Top-Selling Japanese Games In 2003 Reveal Trends

Thanks to The Magic Box for their chart showing the top-selling videogames in Japan during 2003. Square Enix's Final Fantasy X-2 for PS2 tops the chart, selling a little less than 2 million copies, despite Japanese consumer discontent with the title, and Nintendo's Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire for GBA places second, with almost 1.5 million copies sold in 2003, and nearly 5 million in total. A surprise hit in third place is the PlayStation 2 action title Dynasty Warriors 4 from Koei, and further down the chart, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for GameCube can only manage a disappointing 26th place, with 310,000 copies sold, and an Xbox title of any kind is, sadly, nowhere to be seen in the Top 30.

Comments

Content: Poor Xbox sales = Poor Xbox game sales

[HardcoreGamer]

...and an Xbox title of any kind is, sadly, nowhere to be seen in the Top 30.

I'm not sure why this described as sad - I would characterize it as entirely predictable. We have all read about the many struggles that Microsoft has had in gaining acceptance in the Japanese market. Despite its best efforts, Microsoft's console has remained in last place, embarrassingly outsold even by the rebranded original PlayStation, the PSOne.

Part of the problem is the physically large design of the Xbox hardware itself, in a country where space in the typical home is at a premium and a small PS2 or GameCube is far preferable to the bulky Xbox.

Part of the problem is undoubtedly related to an allegiance to the domestic console manufacturers - Sony and Nintendo - over the foreign Microsoft.

But the biggest problem may be a cultural one. If the Xbox provided titles that appeal to the Japanese market, the Xbox would have better sales and better game sales. But it doesn't. Without the titles to back up the platform, there isn't - and the shouldn't be - any expectation of strong sales.

Splashy marketing and hype only buy you the attention of Japanese gamers (or any gamers for that matter). The question is: Can the Xbox deliver on the content?

So far - in Japan - the answer to that question is a resounding NO.

Re:No Grand Theft Auto?

[bugbread]

Nope, GTA is sold as Grand Theft Auto here in Japan. I suspect that it was just a few copies short of the top 30 (maybe #32 or 33?). GTA is distributed by Capcom. I don't think the list contains only games made by Japanese companies (game magazines don't tend to do that), but few if any non-Japanese made games sell very well here.

Biohazard was sold as Resident Evil abroad because of (I believe) issues with the band Biohazard.

Re:crystal chronicles

[simoniker]

Uhm, Crystal Chronicles came out in August in Japan, so considering how popular Final Fantasy is over there, I think that's definitely a little disappointing, although understandable considering the smaller install-base of the GameCube compared to PS2.

How did you think FF:CC sold 300,000 or more without having come out, anyhow? :)