Japanese Charts: Paper Mario Dominates As The Switch Scores A Full House

Switch back to it's usual position, and will continue to be the king, until the Switch 2 arrives.

PS5 sales in Japan is still good. 😊
I enjoy my PS5 with a lot of 3rd party kids games.
The 3rd party kids games on PS5 should get more appreciation by Japanese gamers as there are a lot of cute characters that some of Japanese peoples like them.

Let’s go Nintendo and TTYD!

The new table looks nice as well, good change.

Liking the new layout 👍

Also whats with surge of Mario Party sales?

Table looks great.

I miss the 2DS LL sales figures. It would challenge the Xbox for second to last sometimes, and it always made me smile thinking about people getting one for the first time. My 2DS XL catapulted me back into the gaming scene, and my down time has been better for it.

I much prefer the new tables! And I'm very curious how TTYD is comparing to TOK launch aligned...

@UltimateOtaku91 Both Mario Partys are evergreen and among the top 20 selling titles on Switch, it might just be normal sales fluxuations.

Sorta pleasantly surprised. Was there a sale or something?

Really hope this game does well so it gives Nintendo a sign to give us TRUE Paper Mario.

@Olliemar28
Well, at least PS5 sales is way much better than XBOX sales in Japan. 😉
If XBOX outselling PS5 in Japan, I will be very very worried like looking at Wii U abysmal sales. 😰
Btw, I believe at least 1 or 2 Japanese gamer still prefer PS5 over than Switch for specific reason.
Maybe they choose docked on TV than portability or maybe they choose better performance games on PS5 than half baked performance games on Switch.

Btw, I still do wonder what is the Japanese gamers think about the 3rd party kids games on PS5 that being displayed on the shelf?
Are the cute characters from 3rd party kids games on PS5 still cannot win their heart compared with Nintendo IP characters like Mario / Kirby / Splatoon / Animal Crossing?

New table layout looks good.

Still hoping Paper Mario TTYD will outsell all of the modern Paper Mario games, but I dunno if that's idle hope or not.

Just did a quick search to compare Origami King's first few weeks with the Thousand Year Door's so far.
OK launch: 109,092
week 2: 50,643
week 3: 22,773
week 4+5: 20,978 (these weeks were combined in famitsu for some reason)
TYD launch: 115,649
week 2: 34,004
week 3: 19,180

Week 2 was about 16,000 lower than Origami King and week 3 was about 3,500 lower. Without knowing the digital sales numbers, it's hard to know which is higher overall, but the Thousand Year Door has some catching up to do in the next few weeks if it wants to beat the famitsu sales of Origami King. Here's hoping!

The tables are such an improvement it makes me wonder what took so long

I miss when Nintendo had real competition in Japan. the quality and variety of output is observably lower in this generation (and I've had to turn to mostly Western based "indies" to play the kinds of games I like.)

As ever, it feels like 75% of gamers see our beloved hobby as a sport, and they only seem to care if their "team" is "winning."

(yeah, Zelda is good, but it's so often cited as defense of Nintendo in the switch generation that it's become a cliche quickly approaching "exception that proves the rule" territory.

also, BOTW and Mario Kart 8 are not of this generation really so they arent good examples anyway. ✌️ the wii U generation was so good and so underappreciated.)

ps tables look good 👍

Love the new tables, good work NL!

So how well is TTYD doing comparing to TOK?

@Anti-Matter I think it comes down to that Sony doesn't offer a strong offering in this area and they more and more focus on the larger Western market. The kids/cute aesthetic isn't a big genre in the overall market. Whilst Nintendo cater to this to a point, they back it with good gameplay and a brand that everyone recognises.

Well Stellar Blade did held a good fight for a while, now we'll just had to wait for Helldivers 2. Oh wait Helldivers 2 doesn't had a physical release. Too bad. Astro Bot is the next chosen one.

@Anti-Matter-2 Play nice, we are all gamers here.

@Duncanballs And now there's two of them on here.. More fun comments I guess!

@Maubari as long as it doesn't go too far

NL the tables are nice. Now can we get folders too?

@Nontendo_4DS

New 2DS LL 🫡

“Ah you were at my side all along. My true mentor…my guiding moonlight...”

Amazing to remember the doom and gloom days of GameCube, then WiiU, everyone thinking Nintendo should be a software company, to total market domination. All while doing what they've always done - and with cartridges still. It's really quite remarkable.

It would be nice to see some (more) third party titles on the list, though. Nintendo is more than just Nintendo!

I hope everyone who's ever complained about the direction Intelligent Systems has taken with the Paper Mario series has already bought a copy of the Thousand Year Door remake.

@Nontendo_4DS I miss the 2DS LL figures too, one week it would be 36, the next it would be 12. I always wanted a reporter to find out where these sales were being reported. I imagined it as one small store that stumbled onto a huge stockpile and folks were taking pilgrimages across Japan to get their hands on the last 2DS LLs

@rainbowtick For sure, it would have been unthinkable for the biggest new Playstation release to only be top 10 in software sales for a few weeks, before it returns to being entirely Nintendo games. And many of those games are several years old!

Nintendo really read the market perfectly by going all handheld, at least for Japan. Hopefully if Sony starts prioritizing handhelds more, the broader industry can finally move away from hyper realism and tech arms race junk.

We’re at a point we’re it’s safe to say that every purchaser of a Nintendo console past present and future will have paid the “Mario Kart Tax” at some point.

All Nintendo have to drop on their next consoles release day is a new Mario Kart and it would fly off the shelves. What an amazing game Nintendo made with Mario Kart, it’s practically the perfect game.

Oh I like the new look table but why do some games have a red font and others don’t?

@Olliemar28 Where are these PlayStation handheld rumors coming from? Unless Sony goes the same route as Nintendo, I don't see how it would do any better than the Vita.

At this point, I think Sony really isn't all that worried about Japan and is more focused on winning the western market and global market as a whole. If Nintendo can call itself the king of home, whatevs. As long as it continues to keep a foot on Xbox's throat and maintain a strong userbase and subscriber base between consoles, Nintendo can have lil' ol' Nippon.

Would like to see a continuation of the Paper Mario series. Just please do not go back to Origami King. Make combat fun not a chore. Really hoping this sells more than the previous games so they will understand. Sticker Star, Paintbrush or whatever and Origami King won't make the cut.

Seeing this remake and hearing what Kensuke Tanabe said on how it's not been possible to "modify Mario characters or to create original characters that touch on the Mario universe" since Paper Mario: Sticker Star on the 3DS has me raising an eyebrow. Seems like someone really wanted to restrict unique characters but gave up. (hopefully)

@Olliemar28 A Playstation handheld wouldn't move the needle much in Japan just because it's a handheld if it doesn't have the necessary games that people in Japan care about. The PS5 is doing much better than the PS Vita for example and has already almost outsold it's lifetime sales in Japan. It would need a lot of attention from Sony and couldn't be to expensive.

PlayStation games have become too complex and online connected to interest Japanese gamers.

The simpler, child like, more basic and less challenging offerings from Nintendo has worked massively in its favour in terms of sales... However Nintendo will have to keep Switch 2 cost in check in order to maintain their roll.

@-wc- Honestly, knowing what I know now, I wish I could go back in time And buy a Wii U day one.

Just soak in every fun Nintendo Direct, every MiiVerse update, every direct address from Satoru Iwata, plus MH3U online, XCX, full Wii emulation, the list goes on and on...

Plus, I would also import a Japan-only 2DS with the swappable covers and collect all of them, and customize my home screen, swap notes in SwapNote...

Then I would also fly directly to Japan and partake in some local hunts in a Monster Hunter cafe since I have a Japanese 2DS. Okay that last part is more of a stretch.

@WheresWaveRace I want achievements, save states, chocolate, a toy and a surprise!

@liveswired are you saying Japanese people are simple? Slight hint of xenophobia there. Maybe they just find western games dull drawn out timesinks and unappealing. There is that option.

@Jiggies Technically I had no problem with the Paper Mario series as a whole, it's just Sticker Stars and the Origami King that I wasn't too fond of. The rest were great.

Just picked it up today! Excited to play it soon, hopefully!

@Anti-Matter,

The PS5 numbers are pretty bad, no matter how you try and frame it.

@liveswired,

Pretty sure the that's not it, the PS5 just does not appeal to Japanese gamers. The Switch 2 will be just fine, and will continue the originals dominance.

@johnvboy
At least PS5 sales is way much better than XBOX sales in Japan. 😉
My PS5 games are 99.99% 3rd party kids games that actually also available on Switch version, but I get the PS5 version instead because I want smooth 60 fps and faster loading time.
I'm already tired with underperformance and half baked quality for 3rd party games on Switch.
Remember, I'm still 3rd party gamer, playing more 3rd party games than 1st party Nintendo games.
Oh, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is the only 1st party game I played on PS5.
I personally enjoy playing Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart than Super Mario Odyssey when I comparrd.
I enjoy both the gameplay and storyline from Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart.
I didn't really enjoy that much from the storyline of Super Mario Odyssey.
But don't worry, I still crazy on ACNH.
Check my 1015 hours gameplay of ACNH.

@Anti-Matter,

Japanese gamers on the whole do not support no Japanese consoles, so comparing anything to the Xbox is pointless, the PS5 is bombing hard in Japan, hell, you could even get PS5 consoles when there was the artificial shortage due to scalping bots everywhere else.

Never suggested you did not like your Switch or Animal crossing anymore, but trying to spin anything positive about PS5 sales in Japan, is just a pointless exercise.

@johnvboy
I mean, am I not allowed to have positive comments about PS5 sales? 😟
I knew Switch sales way much better than PS5 so I don't need to praise them all the time, but Switch also have some flaws at this point, I couldn't really praise Switch like before after I got PS5 machine with 99.99% 3rd party kids games that running better on PS5 than on Switch, I'm sorry but my hype is switched from Nintendo Switch to PS5 currently.
I still try to get some Switch games, the 1st party of course but I don't really have bigger hype like 7 years ago. I might get those games late as currently my priority is building my PS5 games quickly with more 3rd party games.
The reason I still stay positive with PS5 sales regardless of their number because when PS5 sales is not as bad as Wii U sales, that means PS5 will keep get support of 3rd party kids games in physical.
But if PS5 sales is worse than Wii U sales, I will be very worried because that means less support of 3rd party kids games I can get, just like the case 3rd party kids games on Wii U.

You can keep praise Switch sales but I still pay attention with PS5 sales report on Nintendolife and when I still stay happy and post positive comment about PS5 sales, that means the support of 3rd party kids games will keep going and I can get more 3rd party kids games for my PS5.

@Anti-Matter,

Please tell me what is positive about the PS5's sales figures in Japan, I am genuinely interested.

I never stated you are not allowed to paraise the PS5's sales from a persoanal perspective, but in reality the situation is not all that great, no crime in admitting that, no matter how much you love the console.

@johnvboy
Like I have stated from my comment.
PS5 sales in Japan is the indicator for me how the PS5 will survive.
The number of PS5 got shipped I saw every week were around 10K something, compared with XBOX sales in Japan that around thousand units.
From my perspective, when I saw the number PS5 sales still way bigger than XBOX sales, even just by 10K units get shipped, it's a good thing for me because there are still some Japanese peoples want to play PS5 games despite very few Japanese peoples want to buy PS5 games as the chart of the games shipped only shown Top 10 games without mentioning from number 11 and below.
And when I saw PS5 machine get shipped more than 10K units, it still gave me a relief if PS5 will get survived until at least 5 years before the next PS6 machine replaced PS5 as I also heard the rumour about PS6 machine.
So far, I saw the PS5 sales situation was not as bad as Wii U sales so it gave me a sign if the support of 3rd party kids games for PS5 will keep going and I will get more option for 3rd party kids games to play.
Compared with Wii U sales situation when the sales get flopped, the 3rd party kids games support suddenly stopped and it gave me really hard choice to get more 3rd party kids games from Wii U.

The reason I keep praising PS5 sales every week because my country Indonesia is PlayStation lover country and a lot of Indonesian peoples like to play PlayStation games since PS1 era until today, so when PS5 sales get troubled, it will also affect with the PS5 sales in Indonesia which means very few Indonesian peoples want to buy PS5 because lesser sales = lesser games to choose since the 3rd party developers will not making more games on terrible sales machine (look at Wii U sales situation and PS VITA sales situation).

Added with specific situation from Nintendo Switch games especially for 3rd party games on Switch, when the Switch version get the worst treatment (obvious downgraded, partial download, code in box, streaming only) than PS5 / XBOX version, it gave me disappointment about Nintendo Switch 3rd party kids games as I don't want to buy and play half baked products.
I keep finding that bad treatment for 3rd party games on Switch since after pandemic and at this point, I cannot cheering the Nintendo Switch like 7 years ago.
Nintendo Switch machine sales is very obvious really impressive, but their 3rd party kids games are not as good as PS4 / PS5 version so I don't need to praise Nintendo Switch for keep having worse 3rd party games quality.

So, when you see I keep posting happy comments about PS5 sales every week in Japan, that means I still get more 3rd kids games support for PS5.
I really depend on 3rd party kids games for my PS5 because I only play Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart for the 1st party Sony games.
I hope you don't mind with very wall of text my comment.

You can put together all the massive essays you want, but you are not really putting any real arguments supporting the PS5's sales in Japan, which are mediocre at best, and beating the X Box is a none event, as all you are really saying is one poor sellong console, is outselling an even poorer selling one.

All you seem to be suggesting, is that because you and Indonesia love the console, then it's selling well, when in reality it's pretty shocking it can't even beat the sales of a seven year old hybrid, that pretty much everyone and their dog already owns, on a regular basis, or even manage to equal it for that matter.

You need to pull your head out of the sand and face facts, no matter how much you prefer the games or console, it's bombing in Japan, pure and simple, with no way to put a positive spin on it.

I like the way you are loving the machine, and it's games, but facts are facts, in the west the PS5 is doing very well, in Japan it's not.