Big in Japan July 16-22: Kirby's Dream Collection

July 26, 2012 1:12AM PDT

By Jonathan Toyad, Associate Editor

Wii compilation of Kirby games takes top sales spot in Japan, followed by new Rune Factory title.

It seems that Japan cannot get enough of Masahiro Sakurai's enemy-eating pink protagonist. The recently released Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition for the Wii took the top spot in Japanese game sales, according to the latest Media Create update for July 16 to July 22. The collection, which features Kirby-starring titles dating back from 1992, sold 100,396 units.

Will that smile turn upside down in the North American version of Kirby's Dream Collection?

Rune Factory 4 trailed just behind with 88,700 units sold. New features in the RPG simulation hybrid include the removal of grids when customizing farms, the option to build structures to attract more tourists, and the ability to court multiple lovers while remaining married.

Pokemon Black/White 2 and Digimon World Re:Digitize were at fourth and fifth place of the charts, respectively, with 81,879 units sold for the former and 73,468 units sold for the latter. The new reiteration of Digimon allows players to raise their digital in-game pet called a Digimon through five stages of growth. Like in past titles, when a Digimon dies, a new reincarnation of it will be born with new skills and stats upgrades.

On the hardware front, the majority of consoles took a slight dip in sales since the previous charts. The 3DS was still on top with 44,202 units, while the PS3 was below with 16,232 units. The PS Vita was close to dropping towards the four-digit sales number with a showing of only 10,103 units.

Top Japan Game Sales of July 16-22

Software
Rank / Title / Publisher / System / Units
1. Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition / Nintendo / Wii / 100,396
2. Rune Factory 4 / Marvelous AQL / 3DS / 88,700
3. Pokemon Black/White 2 / Nintendo, Pokemon Company / 81,879
4. Digimon World Re:Digitize / Namco Bandai / PSP / 73,468
5. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2012 / Konami / PS3 / 63,346
6. Taiko no Tatsujin: Chibi Dragon to Fushigi na Orb / Namco Bandai / 3DS / 31,885
7. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2012 / Konami / PSP / 26,465
8. Musou Orochi 2 Special / Tecmo Koei / PSP / 24,518
9. New Class of Heroes / Acquire / PSP / 21,454
10. Toki no Kizuna / Idea Factory / PSP / 15,390

Hardware
3DS - 44,202
PS3 - 16,232
PSP - 13,199
PS Vita - 10,103
Wii - 8,729
Xbox 360 - 594
Nintendo DSi - 545
PS2 - 414

By Jonathan Toyad, Associate Editor

Born and raised from a jungle-laden village in Sarawak, Malaysia, Jonathan Toyad has been playing games since the early 90s. He favors fighting games, RPGs, and rhythm titles above every other genre, and occasionally spaces out like Pavlov's dog to video game music on his iPod.

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19 comments

Newest | Oldest

chyng85

Where is DSi XL?

darkfiercelink

I want Digimon!!

gonna have to play the first one while waiting for news on local realease hopefully

white_wind

Digimon? Digimon! me want

DarkBloodPrince

i want Digimon to come out to the US T-T

soulless4now

4 Like

Nice to see the ps2 still moving units.

NS_Sonic204

1 Like

Yes, his frown will turn upside down for the NA release because Kirby never smiles on his NA covers. Poor Kirby. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this.

chibi-acer

2 Like

The PS2 outsold the PS3 for almost a year after it came out. Maybe history will repeat itself and Vita will eventually get off the ground.

BradBurns

2 Like

@chibi-acer

I was thinking the same thing.

I'm not certain if I'll eventually buy a Vita or not, but either way I wish it the best.

It's not fair to those who bought it if it ends up flopping. Also, it makes for a larger, more varied game industry as a whole.

Plus, the 3DS wasn't doin' so hot when it first launched, and look at it now.

superfly18

Vita wont sell in the Asian markets. It doesn't have the amount of asian games needed and the Asian market doesn't value graphics like the US and somewhat European markets do. This is bad for the Vita, and, might start doing well in a few years when development gets easier for it.

Celsius765

2 Like

@superfly18 graphics come second to gameplay and story imo

Mayleene

@Celsius765 Same here! Gamplay and story line come first for me as well.

tarv4973

The vita can't seem to get any momentum barely creeping over 10k this week.

This comment has been deleted

pcty

@ABEzilla116 There are more new games coming to the PSP than the VITA so it is only natural that the PSP sells more than the VITA in Japan.

hippiesanta

1 Like

360 shoukld give up in japan

Bad-School-Girl

Is the Kirby game gonna be fifty bucks?

Superzone

1 Like

@Bad-School-Girl I have read that it will be $30 when it comes out in the U.S. in September.

franzito

2 Like

Hooray for Kirby!

steelmouth

1 Like

Its seems it all down hill for the X360 although it was already at the bottom of the hill

abHS4L88

2 Like

I'm going to get it of course ^_^ Never played the earlier Kirby games so I'm excited.

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