March is a mega sales month not unlike October for game makers, as it seems everybody's gotta get their products on shelves before the "Nobody Buys Shit" season known as April.
Already released in Japan this month were these games, all of which arrived in stores on Thursday the 5th:
Doraemon: Nobita's Space Heroes (3DS)
Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundoukai Long Name All Star Special (PS3)
Evolve (PS4, Xbox One)
Etrian Mystery Dungeon (3DS)
LEGO City Undercover: Chase Begins (3DS)
New Prince of Tennis ~Go to the Top~ (3DS)
Shadow of Mordor (PS3)
The current-gen version of Shadow of Mordor arrived a while back. Only the PS3 version launches this week, no 360 version. There's last week, here are the days to come.
Games Shipping on March 12:
Yakuza 0 (PS3, PS4)
Higurashi: When They Cry (PS3, Vita)
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (Vita)
Winning Post 8: 2015 (PS3)
Assassination Classroom (3DS)
Mario Party 10 (Wii-U)
Uta no Prince: All Star After Secret (PSP)
Harukanaru Toki no Naka de (PSP, Vita)
Etrian Mystery Dungeon was the country's best-selling new release in its debut week, though the PS3 version of Dragon Quest Heroes still topped it overall. Next week? Looking up at those new games, it's anybody's time to shine. And by that I mean it is nobody's time to shine.
Either Mario Party or Yakuza will take the top spot, but both will be held back in some way. PS3's Yakuza 0 will be slowed by aging hardware while the PS4 version and the Wii-U's Mario Party 10 will be hurt by their low install bases. It's the battle of unrealized potential.
