15 of top 20 selling games in Japan are on handhelds

The Usual Suspects

Media Create Sales is taking at least this week off due to the holidays, but thanks to Famitsu we can get an idea of Japanese game sales for this past week. You’ll never guess what’s at number one (hint: it starts with a P). The only new releases to crack the top 20 this week are games based on the legend of Momotaro and the Mr. Osomatsu series which won’t be coming west.

Not until I started writing here a few months ago did I follow sales at all, so I am still a little bit surprised how strong that Pokémon train is still rolling after all these years. At least in Japan, the handheld gaming has really taken over in the past decade, likely a major reason why Nintendo is trying to make Switch a mobile and home hybrid.

Games Sales Rankings – Top 30 [Famitsu]

Top 20 selling games this week in Japan according to Famitsu. Lifetime sales in parentheses. 

1. [3DS] Pokémon Sun & Moon – 322,830 (3,246,222)
2. [3DS] Super Mario Maker for 3DS – 315,382 (743,388)
3. [3DS] Yo-kai Watch 3: Sukiyaki – 176,227 (509,667)
4. [3DS] Momotaro Dentetsu 2017: Tachiagare Nippon!! – 132,063 (New)
5. [3DS] Miitopia – 50,299 (102,810)
6. [3DS] Yo-kai Watch 3: Sushi / Tempura – 41,593 (1,397,436)
7. [PSV] Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition – 40,157 (876,085)
8. [PS4] Yakuza 6 – 35,196 (288,847)
9. [PS4] Final Fantasy XV – 35,168 (860,847)
10. [WIU] Minecraft: Wii U Edition – 33,263 (241,441)
11. [3DS] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball Heroes – 26,882 (55,027)
12. [3DS] Sumikko Gurashi: Mura o Tsukurundesu – 25,203 (123,195)
13. [3DS] Mario Party: Star Rush – 25,015 (135,625)
14. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf – Welcome Amiibo – 23,537 (71,990)
15. [3DS] Osomatsu-San: Matsu Matsuri! – 20,628 (New)
16. [3DS] Mario Kart 7 – 18,301 (2,628,566)
17. [3DS] Kirby: Planet Robobot – 17,804 (479,698)
18. [WIU] Super Mario Maker – 16,262 (972,406)
19. [PSV] SaGa Scarlet Grace – 15,633 (74,047)
20. [WIU] Splatoon – 15,356 (1,463,148)