News: Chart Analysis - Japan
Posted 15 Jan 2003 at 02:55 by Joshua Phillips
Software
1 GBA - Pokemon Monster Ruby - 220,753 / 1,606,153
2 GBA - Pokemon Monster Sapphire - 213,626 / 1,618,226
3 GC - Mario Party 4 - 122,817 / 725,617
4 GBA - Megaman EXE 3 - 102,407 / 357,907
5 PS2 - Kingdom Hearts Final Mix - 93,433 / 236,533
6 GC - Zelda: The Wind Waker - 88,908 / 682,908
7 GBA - Kirby - 85,976 / 585,676
8 PS2 - Pink Taro Electric Railway - 58,976
9 PS2 - Unlimited Saga - 58,202
10 GBA - Sonic Adventure 2 - 57,836
Hardware
Gameboy Advance - 367,931
Playstation 2 - 263,366
GameCube - 92,594
Xbox - 12,720
PSone - 8,531
Wonderswan Colour - 3,719
Swan Crystal - 3,317
Gameboy Colour - 2,853
Analysis:
I don't think there was any real doubt about the top two titles this week. Nintendo have proven that, even with minimal changes, Pokemon has still got what it takes. The success or failure of the GameCube Pokemon game will be interesting viewing to say the least.
Zelda, though not performing as well as we had hoped, is still doing pretty well, hanging in there.
Another franchise doing well is Capcom's Megaman/Rockman series, and the latest GameCube version is quite likely to cause a dent in the charts when it arrives this year.
Hardware is a little surprising this week, with the GBA thrashing the PS2 and the GameCube gaining even more ground.
Predictions for next week include ... Pokemon! Seriously though, Ikaruga may be out in time for next weeks charts, depending on who you believe. Though a Dreamcast port, it's a top notch game and I'm personally hoping it can make some sort of impact for the GameCube.