With all the news leading up to E3 and the steady stream of news afterward, we haven't had much time to check in on the Japanese gaming market. In fact, the last time we looked at Media Create data was in April shortly after Star Fox Zero was released. As July comes to a close, Japan's Famitsu magazine has been compiling the weekly Media Create information for us and they've released a mega list of the top 100 titles in Japan for the year to date. The data is accurate through June 26 and doesn't include sales on digital store fronts like Nintendo's eShop or the PlayStation Store. Download cards sold at retail shops, however, are included in this list.
It should come as little surprise that a Dragon Quest title tops the list. Coming in at first place is none other than Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3, which released at the end of March. The game has sold 609,603 units in the few months since its release, which was good enough for first place. Second place goes to Yo-Kai Sangokushi, which launched the week after Dragon Quest Monsters. Yo-Kai Sangokushi sales were at 539,181, which was more than enough to keep Monster Hunter Generations in third place. While Capcom's latest entry in the Monster Hunter series dominated sales charts for nearly two months, the bulk of its success was seen at the end of 2015. Generations still sold 345,656 units in 2016 to earn the bronze medal for the first half of 2016.
Two other notable titles on the top 100 list are Dark Souls III and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice. Dark Souls III launched the same week as Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3 and has taken fifth place with 313,187 sales. Nick's latest set of cases in Spirit of Justice, meanwhile, have sold 238,516 units to take twelfth place, which is fairly impressive compared to the top ten considering the game only had two weeks on the market before Famitsu's data collection ended. If you're interested in the full top 100 list, head over to NeoGAF through the source link below.
Famitsu's top games in Japan (December 28, 2015 - June 26, 2016)
- Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3 (3DS) (609,603)
- Yo-Kai Sangokushi (3DS) (539,181)
- Monster Hunter Generations (3DS) (345,656)
- Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS) (330,809)
- Dark Souls III (PS4) (313,187)
- Monster Strike (3DS) (310,167)
- Dragon Quest Builders (Vita) (287,521)
- Splatoon (Wii U) (269,056)
- Dragon Quest Heroes II: The Twin Kings and Prophecy's End (PS4) (260,097)
- Super Mario Maker (Wii U) (240,307)