Blue Dragon Tops Lifetime Xbox 360 Software Sales In Japan

According to recently reported tracking from Famitsu Xbox 360 and Enterbrain, Mistwalker's platform exclusive RPG Blue Dragon commanded a strong lead in a top 50 list of lifetime to date software sales in Japan, followed by Dead or Alive 4, Ace Combat 6, and Halo 3. According to Enterbrain's figures, translated by members of gaming forum NeoGAF, Blue Dragon has thus far reached sales of 203,740, nearly double the amount of the number two game on the list, Dead or Alive 4. In January of this year, we asked John Ricciardi, COO and creative director of localization company 8-4, Ltd., if he thought the Mistwalker title, which a month after its holiday release had reached sales of 133,000, had changed perceptions of Microsoft's console. "Not as much as I think most people hoped it would," said Ricciardi. "It's gonna take a lot, lot more than two or three high-profile titles from Mistwalker to affect the perceptions of the 360 in Japan." "Microsoft's problems over here run deep," he continued. "Their situation isn't something that can be changed overnight or even in six months. The entire way they approach the Japanese market needs sweeping changes before any real progress can be made." The full list, which follows below, shows a healthy presence of Eastern-developed games across the board -- some 14 of its 20 top sellers -- though unit sales fall dramatically after its top three lead: 01. Blue Dragon - 203,740 02. Dead or Alive 4 - 108,618 03. Ace Combat 6 - 83,045 04. Halo 3 - 82,987 05. Ridge Racer 6 - 73,501 06. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - 72,274 07. Trusty Bell - 70,244 08. Gears of War - 68,270 09. Dead Rising - 68,078 10. Lost Planet - 61,555 11. DEAD OR ALIVE Xtreme 2 - 60,544 12. Lost Odyssey - 60,376 13. Idolm@ster - 48,695 14. Dynasty Warriors 6 - 44,292 15. Assasin's Creed - 41,436 16. Ninetynine Nights - 38,019 17. Forza Motorsports - 2 31,255 18. Rumble Roses XX - 29,187 19. Crackdown - 28,588 20. Culdcept Saga - 27,960 21. Earth Defense Force 3 - 27,087 22. Perfect Dark Zero - 26,085 23. Test Drive Unlimited - 25,788 24. PGR3 - 25,058 25. Beautiful Katamari - 24,186 26. World Soccer Winning Eleven X - 21,904 27. Armored Core 4 - 21,096 28. Dead Rising (Xbox 360 Platinum Collection) - 20,325 (combined sales of 88,313) 29. [eM] eNCHANT arM - 20,233 30. Saint's Row - 18,593 31. Rainbow Six Vegas - 18,592 32. Oneechanbara vorteX - 18,443 33. Need For Speed Most Wanted - 17,973 34. Bulletwitch - 16,241 35. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 - 15,994 36. PlayOnline/Final Fantasy XI All-in-One Pack 2006 - 15,754 37. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2008 - 15,090 38. Idolm@ster (Xbox 360 Platinum Collection) - 14,864 (combined sales of 63,559) 39. Earth Defense Force 3 (Xbox 360 Platinum Collection) - 14,707 (combined sales of 41,794) 40. Final Fantasy XI Wings of the Goddess Expansion - 14,412 41. Call of Duty 3 - 14,194 42. Virtua Fighter 5 Live Arena - 13,169 43. Chrome Hounds - 13,110 44. Tenchu Z - 12,974 45. Project Sylpheed - 12,283 46. PGR 4 - 12,237 47. Viva Pinata - 12,184 48. Godfather - 11,670 49. Dynasty Warriors 5 Special - 10,957 50. Bulletwitch (Xbox360 Platinum Collection) - 10,857 (combined sales of 27,098) Enterbrain and Famitsu have reported that total lifetime sales of the console's top 50 titles stands at 1,818,924 units. Gamasutra continues to chart the progress of Japan's software sales on a weekly basis, most recently seeing Mistwalker's latest console exclusive, Lost Odyssey, debut at number 7, with 55,000 units sold.