Famitsu sales: Week 4, 2022 - (17th Jan - 23rd Jan)

[The_Liquid_Laser]

Kai_Mao said:

curl-6 said:

Top 30: https://nintendoeverything.com/famitsu-software-sales-1-17-22-1-23-22-top-30/

1. [NSW] Mario Party Superstars – 20,340 / 814,023
2. [NSW] Pokemon Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl – 13,696 / 2,468,151
3. [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 13,347 / 4,726,811
4. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 13,340 / 4,387,139
5. [NSW] Minecraft – 9,892 / 2,485,415
6. [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 9,257 / 7,158,271
7. [NSW] Ring Fit Adventure – 7,668 / 3,052,106
8. [NSW] Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain – 6,994 / 230,422
9. [NSW] Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban! – 6,948 / 2,577,427
10. [NSW] Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics – 5,301 / 911,313
11. [PS4] Rainbow Six Extraction – 5,217 / NEW
12. [NSW] Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 4,691 / 1,939,242
13. [NSW] Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury – 4,338 / 1,005,727
14. [NSW] Pokemon Sword/Shield – 4,065 / 4,297,172
15. [NSW] Splatoon 2 – 3,706 / 4,018,837
16. [NSW] Dying Light Platinum Edition – 3,119 / 8,618
17. [NSW] New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – 2,928 / 1,149,226
18. [PS5] Rainbow Six Extraction – 2,651 / NEW
19. [NSW] Dragon Quest XI S (New Price Version) – 2,506 / 180,094
20. [NSW] Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum ‘n’ Fun! – 2,420 / 689,769
21. [NSW] Splaton 2 + Octo Expansion – 2,139 / 63,909
22. [NSW] Human: Fall Flat – 2,126 / 230,165
23. [NSW] Super Mario Maker 2 – 2,006 / 1,191,663
24. [NSW] Super Mario Odyssey – 1,944 / 2,317,963
25. [NSW] Fitness Boxing 2 – 1,796 / 178,649
26. [NSW] Zelda: Breath of the Wild + Expansion Pass – 1,701 / 59,125
27. [NSW] Kirby Star Allies – 1,559 / 959,632
28. [NSW] Super Mario Party – 1,547 / 2,054,912
29. [NSW] Disney Magical World 2 Enchanted Edition – 1,533 / 53,740
30. [NSW] Luigi’s Mansion 3 – 1,503 / 825,376

NS - 28

PS4 -1

PS5 -1

It feels weird knowing that the PS4/5 need some compelling software just to avoid getting shutout in the weekly top 30. I’m not sure if even games like FFXVI will suddenly create significant momentum for the PS5 in Japan, considering that the recent FF games did well the first few weeks or so then drop significantly after (especially compared to JRPGs like Pokemon and Dragon Quest that appear to have pretty good legs for JRPGs).

For one reason or another, the PlayStation is just not able to come up with compelling software that can sell for weeks or months while the Switch has that in spades. CoD, Halo, and Battlefield are supposed to be the biggest shooters in the world, but Splatoon is like a religion in Japan compared to those 3 when they release in Japan. A Monster Hunter or a Ghost of Tsushima appear to be the very few games that Sony can get to gain some appeal in Japan and even then Nintendo will get their own MH game and Ghost is just one game out of how many IPs Sony has that has significant appeal in Japan?

I think the only game that can create significant momentum for them on the software side is Monster Hunter (MHW2 essentially).  Final Fantasy is clearly in decline in Japan.  I doubt FF16 will have the enthusiasm behind it to even sell like FF7 Remake, which itself had disappointing sales.  Dragon Quest 12 is going to sell more on the Switch.  Other Japanese Playstation franchises are not big enough, and there aren't really that many of them left that won't consider porting their game to Switch.  That just leaves MHW2.  I don't doubt that many Japanese gamers will buy a PS5 just for MHW2.  After it releases I expect baseline sales to go up noticeably.  

However, who knows when MHW2 will release? Until then, even the best PS5 game will last 2-3 weeks on the chart, and the PS4 version won't do much better.  I believe there are a lot of Playstation releases coming up during the next month or so, but once this flurry of releases ends, the charts will quickly go back to being 30/30 for Switch.  That is kind of what we should expect from the Famitsu charts going forward.