If there’s one thing Japan loves, it’s Final Fantasy. So it’s not entirely surprising that Final Fantasy XIII-2, which launched earlier this week for Japanese gamers, has already rocketed to the top of the sales charts. The game moved 500,000 copies in its first week of release, toppling Monster Hunter 3G from the top of the charts and renewing confidence in the Final Fantasy brand.

Of course, Japanese sales trends aren’t always indicative of western performance (as I said, Monster Hunter was #1 until this happened), but it’s definitely good news for Square Enix that their hardcore fan base wasn’t so upset with FFXIII that they abandoned the brand entirely. The actual sales figure, around 525,000, accounts only for PS3 versions of the game.

Some Vita titles also managed to make the list, a good sign for the fledgling handheld. Here’s the top 20, for those of you that like tracking Japanese game sales:

01. [PS3] Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Square Enix, 12/15): 525,271

02. [3DS] Monster Hunter 3G (Capcom, 12/10): 208,427 (730,386)

03. [3DS] Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo, 12/01): 182,418 (789,871)

04. [3DS] Inazuma Eleven Go (Level-5, 12/15): 135,259

05. [3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo, 11/03): 112,533 (837,143)

06. [WII] Kirby Wii (Nintendo, 10/27): 71,028 (398,516)

07. [PSV] Hot Shots Golf 6 (Sony, 12/17): 61,412

08. [PSV] Uncharted Golden Abyss (Sony, 12/17): 48,224

09. [WII] Just Dance Wii (Nintendo, 10/13): 44,021 (323,293)

10. [WII] Poke Park 2 (Pokemon, 11/12): 43,829 (164,018)

11. [WII] Wii Party (Pokemon, 07/08/10): 42,632 (2,129,236)

12. [NDS] Magician's Quest: The Merchant's Store of Sorcery (Konami, 12/10): 35,068 (81,110)

13. [WII] Mario & Sonic at London Olympics (Pokemon, 11/12): 34,351 (64,573)

14. [PS3] Shin Kamaitachi no Yoru (Chunsoft, 12/17): 33,686

15. [PS3] BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend (Arc System Works, 12/17): 32,992

16. [WII] Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo, 11/11/10): 30,804 (734,046)

17. [WII] Taiko Drum Master Wii Ultimate Version (Namco Bandai, 11/23): 30,046 (100,284)

18. [PSV] Dynasty Warriors Next (Tecmo Koei, 12/17): 29,181

19. [PSV] Lord of Apocalypse (Square Enix, 12/17): 28,742

20. [NDS] One Piece Gigant Battle! 2 (Namco Bandai, 11/17): 28,406 (207,458)

Nintendo is clearly the king of the party in Japan, despite the temporary dominance of one game or another. In the meantime, we’ll just have to wait and see how FFXIII-2 is received here in the west. The previous game was the best selling in the history of the franchise, but also landed to lukewarm reviews.

How do you think FFXIII-2 will do when it’s released in the west? Also, don’t you just hate typing “FFXIII-2?”

[Destructoid]

Tweet

45.5% of voters think this story ROCKS!

Vote Now!    (5) (6)