How Are Consoles and Handhelds Selling in Japan?

[007]

Pretty well, as it turns out.

Japanese hardware numbers have been released chronicling how things have been selling both overall, as well as in the last six months. These figures and the details surrounding them have been translated and provided by Andriasang.

The story is a fairly predictable one. The Nintendo DS has dominated the handheld market, with PSP coming in second. In the realm of the console, Nintendo Wii has been the strongest seller this generation, with PlayStation 3 coming in second. You can see the total number of each current generation console and handheld sold in Japan below.

Nintendo DS - 32,855,741 sold since December 02, 2004
PlayStation Portable - 18,737,441 sold since December 12, 2004
Nintendo Wii - 12,433,321 sold since December 02, 2006
PlayStation 3 - 8,112,613 sold since November 11, 2006
Nintendo 3DS - 6,355,287 sold since February 26, 2011
Microsoft Xbox 360 - 1,554,547 sold since December 10, 2005
PlayStation Vita - 756,451 sold since December 17, 2011
In the last six months, Nintendo 3DS has by far been the best-selling handheld, with PlayStation 3 selling the most consoles.

[Havok]

Unfortunately these numbers don't mean what they used to. Developer priority has shifted to North America 1st over the past 10 years with Europe taking over 2nd place. The japan territory isn't what it once was, mainly because of Japans refusal to evolve beyond what what they've always done. While it once was a huge accomplishment to claim 1st place in this territory, currently it just isn't that big of a deal. Case in point, the Xbox 360 is clearly the most successful and preferred console of this generation, despite the fact the PS3 and Wii have outsold it in Japan.