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NEWS: Japan's Video Game Rankings, September 6-12

The numbers for Tales of Arise seem pretty good for a PS4 game so late in the console's life, and also the highest debut for a PS5 game yet, but still low compared to other games in the series, for example Xillia debuted at 512k, Zestria at 316k and Graces f at 219k, so perhaps the Tales of saga is in a decline in Japan, but to be fair digital downloads are bigger these days so the numbers for Arise in Japan could be higher. On the other hand, the games is doing great at a global scale and according to Namco it already sold over a million copies, so their strategy for a multiplatform and wordlwide release worked well. If the game sales has good legs it might become the best-selling game in the Tales of series worldwide.
WarioWare's numbers are pretty good as well, not the biggest in the series but it is an improvement over WarioWare Gold.
Now, the question is if Demon Slayer can be a bigger hit for the PS5 compared to Arise.

perhaps the Tales of saga is in a decline in Japan, but to be fair digital downloads are bigger these days so the numbers for Arise in Japan could be higher.

Silver Kirin wrote:

perhaps the Tales of saga is in a decline in Japan, but to be fair digital downloads are bigger these days so the numbers for Arise in Japan could be higher.

Well, it's important to keep in mind that non-Switch console games in general are on the decline in Japan. It's not uncommon for these weekly game rankings to not have any PlayStation games on them, so the fact that Arise is not only here but is also topping the chart is pretty impressive. We also don't know exact PC sales numbers, but Arise has had more concurrent players on Steam than every other Tales game at their peak combined. At the rate it's going, it's possible it could end up being the best-selling Tales game worldwide, and even if it's not, it's definitely a big success.

Yeah not being on the Switch definitely hurt its sales in Japan. Sadly the next Tales game probably wont be on the Switch either unless a stronger model comes out.

Touma55 wrote:

Yeah not being on the Switch definitely hurt its sales in Japan. Sadly the next Tales game probably wont be on the Switch either unless a stronger model comes out.

Namco would REALLY be leaving money on a table if they don't put a new Tales game on the Switch unless they decided to depend most of the sales outside of Japan. They could go the Capcom route and have Namco create an exclusive (maybe timed one?) Tales game for the Switch just like with Capcom and Monster Hunter Rise.

Namco would REALLY be leaving money on a table if they don't put a new Tales game on the Switch unless they decided to depend most of the sales outside of Japan. They could go the Capcom route and have Namco create an exclusive (maybe timed one?) Tales game for the Switch just like with Capcom and Monster Hunter Rise.

Well, it's important to keep in mind that non-Switch console games in general are on the decline in Japan.

Vanadise wrote:

Well, it's important to keep in mind that non-Switch console games in general are on the decline in Japan.

Why are they on the decline in Japan?

OjaruFan2 wrote:

Vanadise wrote: Well, it's important to keep in mind that non-Switch console games in general are on the decline in Japan. Why are they on the decline in Japan?

The decline can be linked to a change in taste in Japanese gamers, most people these days prefer to play mobile games, in Akihabara there're more advertisements for games like Azur Lane, Genshin Impact and other gacha games than anime; the Switch itself is a hybrid console and has managed to sell more than double of what the PS4 has sold in Japan in less time.
Japanese developers also began designing their games with a Western audience in mind, RE: VIII is a good example, previous RE titles were more action oriented and sold hundred of thousands of copies on the PS3 but Village's debut was the lowest for the franchise in Japan but it did amazing worldwide, and there're rumors that Enix wants to change Dragon Quest's formula to appeal to the West. Only Nintendo seems to be good at marketing their games for both the West and Japan, Capcom managed to the same with MH: Rise and Konami did release a 2 million seller in Japan last year with Momotaru Dentetsu. Companies like Namco, SEGA and SE are losing a lot of ground in their home country.

Ok hold up where did these Dragon Quest rumors come from? I have heard no such thing. Unless you are implying that the darker tone means they are focusing more on the west which I personally find ridiculous. A lot of Japanese people like things with a darker tone too. I have a couple Japanese friends that are more excited about the darker tone than my western friends.

Well, it's more of a speculation, DQ has never been that popular in the West compared to other JRPGS like FF and Persona, despite Enix and Nintendo marketing efforts. I know Yuji Horii stated that he wanted to do a darker story, though his comments about making a more adult game sounds kind of strange considering people of all ages enjoy DQ. It wouldn't surprise me if Enix is looking for a simultaneous worldwide release, the game could be open-world RPG with modern mechanics, maybe they'll beg Sugiyama to use an actual orchestra for the music instead of MIDIs, I don't expect them replacing Toriyama as the artist but perhaps his designs will be darker, and maybe the main character will be fully voiced. Also the game will run on Unreal Engine 5, so SE will try to release the game for the PS5, Xbox and PC.