Once in a while, more so these days than ever before, a cultural phenomenon can cross international borders, even oceans. Call of Duty has been gaining popularity in Japan over the years, and this past week, Advanced Warfare topped the country's sales charts, according to Media Create.
I suppose in a nation which often favors story-driven games, the tear-jerker funeral scene must have made a splash. Of tears.
Here's the top 20, all numbers measured in thousands, with the first number being sales for the week ending Nov. 16 and the second number being the game's lifetime sales total:
1. (PS3) Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Subtitled Edition – 79.586 / New
2. (PS3) World Soccer Winning Eleven 2015 – 71.303 / New
3. (PS4) Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Subtitled Edition – 64.060 / New
4. (3DS) Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate – 39.502 / 2.144.346
5. (3DS) One Piece: Super Grand Battle! X – 35.098 / New
6. (PS3) Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax – 34.671 / New
7. (WIU) Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker – 28.025 / New
8. (PS4) World Soccer Winning Eleven 2015 – 26.684 / New
9. (PSV) Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax – 25.607 / New
10. (3DS) Yo-kai Watch 2 – 21.086 / 2.863.976
11. (3DS) Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS – 18.723 / 1.720.189
12. (WIU) Mario Kart 8 – 13.544 / 713.132
13. (PS3) Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2014 – 6.570 / 117.607
14. (PSV) Hanayamata: Yosakoi Live! – 6.285 / New
15. (XB1) Halo: The Master Chief Collection – 4.867 / New
16. (PSV) Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2014 – 4.243 / 75.316
17. (PSV) Marginal 4: Idol of Supernova – 4.170 / New
18. (PS3) The Evil Within – 4.124 / 87.056
19. (XB1) Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Subtitled Edition – 3.730 / New
20. (3DS) Tales of the World: Reve Unitia – 2.926 / 65.046
If you sent a game to market this week, it only needed to sell 3,000 copies to make it onto the chart. Okay. Also worth a note that nothing hit six digits this week and the PS3 version of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare outsold all others combined.
Hardware sales continued to be a pathetic crawl, slightly less pathetic than usual.
3DS – 65.201
PSV – 19.976
PS4 – 15.537
WIU – 14.002
PS3 – 4.711
XB1 – 2.245
360 – 91
PSP – 25
The PSP was discontinued months ago. The only stock left is what has been clearing off of shelves. And yet here it sits, within 70 units of the Xbox 360. This is fascinating to watch.
Meanwhile, PS4 and Wii-U continue to sell about a third or a fourth of what they ought to be selling right now (and what their makers were likely aiming for). This all coming on what is a bump up from the miserable weeks earlier this month. The holidays will of course bring boosts, but I'm seeing little reason to think this market is anywhere near as healthy as it used to be.
In related news, Mountain Dew is also on the rise.
