According to Famitsu's publisher Enterbrain, the Japanese game market is, like a frightened turtle, getting smaller compared to last year. But what was the biggest selling game hardware? Games?

The data for 2007 reflects the period from January 1, 2007 to December 3, 2007. The data for 2008 reflects the period from December 31, 2007 to December 28, 2008. One hundred yen is the equivalent of US$1.08.

2007 Market Size (Figures Are Approximate)
Hardware: ¥327.41 billion
Software: ¥360.54 billion
Total: ¥687.95 billion

2008 Market Size (Figures Are Approximate)
Hardware: ¥250.5 billion
Software: ¥332.12 billion
Total: ¥582.61 billion

More after the break...

Once again the top games in Japan for 2008 are dominated by Nintendo. Even though it didn't claim the best selling game in Japan this year—Capcom's Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G did—it published more than half of the games in the top thirty.

Additionally, over twenty of them were created for either the Wii or Nintendo DS, a fact that will probably ease Nintendo's pain of losing the coveted number one spot. Of the top ten, nine are on Nintendo hardware, with only one PlayStation 3 title making the list at #13. That's sure to change in 2009, when Yakuza 3 hits and, maybe, just maybe, if Final Fantasy XIII lands.

Oh, and it's probably worth noting that three of the games were originally released in 2006, with Mario Kart DS dating back to 2005. Somebody's evergreen!

Congratulations, you best sellers!

01. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP)
02. Pokemon Platinum (DS)
03. Wii Fit (Wii)
04. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
05. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
06. Rhythm Tengoku Gold (DS)
07. Dragon Quest V (DS)
08. Hoshi no Kirby: Ultra Super Deluxe (DS)
09. Animal Crossing City Folk (Wii)
10. Wii Sports (Wii)

All the rest after the break..

From all the staff of PPN Studio, we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a wondeful Kawanza, etc.!

 

Here Are Your Spike Video Game Awards Winners

The night is over, you've digested the trailers, now settle in and remember what the whole point of the night was: the awards.

Below follows the full list of winners.

GAME OF THE YEAR

Grand Theft Auto IV

CONSOLE WINNERS

Best Xbox 360 Game: Gears of War 2
Best PS3 Game: LittleBigPlanet
Best PC Game: Left 4 Dead
Best Wii Game: Boom Blox
Best Handheld Game: Professor Layton and the Curious Village

A short 10 min video highlighting the Utgarde Keep run with a "stairway" theme..

Bosses include:
Keleseth
Dalronn & Skarvald
Ingvar the Plunderer

Video capped by Netius (www.netious.co.uk)

Audio and video edited by PPN

Songs include Stairway to Heaven cover by Ann Wilson and We're Brothers Forever by Leslie Wai (Power Ballad Cover)

Enjoy it!

Super Star Ultra outsells everything else combined!

November 14, 2008
- Kirby took over the Media Create sales charts covering November 3 to November 9, selling more units on its own than all other games in the top ten. Meanwhile, the DS managed to do the same in hardware.

Known in Japan as Hoshi no Kirby: Ultra Super Deluxe, the remake of the classic SNES entry in the Kirby series debuted at 265,654 units. For reference, the last Kirby game, 2006's Hoshi no Kirby Sanjou! Dorocche-dan, debuted at 166,000 units, and went on to top the million mark.

Everything else in the top ten was old. Rhythm Heaven (Nintendo, DS) took second with 39,891 units. Wagamama Fashion Girls Mode (Nintendo, DS) sold 37,411 units for third place. Pokemon Platinum (Pokemon, DS) managed fourth place with 36,670 units.

01. [NDS] Hoshi no Kirby: Ultra Super Deluxe (Nintendo) 266,000 / NEW
02. [NDS] Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo) 40,000 / 1,129,000
03. [NDS] Wagamama Fashion Girls Mode (Nintendo) 37,000 / 154,000
04. [NDS] Pokémon Platinum (Pokémon) 37,000 / 1,890,000
05. [PS3] Grand Theft Auto IV (Capcom) 36,000 / 169,000
06. [NDS] Valkyrie Profile: Toga o Seoumono (Square Enix) 32,000 / 112,000
07. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP the Best) (Capcom) 19,000 / 44,000
08. [NDS] Personal Trainer: Walking (Nintendo) 18,000 / 45,000
09. [PS3] Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Spec III (SCE) 17,000 / 52,000
10. [PS3] LittleBigPlanet (SCE) 17,000 / 69,000

Capcom's sandbox outing outsells Sony's LittleBigPlanet by a ratio of three to one

Following recent unsubstantiated day one sales claims from VGChartz, official Media Create figures have shown a convincing week one sales victory for Grand Theft Auto IV following its release in Japan.

The title, which is published by Capcom in Japan, shifted 133,000 units on
PS3 and 34,000 on Xbox 360 in the week ending November 2nd.  Sony’s LittleBigPlanet, in contrast, shifted 52,000 copies. In fact, Sony’s game was also unable to beat Square Enix’s DS RPG Valkyrie Profile.

Other top performers included DS outing Pokemon Platinum and Nintendo’s Wagamama Fashion Girls Mode.

Sales data for the week ending November 2, 2008. 

01. [PS3] Grand Theft Auto IV (Capcom) 133,000 / NEW
02. [NDS] Valkyrie Profile: Toga o Seoumono (Square Enix) 80,000 / NEW
03. [PS3] LittleBigPlanet (SCE) 52,000 / NEW
04. [NDS] Pokémon Platinum (Pokémon) 47,000 / 1,853,400
05. [NDS] Wagamama Fashion Girls Mode (Nintendo) 40,000 / 117,000
06. [NDS] Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo) 39,000 / 1,089,000
07. [360] Grand Theft Auto IV (Capcom) 34,000 / NEW
08. [NDS] Personal Trainer: Walking (Nintendo) 26,000 / NEW
09. [NDS] Cid to Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure no Meikyuu + (Square Enix) 26,000 / NEW
10. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP the Best) (Capcom) 26,000 / NEW

Thanks, Chart Get. More after the break...

It’s a new entry this week that takes the Japanese Software Sales crown. Wii Music has debuted atop the Japanese software sales chart for the week ended October 19, according to data provided by Media Create.

The Nintendo Wii title broke into the chart with 92,000 units, followed by Pokemon Platinum for the Nintendo DS, which holds onto its position from last week at second place with 72,000 units, with a total of 1,754,000 units sold since its release.

Placed at No. 3 is another new entry, Sony's Dungeon Keeper-like title, a PSP game by the name of Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida Or 2, with 59,000 sold. Weekly top contender Rhythm Tengoku Gold is still charting extremely strongly at No. 4, from No 3 last week, with 51,000 copies sold for a total of 1,010,000 units. Another Japanese Software Chart debut is Culdcept DS, squeezing into the No. 5 spot by managing to sell 50,000 units for the week. The last new entry to the Top Ten this week is Kidou Senshi Gundam 00: Gundam Meisters for PS2, with 43,000 units sold, slotting in at No. 6.

With all of these new entries, what happened to the rest of the pack? Read more after the break..

Here's Where You Can Get The KORG DS-10 

According to Kotaku we now know which retailers will be stocking the cool DS-10 NDS based synth/game.

The KORG DS-10, which is basically a synthesiser for your DS, is about the most exciting piece of software for the handheld we've seen in months.

For the third week in a row, Microsoft has outsold Sony again on its home turf, continuing to move Xbox 360s at a respectable clip.

Nintendo remains undaunted in the console wars, as combined sales of both the 360 and PS3 are well below that of the Wii and account for about a third of Nintendo DS sales. In other words, Nintendo rules, everyone else drools, hardware-wise.

Here are the hardware numbers from Media Create for the end of September:

1. Nintendo DS - 57,847
2. Wii - 26,314
3. PSP - 25,671
4. Xbox 360 - 11,291
5. PlayStation 2 - 9,848
6. PlayStation 3 - 8,275