Period: The week of March 31st – April 6th (2014)
Top-seller: Mario Party: Island Tour (3DS) – 47,106
Nintendo 3DS sales: 9,091 | Total sales: 9,457,943
Nintendo 3DS XL sales: 22,947 | Total sales: 5,928,161
PlayStation Vita sales: 25,017 | Total sales: 2,677,612
Vita TV sales: 1,371 | 104,041
Wii U sales: 7,962 | Total sales: 1,697,696
PlayStation 4 sales: 13,401 | 506,739
<< Last week’s software sales chart
<< How to read and understand sales
Ouch, Natural Doctrine. Kadokawa Games’ cross-platform PlayStation RPG was released in Japan last week on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, and met with a rather sad fate.
Only the PS Vita version of Natural Doctrine charted in the top-20 software sales chart, and just barely. The Vita version charted at the #20 position, selling 6,046 copies. Probably not the result Kadokawa were hoping for.
While it may be tempting to blame Natural Doctrine’s poor sales on the recent hike in Japan’s consumption tax (read more about that here), I feel that’s an unlikely scenario, given that the title was squarely aimed at a niche audience, and such products tend to be the least affected by larger economic factors.
That said, another game might have taken a hit due to the tax increase. Last week, another Japan-specific iteration of Ubisoft’s Just Dance series of games was published by Nintendo. Just Dance Wii U sold 18,403 copies in its first week—a far cry from the debuts of Just Dance Wii (90,039 copies) and Just Dance Wii 2 (60,121 copies). Both games went on to sell fairly well over a period of time.
Given that the Just Dance series targets a more casual (and financially conscious) audience, it wouldn’t surprise me if the tax increase did put a bit of a dent in the game’s sales. Poor timing on Nintendo’s part if that was the case. That said, regardless of cause, 18,000 isn’t a figure to be proud of.
The top-20 software sales chart for last week is as follows:
| Lw | Tw | Title | Weekly Sales | Total Sales | Sys. | Publisher |
| 02. | 01. | Mario Party: Island Tour | 47,106 | 257,873 | 3DS | Nintendo |
| 05. | 02. | Samurai Warriors 4 | 25,572 | 192,514 | PS3 | Tecmo Koei |
| 04. | 03. | Yo-kai Watch | 23,663 | 686,387 | 3DS | Level 5 |
| 06. | 04. | Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes | 20,799 | 179,031 | PS3 | Konami |
| New | 05. | Just Dance Wii U | 18,403 | New | WiiU | Nintendo |
| 01. | 06. | Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd | 16,111 | 114,738 | PSV | Sega |
| 08. | 07. | J-Stars Victory Vs. | 13,417 | 156,957 | PS3 | Bandai Namco |
| 09. | 08. | J-Stars Victory Vs. | 11,876 | 134,522 | PSV | Bandai Namco |
| 03. | 09. | Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd | 10,278 | 70,243 | PS3 | Sega |
| 14. | 10. | Pro Baseball Spirits 2014 | 10,081 | 90,876 | PS3 | Konami |
| 13. | 11. | Dark Souls II | 9,924 | 320,177 | PS3 | From Software |
| 16. | 12. | Kirby Triple Deluxe | 9,914 | 540,373 | 3DS | Nintendo |
| 17. | 13. | Fossil Fighters: Infinite Gear | 9,704 | 130,083 | 3DS | Nintendo |
| 11. | 14. | Samurai Warriors 4 | 9,603 | 68,796 | PSV | Tecmo Koei |
| 21. | 15. | Pokémon X and Y | 8,328 | 4,023,294 | 3DS | Pokémon Co. |
| 18. | 16. | Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes | 7,859 | 112,137 | PS4 | Konami |
| 15. | 17. | Pro Baseball Spirits 2014 | 7,576 | 50,277 | PSP | Konami |
| 22. | 18. | Dragon Quest Monsters 2 | 6,881 | 768,483 | 3DS | Square Enix |
| 24. | 19. | Puzzle & Dragons Z | 6,787 | 1,430,720 | 3DS | GungHo |
| New | 20. | Natural Doctrine | 6,046 | New | PSV | Kadokawa |
Sales data acquired from 4Gamer and Media Create.
Published: Apr 9, 2014 01:31 pm