Despite being the direct sequel to one of the series’ most divisive entries, Final Fantasy XIII-2 was the best selling game this week in Japan, with over half-a-million copies sold, allowing it to surpass sales of last week’s winner, Monster Hunter 3G for the 3DS, which came in second this week with an additional 200,000.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 was a bit of a risk for Square-Enix, as while the original FFXIII sold well, it has since gone on to garner a sort of mixed reputation among fans of the series. Personally, I didn’t like the original much, but apparently at least half a million Japanese people did. Square-Enix has promised that FFXIII is a very different game from its predecessor, and now features a more non-linear structure, as well as some new characters and a refined battle system. Japanese gaming mag Famitsu gave XIII-2 a perfect 40 out of 40 score, but to put that into comparison, they also gave a 39 out of 40 to the original Final Fantasy XIII, so their review might not necessarily be in line with the general consensus about the game. Most of FFXIII-2’s sales were on the PS3, which isn’t surprising, given the Xbox 360’s nigh-non existent user-base in Japan.
3DS titles rounded out the rest of the top 5, as the system seems to have final caught on (in Japan, at least,) thanks to the popularity of Monster Hunter 3G, which continued to enjoy brisk sales in it’s second week of release. Mario Kart 7 placed third, Japan-exclusive soccer RPG Inazuma Eleven came in fourth, and Super Mario 3D Land continues to hang on to the sales chart, coming in at fifth.
The 3DS surprisingly managed to hold it’s own against the Vita, both in terms of hardware and software sold: Despite the launch of it’s sleek new competitor, the 3DS was the best selling system in Japan, moving 378,000 new units this week, slightly ahead of the Vita’s 325,000. The best selling Vita game was Hot Shots Golf 6, which sold 61,000 copies and was the overall sixth best selling game for this period. The PS3 and PSP both sold around 65,000 new systems each, and the Wii continues to cling to life with 60,000 systems sold.
