Japan: more sales data for Week 40, Monster Hunter Stories, more (Media Create / Dengeki)

Media Create

Today, Media Create released its weekly report for video game sales in Japan, providing us with more sales data for Week 40. During that week, a total of 407 000 units were sold for Software, which amounts to 116.50% of Week 40 sales. Naturally, most of the increase is due to Monster Hunter Stories, which had a stronger debut than expected with 141 000 units sold.

Media Create compared this title with another Monster Hunter aimed at a family audience: Monster Hunter Diary Poka Poka Airou Village DX, released last year on Nintendo 3DS. It sold 59 000 units during the first week, with a sell-through ratio of 57.48%. Monster Hunter Stories did much better, though it had a worse sell-through ratio.

Media Create notes that the the release of the demo version, and the start of the anime series, lead to an increase in pre-orders. But according to retailers, it was mostly adults that were interested in the game, and it didn’t do as well as they were expecting.

Source: Media Create

First-day sell-through

Here’s the first-day sell-through for two games on Nintendo platforms:

• [WiiU] Paper Mario: Color Splash – 20%
• [WiiU][3DS][PS4][PS3][PSV] Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens – 20%

Via: mao2

Dengeki

Here’s the sales data for individual versions of Yo-kai Watch 3, Puzzle & Dragons X, and Pokémon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire:

• Yo-kai Watch 3: Sushi – 7 759 units this week, 628 147 units since launch;
• Yo-kai Watch 3: Tempura – 7 758 units this week, 595 360 units since launch;
• Puzzle & Dragons X: Ryuu no Shou – 2 811 units this week, 94 884 units since launch;
• Puzzle & Dragons X: Ryuu no Shou – 2 789 units this week, 95 590 units since launch;
• Pokémon Alpha Sapphire – 1 535 units this week, 1 621 482 units since launch;
• Pokémon Omega Ruby – 1 265 units this week, 1 411 310 units since launch.

Dengeki reports that Monster Hunter Stories sold 151 000 units, with a sell-through ratio of 65%, which is quite better than what Media Create reports. If we assume that all players who bought Monster Hunter X / Generations are potential buyers, then that means only 5.3% of them did end up getting Monster Hunter Stories. Dengeki expect sales to top 250 000 units in the future, thanks to the anime series.

Next, here’s the best-selling titles for the first half of the current Fiscal Year

• Yo-kai Watch 3: Sushi / Tempura (Nintendo 3DS) – 1.21 million units
• Yo-kai Sangokushi (Nintendo 3DS) – 560 000 units
• Kirby: Planet Robobot (Nintendo 3DS) – 420 000 units
• Persona 5 (PlayStation 4) – 360 000 units
• Dragon Quest Heroes II (PlayStation 4) – 270 000 units

Dengeki notes that in recent year, the gap between games that sells really well and those that do not have been widening. It’s something Satoru Iwata talked about in the past, and which is due to the impact of smart devices (which have been eating away the market share of medium-sized games and studios). This is one of the main reasons sales have kept dropping in recent years.

Source: Dengeki