In Japan, for three weeks in a row now, both Mario Kart Wii and Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP) have topped the software sales charts.
The Golden Week series of Japanese holidays is just wrapping up over there. The Japanese spend enough money during this time off to make it a major retail focus, and the two most popular games have benefitted from this.
In our minds, sales of Mario Kart Wii in Japan are probably a given. And really, who doesn’t love Mario Kart? Gamasutra tells us that 173,000 units were sold during Golden Week, giving a lifetime total of 1,120,000. And I think all 1.1 million of those players have beat me in online matches.
What may be less apparent to those outside Japan is the popularity of Capcom’s Monster Hunter Portable series of PSP games. The new 2nd G release is so popular in Japan that it’s almost a given that you own it, maybe similar to how Halo is here [disclaimer: I don’t own Halo]. In fact, I was reading a Japanese article last week on Japanese Wi-Fi spots, and in it, the author opened with how everyone has a PSP on-the-go these days, and how, “of course, everyone has Monster Hunter Portable in it.” During Japan’s time off, 102,000 units sold, bringing total sales to almost 2 million copies.
Other notable top-sellers for Golden Week include (#3) Link no Bowgun Training (Link’s Crossbow Training), (#9) Deca Sports, and the do-want-worthy Valkyria Chronicles (#8).
Do you think there’s a chance that Capcom would one day give us Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G?
