Famitsu celebrates 1,300th issue with a look back on sales for the 21st century
This week, Famitsu put out its 1,300th issue. The magazine celebrated by giving insight into Japanese sales since the beginning of the 21st century.
Some notable statistics:
– Roughly 14,000 console and portable titles have come out in Japan since January 1, 2001
– Handheld systems have dominated the Japanese market since the DS’ arrival
– 32.9 million DS units sold in Japan
– PSP sold just under 20 million
– 39 DS titles are in the top-100 sales ranking
– 22 PS2 titles are in the top-100 sales ranking
– 16 Wii titles are int he top 100-sales ranking
– Year 2006: most titles in the top 100 with 14
– New Super Mario Bros. sol 6,424,042 copies in Japan
– Nintendo took up all five top slots for software sales since 2001
– Pokemon Diamond/Pearl is number two, followed by Black/White, Ruby/Sapphire, Animal Crossing: New Leaf
– All of these games sold at least 5 million copies
– Brain Age, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Dragon Quest IX and Mario Kart DS round out the top 10
– 8 Nintendo-published titles overall
– Nintendo has sold 99.8 million pieces of retail software in Japan since 2001
– Combined with the 33 million or so Pokemon games sold, that’s nearly 133 million Nintendo-produced game cards and discs floating around Japan
– That’s enough to give every Japanese citizen one game and still have about seven million left over
– Runner-up in software sales: Square Enix
– Square Enix has sold just over 30 million retail copies
– Only 11 publishers produced all of the games that made the top 100 sales ranking
Famitsu concluded with the following:
“More users are downloading their software purchases, and the flow toward free-to-play can’t be ignored. Games are being played in an expanding number of ways, and there’s been a massive rise in the number of users who play games on their smartphones. We’re approaching an era where software sales aren’t necessarily a direct reflection of what gamers like.”
