Putting on a brave face

The PlayStation Vita is a stunning system with some great games, but it’s becoming more and more difficult to overlook the platform’s commercial problems – especially overseas. While we still believe that it’s too early to pull the plug on the handheld, the situation in Japan is not looking good. In fact, it’s gone from bad to utterly hopeless over the past couple of months.

Indeed, Media Create’s latest sales figures paint a terrifying picture for the portable in its home territory. The system was outsold by Nintendo’s 3DS by a frightening ratio of 46:1, leaving the platform dawdling at the bottom of the sales charts.

Granted, the 3DS enjoyed one of its strongest weeks to date, boosted by the eye-watering sales of Animal Crossing: New Leaf. But the system's sales tally of 187,077 units made the Vita’s paltry 4,021 units look like a bad joke. Even the 12 year old PS2 managed to shift 1,187 units during the same period.

Unsurprisingly, there were no Vita titles in the software top twenty. Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires shifted 70,102 copies on the PS3, though it was not enough to stop the console's tally from dipping below 20,000 units. Elsewhere, the PSP held strong at 12,076 units.

We’ve included the full set of figures below. Feel free to sob heartily over the Vita’s dismal fortunes in the comments section.

Hardware

1. 3DS – 187,077 (93,989)
2. PlayStation 3 – 18,043 (21,310)
3. PSP – 12,076 (13,868)
4. PlayStation Vita – 4,021 (4,842)
5. Wii – 2,921 (3,806)
6. Xbox 360 – 2,908 (1,339)
7. PS2 – 1,187 (1,351)
8. DS – 424 (568)

Software

1. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nintendo, 11/08/12) – 603,064 (New)
2. [PS3] Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires (Tecmo Koei, 11/08/12) – 70,102 (New)
3. [360] Halo 4 (Microsoft, 11/08/12) – 39,312 (New)
4. [PS3] Tales of Xillia 2 (Namco Bandai, 11/01/12) – 34,789 (399,228)
5. [3DS] New Super Mario Bros. 2 (Nintendo, 07/28/12) – 23,224 (1,343,554)
6. [3DS] Bravely Default: Flying Fairy (Square Enix, 10/11/12) 14,847 (249,260)
7. [PS3] Silent Hill: Downpour (Konami, 11/08/12) – 13,516 (New)
8. [PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2013 (Konami, 11/01/12) – 12,335 (50,722)
9. [PS3] Okami HD (Capcom, 11/01/12) – 11,013 (50,722)
10. [PS3] Yakuza 1&2 HD Edition (Sega, 11/01/12) – 10,073 (68,211)
11. [PS3] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2013 (Konami, 10/04/12) – 9,508 (166,416)
12. [3DS] Wagamama Fashion Girls Mode Yokubari Sengen (Nintendo, 09/27/12) – 8,599 (166,416)
13. [3DS] Run For Money: Flee From the Strongest Hunters in History (Namco Bandai, 07/05/12) – 8,199 (299,635)
14. [PS3] Resident Evil 6 (Capcom, 10/04/12) – 6,811 (814,850)
15. [NDS] Pokemon Black 2 / White 2 (Pokemon, 06/23/12) – 6,533 (2,828,949)
16. [PS3] Dark Souls with Artorias of the Abyss Edition (From Software, 10/25/12) – 5,754 (85,919)
17. [3DS] Mosnter Hunter 3 Ultimate (Capcom, 12/10/11) – 5,309 (1,564,401)
18. [3DS] Nicola Kenshuu: Model Oshare Audition Platium (Alchemist, 11/08/12) – 5,295 (New)
19. [3DS] Taiko Drum Master: Chibi Dragon and the Mysterious Orb (Namco Bandai, 07/12/12) – 5,253 (257,146)
20. [PSP] The Idolmaster Shiny Festa Honey Sound / Funky Note / Groovy Tune (Namco Bandai, 10/25/12) – 5,101 (138,669)

[source neogaf.com]