Saling The World: Trusty Bell Exceeds Sales Expectations in Japan

Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five sellers for every available platform in the United States, Japan, and Europe, providing an important update of sales patterns worldwide. This week's charts, with data taken from June 14th, 2007, feature predictable sales success for established chart leaders but a surprising lack of interest for several titles anticipated as surefire hits. Data for "Saling The World" comes courtesy of the public sales information on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Amazon.co.jp, with sales split out for each platform and territory, and pre-orders disregarded. This results in a true sense of what games are selling worldwide on the real-time updated service, as follows: Nintendo Wii North America: 1. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. Super Paper Mario (Nintendo), 4. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (Nintendo), 5. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo). Japan: 1. BioHazard 4 Wii Edition (Capcom), 2. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 3. Hajimete no Wii (Nintendo), 4. Mahou Sensei Negima!? Neo-Pactio Fight!! (Marvelous), 5. Wii de Yawaraka Atama Juku (Nintendo). UK: 1. Wii Play (Nintendo), 2. Mario Strikers Charged Football (Nintendo), 3. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports), 4. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 5. Cooking Mama (505 Games). Despite a strong sales start earlier in the week, the recently released Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree falls behind for a fourth place finish among this week's best selling Nintendo Wii titles in the United States. Mario Party 8 once again tops the charts, while Wii Play and Super Paper Mario remain in demand on a weekly basis. In Japan, last week's second-place debut Bokujou Monogatari: Yasuragi no Ki falls off the chart, though its publisher, Marvelous, once again finds a spot in the top five with Mahou Sensei Negima!? Neo-Pactio Fight!! Xbox 360 North America: 1. Forza Motorsport 2 (Microsoft), 2. Guitar Hero II Bundle (RedOctane), 3. Gears of War (Microsoft), 4. Shadowrun (Microsoft), 5. Tenchu Z (Microsoft). Japan: 1. Trusty Bell: Chopin no Yume (Microsoft), 2. Dead Rising -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Capcom), 3. Bullet Witch -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (AQ Interactive), 4. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Ubisoft), 5. Fight Night Round 3 -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (EA Sports). UK: 1. Forza Motorsport 2 (Microsoft), 2. Colin McRae: DiRT (Codemasters), 3. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2K Games), 4. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft), 5. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Ubisoft). Like fellow recent debut Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree, demand for Tenchu Z reached its peak just prior to its release, then quickly fell as the week progressed. Forza Motorsport 2 continues to be the biggest-selling Xbox 360 title in the U.S. and Europe, while Shadowrun has picked up in sales slightly after finishing fifth in U.S. 360 sales last week. Meanwhile, Japan sees several fresh faces in its bestseller list this week, with the much-anticipated Trusty Bell: Chopin no Yume debuting as the week's single best-selling title across all platforms at Amazon.co.jp, while a variety of recent budget-priced re-releases also find a large degree of popularity. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA), 2. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda), 3. MotorStorm (SCEA), 4. MLB 07: The Show (SCEA), 5. Fight Night Round 3 (EA Sports). Japan: 1. Call of Duty 3 (Spike), 2. Ninja Gaiden Sigma (Tecmo), 3. Resistance: Jinrui Botsuraku no Hi (SCEI), 4. Gundam Musou (Bandai), 5. Ridge Racer 7 (Namco). UK: 1. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEE), 2. MotorStorm (SCEE), 3. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Ubisoft), 4. Formula One Championship Edition (SCEE), 5. Virtua Tennis 3 (Sega). Call of Duty 3 pulls greater sales numbers at Amazon.co.jp in its first week of release than the just-released Ninja Gaiden Sigma -- a surprising turn of events, given the continuing popularity of Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden franchise in Japan. It's especially unusual that a new entry in the Ninja Gaiden series would be topped in initial sales by an American-developed first-person shooter title. It's impossible to say at this point whether these results will repeat next week, though this remains an unusual situation nonetheless. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Guitar Hero II Bundle (RedOctane), 2. Tomb Raider: Anniversary (Eidos), 3. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 (Namco Bandai), 4. God of War II (SCEA), 5. Odin Sphere (Atlus). Japan: 1. Taito Memories II Gekan (Taito), 2. Hisshou Pachinko*Pachi-Slot Kouryoku Series Vol. 10 (D3 Publisher), 3. Missing Parts Side A: The Tantei Stories -- Nice Price! (Fog), 4. Missing Parts Side B: The Tantei Stories -- Nice Price! (Fog), 5. BioHazard 4 -- PlayStation 2 the Best (Capcom). UK: 1. Tomb Raider: Anniversary (Eidos), 2. SingStar Pop Hits (SCEE), 3. WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2007 (THQ), 4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Disney), 5. FIFA 07 (EA Sports). Tomb Raider: Anniversary fares slightly better this week after seeing a slow sales start in its debut week in the United States. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 also performs well, and manages to rack up bigger overall sales numbers than many of this week's debuting titles on other platforms. Japan, on the other hand, sees an unlikely sales leader in the retro compilation Taito Memories II Gekan, which is currently enjoying new chart life thanks to a 50% reduction in price at Amazon. PC North America: 1. Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek (Her Interactive), 2. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard), 3. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 4. The Sims 2: H&M Fashion Stuff (EA Games), 5. The Sims 2: Seasons (EA Games). Japan: 1. Monster Hunter Frontier (Capcom), 2. Shinkyouku Soukai Polyphonica 3 & 4 (Ocelot), 3. Final Fantasy XI All-in-One Pack 2006 (Square Enix), 4. Heart no Kuni no Alice ~Wonderful Wonder World~ (QuinRose), 5. Shinkyouku Soukai Polyphonica -- 1 & 2 Box Edition (Ocelot). UK: 1. The Sims 2: H&M Fashion Stuff (EA Games), 2. Tomb Raider: Anniversary (Eidos), 3. World of Warcraft (Blizzard), 4. Medieval II: Total War (Sega), 5. Football Manager 2007 (Sega). Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek leads PC software sales at Amazon by a wide margin in its debut week, despite receiving little attention from most traditional gaming outlets prior to its release. A low price and Amazon's significant casual gamer userbase are likely reasons for its success, though it remains to be seen whether The White Wolf of Icicle Creek will make a dent in overall sales numbers across all retail chains. Elsewhere in the world, an online multiplayer entry in Capcom's popular Monster Hunter franchise leads sales in Japan, despite the fact the game will not be playable until its servers become available later this month. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Pokemon Diamond (Nintendo), 2. Brain Age (Nintendo), 3. Nintendo DS Browser (Nintendo), 4. Pokemon Pearl (Nintendo), 5. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Miru Chikara o Jissen de Kitaeru: DS Ganryoku Training (Nintendo), 2. Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Motto Eigo Duke (Nintendo), 3. Yamakawa Shuppansha Kanshuu: Shousetsu Nihonshi DS (Namco), 4. Chuugaku Eitango Target 1800 DS (IE Institute), 5. Touhoku Daigaku Mirai Kagaku Gijutsu Kyoudou Kenkyuu Center: Kawashima Ryuuta Kyouju Kanshuu: Nou wo Kitaeru Otona no DS Training (Nintendo). UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. Big Brain Academy (Nintendo), 3. Nintendogs: Lab & Friends (Nintendo), 4. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 5. Cooking Mama (505 Games). Never has the sales disparity between Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl been so great, as this week sees interest in Pokemon Pearl drop dramatically in favor of Brain Age and the Nintendo DS Browser, while Pokemon Diamond remains seated at the top of the chart. While Diamond has consistently outsold Pearl on a week-to-week basis since both titles debuted, it's still very unusual to see Pearl fall so far behind Diamond. Whether this is a trend that will continue in future weeks is unknown, but demand for both titles remains strong enough for this to be a fluke occurrence. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Chili Con Carnage (Eidos), 2. Star Wars Battlefront II (LucasArts), 3. Daxter (SCEA), 4. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 5. MLB 07: The Show (SCEA). Japan: 1. Final Fantasy Tactics: Shishi Sensou (Square Enix), 2. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom), 3. Final Fantasy II Anniversary Edition (Square Enix), 4. Eiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki FC (Falcom), 5. Talkman Shiki: Shabe Lingual Eikaiwa (SCEI). UK: 1. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 2. Mind Quiz (Ubisoft), 3. Medal of Honor: Heroes (EA Games), 4. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 5. Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (SCEE). Despite critical indifference and mediocre initial sales, Chili Con Carnage rises to the top of PSP sales this week shortly after being reduced in price to $9.99 at Amazon. Chili Con Carnage joins fellow budget-priced hits Star Wars Battlefront II, Daxter, and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories in the top five, as value-conscious PSP owners continue to drive software sales for Sony's portable console.