Zelda Gets Mediocre Debut in Japan, Monster Hunter Stays on Top on Major Retailer's Sales Charts

Like every Monday the major Japanese retailer Tsutaya released its software sales charts, that can be considered a good indicator of what happened in the Japanese video game market last week due to the the fact that the retail and rental chain has a very high number of stores spread across the whole country.

Monster Hunter 4 stays on top for the 3rd week in a row, while the new old Zelda fails to make a big splash.

[jonatan221]

Nice to see The Legend of Heroes: Sen no Kiseki do better on PS VITA than PS3!

[leahcim]

GO VITA GO

[HardcoreGamer]

My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute: Happy End

THATS A GAME NAME, WHAT THE FUDGE . ITS SOO WEIRD,, JAPAN IS SOOOOOOO WEIRD TO ME. NO OFFENCE

[snitch_puck]

True that. I'm tired of a PS3 version of a game in Japan always winning versus the Vita ESPECIALLY if that game is quite niche in the west. Tendencies would be that localization will only end up for the PS3 version. I'm the kind of gamer that seldom play Japanese RPGs on the living room. Handhelds are the best place for JRPGs as the gameplay never wavers even in short bursts. and its fun playing Legend of Heroes on the train isn't it?

[Knushwood Butt]

Nintendo wasted their time porting Wind Walker when they could have made a new game or even a new IP.

[AsimLeonheart]

Nintendo like playing safe instead of taking risks. A new game in existing franchise is safe and an HD port of an existing game is even safer. I wonder what they intend to do with all that money they have? Take it to their graves like Pharaohs? Swim in it like Uncle Scrooge? Because they sure don't seem like they to want to spend it on developing new games or IPs.

[Xof]

Not quite. Nintendo may be very conservative when it comes to game design (post-GCN), but they have taken HUGE risks with all four of their most recent consoles (NDS, 3DS, Wii, WiiU)--and those risks have paid off magnificently.

In terms of the Wind Waker port, it was very much a smart and necessary move for Nintendo. It would have been impossible to develop a wholly new Zelda title within the same time frame, and Nintendo desperately needs to expand the WiiU's library of quality titles.

There are plenty of legitimate criticisms one can levy at Nintendo, but this sure as hell ain't one of 'em.

[stragomccloud]

The reason they ported an old Zelda game was so they could get a feel for the hardware and not go into developing a new Zelda game blindly figuring things out with one of their flagship titles.

[Theyellowflash30]

They are working on a new Zelda game. They made Wind Waker to hold off Zelda fans. And Nintendo did launch a new IP right before that: The Wonderful 101

[PopRocks359]

I love how some of the usual 'critics' whine and moan about getting disagrees from "delusional Nintendrones" and then proceed to click the disagree button on a comment that states nothing but facts that lay in Nintendo's favor.

Hypocrisy at its finest right there.

Edit: Also kudos to Knushwood Butt calling the game a port when it doesn't use the original game's assets at all. Exactly where were any of you when this game was getting rave reviews (and continues to do so)?

[AbortMission]

No one cares that Nintendo is releasing a port. The only problem people have with this is that Nintendo is acting like it's a brand new game and marketing it as such and giving it such a steep price. It's greed and stupidity as well as laziness.

[Theyellowflash30]

@AbortMission - Its not a port, its a remake.

But, If no ones cares they are releasing the game, why did it top the eshop charts in many regions?

Why is the collectors edition selling out?

Why did many people go pick up the Wind Waker Bundle?

Many people haven't played Wind Waker, and they have added plenty of features to the game to make it worth the money. Off TV play, Miiverse, HD graphics, faster animations, ect.

Its worth the $49.99, and if you're part of the Digital Deluxe program you could get it for cheaper.

[DejectedJeff]

Yeah windwaker is one of the worst selling 3d zelda titles.
But to be fair it isnt a port, its a pretty well done remake.

[Werix357]

yeah definitely, i thought Nintendo were pretty desperate when they announced WWHD. Plenty of better games they could have ported too.

[Pozzle]

To be fair, the reviews for Wind Waker HD are all extremely positive, which is great for a 10+ year old game. Not every HD port has aged so well.

With that being said, Nintendo should have launched the Wii U with a new Zelda game (or, like you said, a new IP). People would be more inclined to buy a brand new console if there was a genuinely new and exciting experience to go along with it. As it stands, I doubt many people will be willing to part with $299 so they can play a slightly upgraded version of a game that has been available since 2003.

[ChickeyCantor]

" Wind Walker " .....GAH

[Misaka_x_Touma]

someone didn't watch January Nintendo Direct. Where they clearly stated this game is to hold us over to til the next Zelda.

Not mention it help the new game in design, gpa map and art style.

[linkenski]

I don't see why they would expect the game to be a multimillion seller anyway. Most hardcore fans already have the Gamecube version and there's still a lot who don't like the artstyle.

[Theyellowflash30]

3D Zelda game have never been massive sellers in Japan. The Original Wind Waker barely broke 1 million units. Same goes for Skyward Sword

However, there are enough improvements over the gamecube version to justify playing it again.

[rambi80]

Also, i dont think zelsa is as big of a deal in Japan as it is in the west

[DejectedJeff]

Really is no stopping the 3ds. Pokemon launching worldwide in a week, global sales will skyrocket

[the_Predator]

Actually, this is misleading as it does not take into account digital sales of the game. And considering the digital version was released before the physical copy it is safe to say that the majority sales were done digitally.

[Werix357]

There something that never made sense to me about TLZ:WW is if your a developer and want to try out some new art style or something wouldn't that be more suited to a new ip rather then an existing one and risk alienating fans/customers?

[JuleyJules]

The game came out there on September 26th so it's only a few days of sales too. I guess we'll see after this week when it arrives in retail in other regions. As mentioned this does not take into account digital sales.

[browngamer41]

Zelda has never done well in Japan, I thought this was well known...

[Errefus]

well first im no against remakes,but Nintendo seems to be spending more time on remakes than actually creating new games....

[EcoSos3]

That is a lie Sony has remake in this gen more game that Nintendo has done in 3 consoles.

[PopRocks359]

Here are two remakes from this generation from Nintendo. Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D and Zelda Wind Waker HD.

Name the rest of their focus, because I have yet to hear of any other remakes. Unless yo count Wii Sports HD as a major release.

[deafdani]

Satr Fox 64 3D.

I still agree with you. That's just 3 remakes made by Nintendo so far.

I remember when people where dismissing the 3DS because it was only a machine for "remakes" and "ports" (despite not having that many, actually), yet they were lauding the yet-unreleased Vita as Christ's second coming.

Now look how things are. The 3DS has far more unique and original content than the Vita does. It's not even a contest.

Now, with the Wii U? Nintendo releases only ONE remake (Wind Waker), and now people are calling them out as if it's all they ever do.

Haters gonna hate.

[TongkatAli]

"The 3DS has far more unique and original content than the Vita does. It's not even a contest"

@ deafdani LOL!

Aren't you worshiping the 3DS a little too much with this statement, what are Gravity Rush and Soul Sacrifice, ports ?

Sorry, we got it wrong, the Vita isn't the second coming of Christ. It's the 3DS with its original of the most original games that are Mario, Zelda, Resident Evil, Monster Hunter and etc *insert established franchise here that isn't original*.

Sales don't make your games perform better then Vita games, try again.

[deafdani]

@TongkatAli

Of course the Vita has some great games. Nowhere in my post did I say otherwise. But I said that the 3DS has much more, and I'm willing to be that the vast majority of gamers will agree with me here.

Overdefensive much?

[Errefus]

wind waker
donkey kong for 3ds
wii sports
star fox
ocarina of time

Their focus should be creating new experiences with Wii u not remaking games.

[PopRocks359]

@Errafus

"donkey kong for 3ds" That is a port, not a remake.

"wii sports" Not even a full retail release.

"ocarina of time" I already brought that up.

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

Zelda does better in America anyway.

[LOL_WUT]

Let's hope so because it's starting to become a trend which is very worrisome ;)

[PopRocks359]

If it's making you worry, why are you winking at it?

[MNGamer-N]

I'll be throwing some Yen Nintendo's way for this "horrible remake" because I haven't yet had the opprotunity to play this "terrible game" =P

[truechainz]

Just curious did this game release much earlier digitally in Japan? I mean I didn't really expect this game to sell a lot, but I would have expected it to sell quite a bit more digitally than in retailers since it is both bundled digitally and sold earlier digitally. But then again who knows.

[TheOtherVitaOwner]

Well of course an HD remake of the worst selling 3d Zelda title on the worst performing console in Japan (excluding the Xbox of course) would be unable to make a big impact in Japan.

[Jirachi]

They should have put tp on wii u.
I would have bought 2 million copies myself.

[Thepcz]

i think i will wait for Xenoblade 2 to come out before i get my wiiu.

lol its funny because i was first waiting for pikmin 3 before i got a wiiu. it came out and i didnt buy. then i said i would wait for wind waker. it came out i didnt buy. now i will wait for xeno.

the thing that stops me is lack of truly must have games.

[ContraCode]

I think 2014 will make you a Wii U owner ;) It's a shame they waited so long to start pumping out AAA games though.

[TongkatAli]

"So long" ? It hasn't even been a year. The Wii U is going to be more then fine.

[Thepcz]

yeh, i hope it picks up. it seems at the moment there is no momentum. every one of these games i have been waiting for eventually arrives and are duds. i mean, yes, they are critically acclaimed, but the dont seem to have any impact at all on the gaming community. they havent created any buzz, nobody talks about them. they just hit the shelves and are forgotten almost instantly.

i mean, i was very excited for wind waker, but when it finally came i thought 'big deal.' perhaps its unfortunate that nintendo chose to release it in close proximity to GTAV.

actually, come to think of it, thats the problem with wiiu- there is no community. even here on n4g, the wiiu section is like a ghost town. most articles of wiiu news (even major reviews of games like wind waker) have little to no comments.

[Realplaya]

Nintendos only mistake is they keep releasing the games first in regions where they don't fully support the system. I would consider releasing the game in the states first and then Japan last.