From Software's tough-as-nails RPG Dark Souls dominated the Japanese weekly software sales chart last week, in a week that saw over half of the top 20 taken by new releases.
For the week ended September 25, data from tracking firm Media Create, and as reported by NeoGAF, shows that Dark Souls sold a total of 279,567 units in its opening weekend.
Sony's ICO / Shadow of the Colossus Limited Box had to settle for second place, with 91,902 units sold in total. Down the bottom of the chart, the PS3 release of ICO on its own entered at number 20, and Shadow of the Colossus on its own jumped in at number 14.
Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 6 entered the charts at number three, while Microsoft's Xbox 360 behemoth Gears of War 3 followed closely behind at number four.
The previous week's number one, Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary, dropped down to number five, but still managed an impressive 54,775 sales for the week.
Positions six to ten saw four more new releases -- Senran Kagura: Shoujotachi no Shinei, Busou Shinki: Battle Masters Mk. 2, To Heart 2 DX Plus and Champion Jockey: Gallop Racer & G1 Jockey -- while Tales of Xillia dropped from position two to sit comfortably at number nine.
Other new releases included Monster Hunter Freedom 3 at 12 and Shadows of the Damned at number 18.
The complete top 20 chart, as supplied by Media Create, is shown below.
| LW | TW | Title | Publisher | Platform | Weekly Sales |
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| NEW | 1 | Dark Souls | From Software | PS3 | 279,567 | | NEW | 2 | ICO / Shadow of the Colossus Limited Box | SCE | PS3 | 91,902 | | NEW | 3 | Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 6 | Konami | PSP | 64,350 | | NEW | 4 | Gears of War 3 | Microsoft | 360 | 56,113 | | 1 | 5 | Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary: Famicom & Super Famicom Dragon Quest I-II-III | Square Enix | Wii | 54,775 | | NEW | 6 | Senran Kagura: Shoujotachi no Shinei | Marvelous | 3DS | 52,206 | | NEW | 7 | Busou Shinki: Battle Masters Mk. 2 | Konami | PSP | 32,318 | | NEW | 8 | To Heart 2 DX Plus | Aqua Plus | PS3 | 24,429 | | 2 | 9 | Tales of Xillia | Bandai Namco | PS3 | 22,484 | | NEW | 10 | Champion Jockey: Gallop Racer & G1 Jockey | Koei Tecmo | Wii | 18,281 | | 5 | 11 | Rhythm Heaven | Nintendo | Wii | | | NEW | 12 | Monster Hunter Freedom 3 | Capcom | PSP | | | 4 | 13 | Wii Sports Resort with Remote Plus | Nintendo | Wii | | | NEW | 14 | Shadow of the Colossus | SCE | PS3 | | | 7 | 15 | Kirby Mass Attack | Nintendo | DS | | | 8 | 16 | The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D | Nintendo | 3DS | | 6 | 17 | Monster Hunter Freedom 3 HD Ver. | Capcom | PS3 | | NEW | 18 | Shadows of the Damned | Electronic Arts | PS3 | | 12 | 19 | Pokemon Rumble Blast | Pokemon Co. | 3DS | | NEW | 20 | ICO | SCE | PS3 |
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But world wide it has sold around 1 to 1.2 million copies. It even managed to make it to the ps3 greatest hits series here in the US.
Either way its great to see From software do so well with one of thier titles.
The thing that suprises me, is Dark souls is due out soon in the US & i havent seen any promotion from namco beyond the SE version. Dark souls will smoke demons souls sales in the us, if for no other reason than its multi platform and gives 360 (only) owners a chance to play a game inspired by one of the best exclusive franchies on the ps3.
It'd be nice to see a from software title sell from 3.5-5 million for a change. They may be the most underrated japanese developer since thier start back in the ps1 launch days.imo
Agreed---I haven't seen ads at all about it unless I was searching for them ie trailers,etc. But it will definitely sell well--the Collectors Edition is already sold out for PS3 on Amazon--and I've heard similar stories about Gamestop as well. I preordered as soon as the CE was available--back in May--I think.