Japanese Sales Charts, Week Ending November 28th

The incredible sales success of Dragon Quest VIII (aka Dragon Warrior VIII) has had a huge effect on both the hardware and software sales charts in Japan. Around 2,167,000 units have been sold in just the two days covered by these charts - an incredible achievement that it is difficult to imagine ever being equaled in the West, by any title. The sequel surpassed its predecessor’s first week sales record by around 336,000, and has a good chance of beating Dragon Quest VII's overall sales of 3,834,000. However, only 75 percent of Dragon Quest VIII stock shipped to stores has so far been sold, compared to 92 percent in Dragon Quest VII’s first week on sale. Unsurprisingly, sales this week are up on last week, by 362%, and work out as 296% of the weekly average. However, all other software sales paled next to Dragon Quest, with the new Ratchet & Clank (perhaps the most popular Western platform franchise in Japan) selling just 77,000 units. Indeed, if all other software sales for the week are combined, they only amount to 616,307 units – giving an idea of just how important an event the release of Dragon Quest VIII has been. This is no less evident in the hardware charts, where the PlayStation 2 has accounted for 73.58 percent of the market. The Game Boy Advance is well behind with a 21.76 percent share, followed by the GameCube at 4.15 percent and the Xbox at 0.46 percent.

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