Taken from:  http://www.the-magicbox.com/gaming.htm

- Here are the latest console software sales in Japan for the week of August 4 - 10, 2008:

1. NDS Lite - 60,434 [1,859,576]
2. PSP - 58,501 [2,432,623]
3. Wii - 38,506 [1,872,601]
4. Xbox 360 - 24,962 [115,793]
5. PlayStation 3 - 9,673 [584,898]
6. PlayStation 2 - 8,503 [310,297]

The Xbox 360 beat both the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation 3 that week in JAPAN!

SEGA must also be pleased with the two week sales of Phantasy Star on the PlayStation Portable! Let's just hope the momentum continues long enough to make it a million seller! Perhaps the PSP should be the home for future Monster Hunter and Phantasy Star games if they outperform their console counterparts like this.

Phantasy Star Portable (PSP, Sega) - 148,230 [490,000]

It's pretty cool that the PS3 only sold 1170 units more than the PS2

Sony needs to dump the PS2.

Sony needs to dump the PS2.

That would be like asking Pepsi to drop Dr. Pepper. If they're still making money off of it, why would they bother?

Because Dr. pepper is taking away shelve space from Pepsi. 

Dr. Pepper is the only thing that's been keeping Pepsi from dragging the whole, er... cola division under for the past couple of years. 

As for Sega, they've had a few number one games over the past year from time to time... seems they've stabilized and things are looking up as they were the #6 publisher over the past year in gross sales.

1. Phantasy Star Portable (PSP, Sega) - 148,230 [490,000]
2. Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Ken (NDS, Nintendo) - 144,905
3. Rhythm Tengoku Gold (NDS, Nintendo) - 130,412 [343,000]
4. Tales of Vesperia (Xbox 360, Namco Bandai) - 108,328
5. Dragon Quest V (NDS, Square Enix) - 72,598 [1,019,000]
6. Sangokushi Taisen Ten (NDS, Sega) - 32,734
7. Summon Night 2 (NDS, Namco Bandai) - 29,715
8. Wii Fit (Wii, Nintendo) - 27,414 [2,470,000]
9. Mario Kart Wii (Wii, Nintendo) - 22,739 [1,656,000]
10. Soul Calibur IV (PS3, Namco Bandai) - 22,575 [97,000]
11. Powerful Pro Baseball 15 (PS2, Konami)
12. Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch R2 - Banjou no Geass Gekijou (NDS, Namco Bandai)
13. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP, Capcom)
14. Daigasso! Band Brothers DX (NDS, Nintendo)
15. Wario Land Shake (Wii, Nintendo)
16. Aoikuro no Kusabi: Hiiro no Kakera 3 (PS2, Idea Factory)
17. Gundam Battle Universe (PSP, Namco Bandai)
18. Monster Farm DS 2: Yomigaeru! Master Breeder Densetsu (NDS, Tecmo)
19. DS Bimoji Training (NDS, Nintendo)
20. Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen [Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse] (Wii, Nintendo)

....What the hell?!

There's absolutely nothing pushing the 360's sale in Japan. I don't get it.

Somebody with more industry knowledge, explain this to me right the fuck now.

Sony needs to dump the PS2.

Why?

Their profit margin is unprecedented, they have a massive library of software, and an eight year running userbase that never seems to run out. Why would they kill it now?

Sales will slow down naturally within the next year or so anyhow. Seventh-generation consoles are slowly slipping downwards towards that $199 sweet-spot, and when they do, the PS2 will lose it's new userbase. Their 10-year-cycle is working just as it should in this instance.

pretty sure the people buying PS2's wouldn't be buying a PS3 if PS2s weren't available. They don't compete with each other.

Maybe our Japanese brothers are finally coming to their senses and realizing quality (games, that is.  Not console build quality.)

Chee Saw


Maybe our Japanese brothers are finally coming to their senses and realizing quality (games, that is.  Not console build quality.)

Im doubting that is happening. We are talking about the country where anime date sims and manga about gay men sells like hot cakes.

Developers still make games for the PS2, most of the games are Japan Only. So the PS2 will still be alive in Japan. But checking Eddie_the_hated list of selling games, how come does the 360 still sell 24000 + units...
"Tales of Vesperia (Xbox 360, Namco Bandai) - 108,328" ???

Yeah, it was Tales of Vesperia driving the sales this week.  Next week, though, I expect the 360 will be back in the low four-digit range.

That was my first impression as well, but I had a hard time seeing the connection, especially with other titles trumping "Vesperia".

To be noted though, there are 115,000 360s on the market in Japan, and 108,000 copies of Tales of Vesperia... Meaning that as a rough estimation based on unit sales figures, 94% of all 360 owners in Japan bought the game in it's first week on the market.

...talk about a weird-ass market.