Japan. It's no secret how fond they are of soccer, and Mega/Rockman is still one of the most well known video game characters.
A huge drop in hardware sales since the last chart, which is to be expected when Christmas and it's aftermath are over. The GBA has, expectedly, settled in at the top spot, well above the most popular home console. The GameCube is holding a decent second place, far ahead of Microsoft's Xbox, despite the release of Xbox Live recently, which has sold very little, as the Japanese continue their refusal of the Western made machine.
I imagine the next chart will look fairly similar to this first chart of the year, Mario Party 4 looks as though it may be on it's way out, but I believe Zelda has some staying power, so we should still see it, probably selling a similar number of units. Biohazard 2 and 3 are out in America, and so should be in Japan now or fairly soon, but if full price is charged as happened in the States you can be pretty sure they won't show up on the charts.