Capcom’s Monster Hunter 3 once again proved its dominance in Japan by selling roughly 500,000 copies in a single day, singlehandedly tripling sales of the Wii.
In case you doubted the power of the phenomenon that is Monster Hunter in Japan, here’s your incontrovertible proof: Monster Hunter 3 on the Wii has sold over 500,000 copies in one day. Yes, these games might not be more than a niche thing here in the West, but in Japan, killing monsters and slicing them up to make weapons and armor is one of the biggest things since having to catch ’em all.
Not only did Monster Hunter 3 push 520,000 copies on its debut, it sent sales of Wii consoles into the stratosphere, pushing sales up nearly 300 percent from 23,995 last week to 95, 357 this week.
The game accomplished another feat by knocking off Dragon Quest IX, one of the other biggest releases in Japan this year, off the top spot on the sales charts. Can Monster Hunter match Dragon Quest‘s record-breaking 2.5 million copies sold in a week? I’m going to say no considering Dragon Quest‘s wider appeal and series history, but you never know.
So yeah, Japanese people are absolutely gaga over Monster Hunter. Not that they shouldn’t be – they’re fantastic games once you get a handle on them. Luckily enough, you will get a chance to do so early next year when Capcom releases the game in the West.
[Via GI.biz]
Published: Aug 7, 2009 06:37 pm