There have been times since its release where the PlayStation Vita has hinted that there’s a mainstream seller just itching to step out of the Nintendo 3DS’ shadow, and this is one of those moments again. While it still couldn’t thwart its closest competitor’s never-ending spell at the top of the Japanese sales charts, the put upon platform sold a whopping 81,111 units for the week ending 5th January.
The format’s success was partially propelled by hotly anticipated remake Final Fantasy X|X-2 HD Remaster, which sold 149,132 units on Sony’s slab-like system. The home console version fared even better, shifting 185,918 units on the PlayStation 3. That’s a combined total greater than the first week sales of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII by the way, which perhaps proves that consumers aren't fed up with Square Enix’s role-playing franchise, but the dreary Fabula Nova Crystallis story arc.
Elsewhere, the holidays gave Sony’s current generation console a bit of a boost, with the platform moving 30,321 units in total. Even the struggling PS Vita TV increased, up from 5,504 units to 6,031 units. Are you impressed by the handheld’s total numbers, or did you always believe in the diminutive device’s commercial potential? Check out the full roster of figures, and spread some lingering seasonal cheer in the comments section below.
Hardware
1. 3DS LL – 139,867 (164,078)
2. PlayStation Vita – 81,111 (50,087)
3. Wii U – 73,178 (109,113)
4. 3DS – 61,836 (68,522)
5. PlayStation 3 – 30,321 (24,573)
6. PSP – 10,310 (9,905)
7. PlayStation Vita TV – 6,031 (5,504)
8. Wii – 1,715 (1,711)
9. Xbox 360 – 616 (763)
Software
1. [3DS] The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo, 12/26/13) – 224,143 (New)
2. [3DS] Puzzle & Dragons Z (GungHo Online Entertainment, 12/12/31) – 205,654 (1,005,658)
3. [PS3] Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster (Square Enix, 12/26/13) – 185,918 (New)
4. [3DS] Pokemon X and Y (Nintendo, 10/12/13) – 185,918 (3,726,596)
5. [PSV] Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster Twin Pack (Square Enix, 12/26/13) – 149,132 (New)
6. [Wii U] Super Mario 3D World (Nintendo, 11/21/13) – 64,573 (392,087)
7. [3DS] Monster Hunter 4 (Capcom, 09/14/13) – 42,927 (3,110,240)
8. [PS3] Shin Gundam Musou (Namco Bandai, 12/19/13) – 37,626 (163,645)
9. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nintendo, 11/08/13) – 33,626 (3,597,999)
10. [3DS] Inazuma Eleven GO Galaxy Big Bang / Supernova (Level-5, 12/05/13) – 30,383 (185,871)
11. [3DS] Tomodachi Collection: New Life (04/18/13) – 27,915 (1,612,037)
12. [PSV] Final Fantasy X HD Remaster (Square Enix, 12/26/13) – 25,443 (New)
13. [3DS] One Piece: Unlimited World R (Namco Bandai, 11/21/13) – 23,793 (193,181)
14. [PS3] Drakengard 3 (Square Enix, 12/19/13) – 22,472 (136,496)
15. [3DS] Sentouchu Densetsu no Shinobi to Survival Battle (Namco Bandai, 10/17/13) – 21,923 (180,163)
16. [PSV] Shin Gundam Musou (Namco Bandai, 12/19/13) – 21,543 (74,210)
17. [3DS] Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo, 12/01/11) – 21,098 (2,226,905)
18. [3DS] Aikatsu! Futari no My Princess (Namco Bandai, 11/21/13) – 21,012 (167,910)
19. [3DS] New Super Mario Bros. 2 (Nintendo, 07/28/12) – 20,940 (2,203,347)
20. [Wii U] Wii Party U (Nintendo, 10/31/13) – 20,633 (139,733)
[source 4gamer.net, via gematsu.com]
Comments 12
I already told this some time ago but no one on pushsquare responded. Ps vita got a strong push thanks to final fantasy X &X-2. It's selling 6 weeks straight with numbers above 20 K but you and your readers still say it's struggeling in the land of the rising sun.
It's Europe and the US that needs some games to push the system. But the idiots at sony only care about the PS4. Mark my words... The SCEA & SCEE will leave the vita for dead since we already see only studio Japan is releasing content. Sony with 12 studios you can;t support your platform.. Tear away was made with 12 people... How hard is it to do the same with all your studio's? Sony need to look at Nintendo with their 3ds... They have done it! Maybe push some exclusives on the platform>? 3rd party isn't going to do it
@Sanquine It's definitely doing well in Japan, and we shouldn't ignore that. However, it's hard to ignore the fact that even when it has a good week like this, it still sold less than half its nearest competitor. Also, while the software does do decently, again, it can't really compete with 3DS.
You're right, though. We need to be more careful pointing out that the Vita is having success in Japan - even if it's struggling elsewhere.
@get2sammyb It's not even that. It's so frustrating Japan get's so much awesome games while Sony has far more western studios to produce quality content. The 3DS is selling in western europe and in America.. Bring the new vita over here ... Drop the price to 160 euro/dollar and push some software on it... How hard can that be?
LOL Japan is a tough nut to crack for Microsoft ( seriously, Xbox 360 – 616 ) But on topic I believe Vita sales will grow like wild fire once PS4 launches in Japan. ( remote play ) With all these extra services Sony is rolling out, the Vita is really shaping up to be a beast.
@Sanquine It makes sense if you really think about it. Sony is smart enough to realize that they'll likely never beat Nintendo when it comes to handhelds, so they're focusing more on home consoles.
Do I like it? No, but it's not like SCEA or SCEE have given up on it, there have been a surprising number of announcements for 3rd party games that will be coming (multiplatform, but still).
Then there's PlayStation Now, which as I said yesterday, essentially turns the Vita into a PS1, PS2, PS3 and portable PS4 - then there's the Vita's own library of games
Vita sales in Japan are going really well, it is slowly gaining some market share. I actually believe it has the "possibility" to start regularly selling more than the 3DS in Japan in 2014. I said possibility. It is heading in the right direction and will depend on games.
EU sales are also doing well (though not as well as Japan) and if the continuing PSP sales started transferring across to Vita it would be really healthy. More games needed.
US sales are rubbish, and something needs to be done. The PS4 factor has done something, but honestly given the market size, the sales are still pitiful. US oriented games and a re-launch are necessary.
@Sanquine
I hope that's not true. I really love the Vita- it would be a shame to see the handheld fall off in North America. I've always known the Vita would eventually catch on in Japan. People don't understand that consoles take years to find their groove sometimes (eh em, PS3- which went on to great success... Wii U, which is only now finally hitting a decent stride, and Vita, which was always going to catch on in Japan eventually- even if it never becomes the top selling system it will still hold it's own and deliver a respectable library of games in that region).
Unfortunately, it does seem like all the focus is on PS4 in the West. I live in the US, and none of my friends have even heard of the Vita. The silver lining is that if the Vita picks up in Japan, many of those games will make their way to us. And hopefully, if those localized titles bring enough gamers to the table, more attention might be given to the Vita outside of Japan.
I'm stoked for that Final Fantasy X/X-2... Bring it I say!
With Tomb Raider on Jan 28th, Bravely Default on Feb 7th, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze on Feb 21st, Final Fantasy X/X-2 on March 18th and Infamous Second Son on Apr 1st, followed by Mario Kart 8 and Watch Dogs, the first half of 2014 is going to be straight FIRE! The crazy thing is, the second half of the year is going to be even better. Damn if feels good to be a gamer
Great news for vita, but what the heck happened to vita tv? Just bring that thing to the west already.
@JaxonH
When I was at Gamestop recently I was told pre-orders have stopped for Watch_Dogs. I was just there briefly to payoff some pre-orders before heading to work so didn't get time to ask them more about it but to me stopping pre-orders would be a bad sign. This game may be pushed back quite a bit and honestly I'm for it. Push it to 2015 if need be and completely breakdown the game and restart with design focuses solely on the capabilities of PS4/X1/PC. That's what I'd love to see because the most recent builds of the game were a joke.
@Gamer83
It's funny you mention that because just an hour or so ago I noticed Watch Dogs was no longer listed for March on Amazon.com. The listing now reads June 30th, which could be the actual release date, or, more likely, is just a tentative filler date to string people along.
It's like when some of the launch and launch window PS4 and Xbox One games suddenly got pushed back right before the consoles released, like Watch Dogs, Driveclub, The Crew, Infamous, etc. And now we're hearing about The Division getting pushed back to 2015 and it looks like another Watch Dogs delay.
It's almost as if these companies do this on purpose. It's like they knew not much was going to be ready around launch time, so they shifted many of the release dates forward a few months to make it seem like more games would be available. Then bam. They all slide back to their "real" release times.
@JaxonH
I don't know if they purposely do it but it does suck regardless. I knew back at E3 though and just after when DriveClub and Watch_Dogs were being shown off that there wasn't much of a chance either would be ready by launch. And in the case of Watch_Dogs pushing it to say March this year would've made sense as to get out of the window where it and AC IV would've competed against one another thus hurting Ubi's profits. So from a business perspective the move made sense, but given what Watch_Dogs looked like on Fallon's show and given that we're probably looking at another delay, I think Ubi realized it's just not a product that is even close to acceptable right now. Have to give them credit for that because initially I thought it was just a money thing.
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