JAPAN: Market drops year-on-year

Early numbers from Famitsu publisher Enterbrain claim that the Japanese market suffered a slight annual decline for the fiscal year ending March 31st.

However, the dip was lower than expected at just 0.6 per cent, with the total market value hitting YEN 549,060m. A sharp 6.6 per cent decline in the hardware market was the chief offender, though this was offset by a 3.7 per cent increase in software sales.

The DS emerged as the best selling console, shifting 3,922,792 units in the period. Proving that handheld in king in Japan, the PSP was the second best selling machine, with 2,422,795 units sold.

The Wii emerged as the best selling home console (2,183,938), followed by PS3 (1,925,429) and Xbox 360 (251,911).

The DS’ lifetime sales in the country have now passed 30m, with PSP’s standing at just half that – 14,227,354. These were followed by Wii (10,137,092), PS3 (4,934,824) and Xbox 360 (1,253,102).

Also sticking true to form are the annual software charts, which are dominated by RPGs. Square Enix’s Dragon Quest IX was the winner, selling 4,150,667 units. The combined sales of 3,663,655 for Pokmeon HeartGold and SoulSilver thrust Nintendo’s game into second place.

Next up were New Super Mario Bros Wii (3,587,755), Friend Collection (3,085,838) and Final Fantasy XIII (1,881,972).