The staying power of older systems in Japan sets it worlds apart from North America and Europe. While one is busy watching new-gen software outsell the older versions, Japan is going through the opposite situation. PS3 versions of games are consistently outselling PS4 versions, despite the situation going much the other way abroad. Even just this past week, Wii-U's Mario Party 10 was outsold by the PSP's latest Uta no Prince. I thought Mario Party was a lock for the top three.
Well, when you're right 52% of the time, you're wrong 48% of the time, right? Here's the software chart for March 9-15, according to Media Create.
1. (PS3) Yakuza 0 – 145,823
2. (PS4) Yakuza 0 – 90,506
3. (PSV) Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth – 76,760
4. (PSP) Uta no Prince-sama: All Star After Secret – 67,237
5. (WIU) Mario Party 10 – 50,212
6. (PS3) Dragon Quest Heroes – 33,448
7. (3DS) Assassination Classroom – 25,494
8. (3DS) The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D – 15,941
9. (PS4) Dragon Quest Heroes – 14,744
10. (PSV) Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 6 – 13,601
11. (3DS) Yo-Kai Watch 2: Shinuchi – 11,701
12. (3DS) Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire – 10,768
13. (PSV) God Eater 2 Rage Burst – 10,406
14. (PSV) Higurashi: When They Cry – 9,879
15. (3DS) Super Smash Bros. for 3DS – 6,965
16. (PS3) Winning Post 8 2015 – 6,943
17. (3DS) Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate – 6,100
18. (3DS) LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins – 5,993
19. (PSV) Winning Post 8 2015 – 5,933
20. (PSV) Samurai Warriors 4-II – 5,729
Those Yakuza sales are kinda so-so for the series, and the PS4 version didn't do much better than last year's PS4 launch title Yakuza Ishin. Digimon, on the other hand, enjoys the franchise's highest ever debut week. Higurashi got a PS3 version, but it failed to chart. And yeah, again for emphasis, there's a PSP game sitting in fourth place.
Here are the hardware sales:
PS4 – 33,826
Vita – 20,103
New 3DS LL – 19,668
PS3 – 7,221
New 3DS – 7,164
Wii U – 7,054
3DS – 2,666
3DS LL – 2,590
Vita TV – 688
Xbox One – 307
Unfortunately, PSP hardware is no longer tracked by Media Create, as the system went out of production. I have a feeling it outsold the Xbox One, though. Lord knows there's more demand and still enough stock sitting around.
The PS4 and Vita are showing a little bit of stability. Perhaps Sony's marathon approach is starting to pay off?
You know who's approach isn't paying off? Microsoft's.
