You wouldn't really expect it, but Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV has sauntered ahead of the PS3 exclusive LittleBigPlanet in the Japanese software chart, seizing the number one slot. Don't think it's thanks just to the game's multiplatform status, either -- that's just the PlayStation 3 version.
Rockstar's return to Liberty City sold 133,000 copies on the PS3 compared to LittleBigPlanet's 52,000. Even Valkyrie Profile: The Accused One for DS -- the type of portable RPG fodder that Japanese gamers lap up -- failed to take down Grand Theft Auto with 80,000 sales.
The Xbox 360 version of GTA IV had a pretty decent showing as well, shifting 34,000 copies and claiming the number 7 spot.
This is interesting to think about, especially when you consider how something as creative as LBP should have perhaps done better, more so than the gun-toting sensibilities of GTA IV. Either way, it's not often that a purely Western game is so well received in Japan, so Rockstar certainly deserves kudos.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
9:43 AM on 11.06.2008
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That doesn't mean I'm not shocked (and pleased) that Japan is continuing to warm up to the ultra-violent sandbox genre.
Look at Activision, "lets not even bother to make anything new because it wont sell."
It really is a shame that these new unique ideas are left in the dust because of big market sequels.
Do you suppose this might reflect that?
Oh and also because of GTA IV.
Grand Theft Auto III
Worldwide: 12.1 million; Japan: 444,000; Japan as % of worldwide: 3.7%
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Worldwide: 15.3 million; Japan: 560,000; Japan as % of worldwide: 3.7%
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Worldwide: 22.2 million; Japan: 419,000; Japan as % of worldwide: 1.9%