Another cross-generation game descended upon Japan this past week, which means it's time to play the guessing game as to which generation will have the sales champ. Far Cry 4 favored PS4, while Dragon Ball Xenoverse went in PS3's direction. According to 4Gamer, Dragon Quest Heroes falls for…
1. (PS3) Dragon Quest Heroes – 325,446
2. (PS4) *Dragon Quest Heroes – 269,303
3. (3DS) Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D – 39,751
4. (PSV) God Eater 2 Rage Burst – 37,650
5. (3DS) Youkai Watch 2: Shinuchi – 16,443
6. (3DS) Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire – 12,680
7. (PSV) Yuuki Yuuna Wa Yuusha de Aru: Jukai no Kioku – 10,622
8. (PS3) Dragon Ball Xenoverse – 8,249
9. (3DS) Super Smash Bros. for 3DS – 8,159
10. (3DS) Seven Deadly Sins: Unjust Sin – 7,631
11. (3DS) Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate – 7,595
12. (PS4) God Eater 2 Rage Burst – 7,405
13. (PSV) Diabolik Lovers Dark Fate – 7,263
14. (PSV) Parfait – 5,697
15. (PS3) Samurai Warriors 4-II – 5,008
16. (PS4) Dragon Ball Xenoverse – 4,995
17. (WIU) Super Smash Bros. for Wii U – 4,936
18. (3DS) Animal Crossing: New Leaf – 4,917
19. (WIU) Mario Kart 8 – 4,898
20. (PS4) The Order: 1886 – 4,840
* = Includes digital versions that were technically sold in 2014. A PS4 hardware bundle was released, which contained a download code for that version of Dragon Quest Heroes, but couldn't be downloaded until February.
We're seeing a cycle, here, in which the last-gen versions of games will sell as much or more than a current gen version, so publishers and developers might be very hesitant to leave the old generation behind… which would lead to more cross-gen games… which would hold down reason to move ahead… which would keep us on this same track.
Oh, and I left out mention of the Xbox versions of Far Cry and Dragon Ball above because, in Japan, they're irrelevant.
Here are the hardware sales:
PS4 – 46,139
Vita – 23,619
New 3DS LL – 22,620
PS3 – 8,926
New 3DS – 8,515
Wii U – 6,606
3DS – 2,795
3DS LL – 2,666
Vita TV – 838
Xbox One – 703
We see a lot of PS4s moving, but probably not as many as Sony would have expected, if they'd been told a game would open up to more than 260,000 units sold. To see the corresponding hardware under, say, 65 or 70k seems low, especially for a young system whose install base is already pretty low. But then again, I'm not the one who invested in it and is sitting around the board room spending hours thinking about it. Or minutes. I don't think about it. I haven't thought about it. I don't know where I am right now or who you are.
That soup bowl has been on my coffee table for like four days.
