FFXIII Doubles Japanese MGS4 Sales In One Week

In perhaps unsurprising news, Japanese chart trackers are reporting that Square Enix's newly-released Final Fantasy XIII is a big hit in Japan -- with latest sales figures even more impressive. The latest in Square Enix's epic role-playing game series sold 1.5 million units from its release in Japan on December 17 through December 20, according to a translation of a Famitsu report on Japanese-focused gaming weblog Andria Sang. The figure includes games bundled with special Final Fantasy XIII PS3 hardware. That's more than twice the sales of the previous Japanese PS3 all-time software sales record holder, Konami's Metal Gear Solid 4, which has sold 706,000 units to date, according to Business Week, which cited figures from tracking firm Enterbrain, Famitsu's parent. The best-selling Wii game in Japan this year was Nintendo's June release Wii Sports Resort, which has sold 1.4 million units. Just recently, Square Enix reported Final Fantasy XIII sales of 1 million units, but that figure did not include sales of the bundle, which pairs the game up with a PS3 that sports a Final Fantasy XIII theme. The release of Final Fantasy XIII also drove a sharp increase in PS3 hardware sales in Japan, as the console reportedly sold a massive 245,406 units during the week, by far besting the previous record of 150,000 units, which followed the console's price cut and "slim" revamp earlier this year. The console has sold over 4 million units in the country. Final Fantasy XIII is a PlayStation 3 exclusive in Japan, although Square Enix is also developing an Xbox 360 version for Western audiences. The Final Fantasy series has sold over 92 million copies worldwide since its 1987 debut.