Pokemon X and Y takes the expected commanding lead in Japan as it debuts in Media Create this week on the top spot, selling over 1.8 million units and basically taking the wind out of the sails of every other game out there, including 3DS’ money printer from the past few weeks, Monster Hunter 4. Grand Theft Auto 5 also debuts this week, and although it can’t hold a candle to Pokemon in its home turf, or match its performance in the US, the game has performed very well, as a Western game in Japan.
If you want to compare debuts, Monster Hunter 4 actually looks very favorable compared to Pokemon X and Y. In its first week out September 9 to 15, the game sold 1.7 million units. It also gave the 3DS a slightly higher sales jump, at 276,00 units, compared to Pokemon X and Y’s jump of 210,000 3DS units. This week’s sales of 110,000 units puts it at 3rd place, giving it that much of a lead for Pokemon to follow.
Grand Theft Auto 5 for the Playstation 3 ranks at number 2, with 360,000 units, and on the Xbox 360 at number 9, with 26,000 units, respectively.
Notably, there are also a lot of other debuting games on Playstation 3 and Vita, including Danganropa 1-2: Reload, Soccer Tsuku: Pro Soccer Club, and Tsukei Gakuen: Kou, helping raise sales for the Playstation Vita. These games do not really sell that well individually, but the renewed activity has benefited the console. This week, the Vita is the second best performing console in Japan at 60,000 units.
