Ace Combat Series Refresh Tops Japanese Sales Charts In Debut

Bandai Namco's Ace Combat: Assault Horizon was the best selling game during its debut in the week ending October 16, selling just under 170,000 copies across its two SKUs. The game is the seventh in the popular air combat series. As producer Kazutoki Kono recently told Gamasutra, Assault Horizon is a "look forward, for the gaming industry is going in another direction." Rather than being a reflection of games in the series' past, Kono says the latest iteration is a step in a new direction, one that may be necessary for the series' survival as other Japanese standards, like Namco's own Ridge Racer series, have taken second stage to emerging competition. "I thought that we have to change it now; now is the time, or else we won't have it in the future." The approach seems to have worked: the game's debut of 169,993 copies sold across two SKUs is roughly in line with where the series was in its golden age: 2004's Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War, for example, sold 173,216 copies in its debut week. The full Japanese software top 20 for the week ending October 16 -- as provided by Media Create and translated on the NeoGAF forums -- follows. 1. Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (Bandai Namco, PS3) 149,470 2. Just Dance Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 90,039 3. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami, PS3) - 61,787 4. AKB1/48: Idol to Guam de Koishitara (Bandai Namco, PSP) - 34,114 5. Forza Motorsport 4 (Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360) - 24,854 6. Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (Bandai Namco, Xbox 360) - 20,523 7. Dead Rising 2: Off the Record (Capcom, PS3) - 16,913 8. Class of Heroes Final: Shinnyusei wa Ohimesama (Acquire, PSP) - 16,904 9. Rhythm Heaven (Nintendo, Wii) 13.202 10. Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary (Square Enix, Wii) - 12,987 11. Wii Sports Resort with Remote Plus (Nintendo, Wii) - 12,897 12. Eiyuu Densetsu: Ao no Kiseki (Nihon Falcom, PSP) - 9,793 13. Kirby Mass Attack (Nintendo, DS) - 9,540 14. Dark Souls (From Software, PS3) - 9,476 / 339.615 15. Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends - 8,553 16. Clock Zero: Shuuen no Ichibyou Portable - 8,046 17. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 6 (Konami, PSP) - 7,826 18. Monster Hunter Freedom 3 (Capcom, PSP) - 7,781 19. Family Fishing (Bandai Namco, Wii) - 7.433 20. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (Nintendo, 3DS) - 7,239