Japanese software sales measurement clan Media Create now reveals the 20 best-selling video games in the country so far this year.
As the end of June, it’s Monster Hunter carrying the momentum from its December 2010 release into this year; the mega-hit sits miles above the competition, more than doubling the second-place game. The action-adventure has surely been responsible for a lot of those PSP sales that have been going so strong in the island nation.
1. (PSP) Monster Hunter Portable 3rd – 968,269
2. (DS) Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 Professional – 469,469
3. (PSP) Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy – 454,522
4. (PS3) Dynasty Warriors 6 – 443,873
5. (PS3) Yakuza: Of the End – 376,193
6. (Wii) Donkey Kong Country Returns – 368,527
7. (PSP) Super Robot Wars Z – 364,881
8. (PSP) Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity – 352,511
9. (Wii) Wii Party – 349,951
10. (PSP) SD Gundam G Generation World – 332,278
11. (PS3) Samurai Warriors 3Z – 323,168
12. (DS) Pokemon Black/White – 303,299
13. (3DS) Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracles – 301,156
14. (PSP) Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3 – 275,202
15. (3DS) Nintendogs + cats – 244,048
16. (3DS) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – 223,260
17. (DS) Ni no Kuni – 217,847
18. (DS) Ace Attorney Investigations 2 – 214,994
19. (Wii) Mario Sports Mix – 207,449
20. (Wii) Mario Kart Wii – 204,858
Things look good for the PlayStation brand overall, as seven of the top 10 titles are on Sony systems. One that isn’t however, is #17, Ni no Kuni. Having played the PS3 iteration of that game, I can say it will rock when it’s released, but man, the DS game is also extremely good. It would have been nice for PSP owners to also get that game, but them’s the breaks, I suppose. The two tell different stories and have different gameplay altogether so it’s not a situation where you still get the complete experience by only playing one.
Many blockbusters are still to come, so we’ll see which of these are still around as of the end of the year. Front runners will likely include one or both of the upcoming Final Fantasy games, the HD upgrade of Monster Hunter Portable 3, and of course, Famitsu’s most wanted game, Tales of Xillia.
