According to Famitsu data, the Nintendo Switch was the #1 best-selling system of the first six months of 2017 in Japan, while Monster Hunter XX for Nintendo 3DS was by far the #1 best-selling game in the same timeframe.
Resident Evil 7 and NieR: Automata for PlayStation 4 were the only non-Nintendo games in the top 10 games, and they finished in 6th and 7th, respectively, each having sold more than 300,000 copies.
Looking at hardware, the PS4 just managed to fend off the Nintendo 3DS to place in 2nd with nearly 878,000 units sold.
In total, the Japanese video hardware and software market hit $1.35 billion USD (up 14.8% year-on-year): hardware was up 44% year-on-year, while software was down 4.6% year-on-year. Thanks to the success of the Switch, this marks the first time in three years that the console market has increased in Japan.
Here’s the top 10 best-selling games and top five best-selling systems in Japan during the first half of 2017 (December 26, 2016 to June 25, 2017), according to retail data from Famitsu:
Games
- Monster Hunter XX (3DS) – 1,640,005
- Pokémon Sun/Moon (3DS) – 527,862
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch) – 501,614
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild (Switch) – 464,480
- Super Mario Maker (3DS) – 397,656
- Resident Evil 7 biohazard (PS4) – 324,066
- NieR: Automata (PS4) – 311,906
- Momotaro Dentetsu 2017 Tachiagare Nippon!! (3DS) – 263,790
- Yo-kai Watch Sukiyaki (3DS) – 215,297
- 1-2 Switch (Switch) – 200,807
Systems (Lifetime)
- Nintendo Switch – 1,016,473
- PlayStation 4 – 877,630 (4,799,246)
- Nintendo 3DS – 872,620 (22,784,033)
- PlayStation Vita – 260,296 (5,507,715)
- Xbox One – 5,093 (78,041)
Famitsu highlighted Dragon Quest XI, Splatoon 2, and Pokemon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon as games in the second half of 2017 that will drive sales.
The Nintendo Switch hit 1 million sales in Japan in 17 weeks – which was much faster than the PS4 and PS Vita.
[Source: Famitsu via Serkan Toto, Eurogamer]
