Japanese Sales Charts till April 23 2006

Nintendo DS Brain AgeWhile not the most important news, it can be interesting to sometimes take a look at Japanese sales charts, as they often not only greatly differ from charts in other parts of the world, but they also usually reflect future releases that will soon hit the US.

For Japanese game sales for the week of April 17 to 23rd, a drastic change finally hit the charts. For weeks upon weeks Nintendo’s Brain Training series of games for the DS has dominated the Japanese sales charts, with, Kahashima Ryuuta Kyouju Kanshuu: Motto Nou o Kitaeru Otona DS Training in the number-one position. The game was finally ursurped off the list by none-only than the highly anticipated Mother 3, the sequel to the cult SNES classic Mother 2, which hit the US way back as the quirky RPG EarthBound, starring Ness, of Super Smash Bros. fame.

Nintendo made out like a bandit though, as 5 of it’s DS games made the charts, that’s in addition to Mother 3 in the #1 slot, which is a GBA game. Capcom’s Okami hit the charts at #6, while in a major first, an Xbox 360 title ALMOST made the list. Nintey Nine Nights, from Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s studio Q Entertainment, hit the charts at #11, barely missing the top 10.

The expansion Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht Urhgan and the spin-off Dragon Quest: Shounen Yangus no Fushigi na Daibouken made the #2 and 3 positions on the charts, respectively.

These Nintendo titles hit the list: Kahashima Ryuuta Kyouju Kanshuu: Motto Nou o Kitaeru Otona DS Training (fourth), Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (seventh), Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Eigo Duke (eighth), Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Eigo Duke (ninth), and Pokemon Rangers (10th).

Smack-dab in the middle of the chart were two more PS2 titles–Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai (fifth) and Okami (sixth).

Here is the complete list:
#1: Mother 3 – Nintendo – GBA (RPG)
#2: Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht Urhgan – Square-Enix – PS2 (MMORPG)
#3: Dragon Quest: Shounen Yangus no Fushigi na Daibouken – Square Enix -PS2 (RPG)
#4: Kahashima Ryuuta Kyouju Kanshuu: Motto Nou o Kitaeru Otona DS Training – Nintendo – DS (Misc.)
#5: Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai – Atari – PSP (Fighting)
#6: Okami – Capcom – PS2 (Action Adventure)
#7: Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day – Nintendo – DS (Misc.)
#8: Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Eigo Duke – Nintendo – DS (Misc.)
#9: Final Fantasy XII – Square-Enix – PS2 (RPG)
#10: Pokemon Rangers – Nintendo – DS (RPG)

Can’t wait for Final Fantasy XII to hit US shores. We’ll learn more at E3 as to the exact release date and when we can expect it to be released in other countries. Pokemon Rangers is the follow-up game in the mega-selling franchise for the DS.