Japanese Software Sales for the Week of January 25

We already posted Famitsu’s sales list for January 25 to January 31, but this list is more comprehensive on the software side, and instead of going up to 15, it goes up to 30. In the Japanese software sales for January, two of the new third-party games that made the top 30 are Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- The Prophecy of the Throne, which we just reviewed, and Disgaea 6. What’s important here is that the Nintendo Switch versions of the games outperformed the PlayStation 4 versions by a fair margin. Re:ZERO on Switch opened at number 16, while the PlayStation 4 version opened at number 27. It outsold it by 2,000 copies. With Disgaea, the Switch version opened at number four, while the Playstation version opened at number six. There are roughly 8,000 copies sold separating the two. Nintendo continues to dominate the charts in Japan, with 27 of the top 30 games being on the Nintendo Switch. Here is the list in full:

1. [NSW] Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban! (Konami, 11/19/20) – 73,362 (1,789,756)
2. [NSW] Ring Fit Adventure (Nintendo, 10/18/19) – 42,124 (2,316,011)
3. [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo, 03/20/20) – 25,151 (6,606,006)
4. [NSW] Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny (Nippon Ichi Software, 01/28/21) – 23,551 (New)
5. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 04/28/17) – 17,503 (3,638,441)
6. [PS4] Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny (Nippon Ichi Software, 01/28/21) – 15,761 (New)
7. [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo, 12/07/18) – 11,220 (4,133,863)
8. [NSW] Minecraft (Microsoft, 06/21/18) – 10,546 (1,797,233)
9. [NSW] Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (Nintendo, 06/05/20) – 10,411 (623,205)
10. [NSW] Splatoon 2 (Nintendo, 07/21/17) – 9,514 (3,762,719)
11. [NSW] Pokemon Sword / Shield (The Pokemon Company, 11/15/19) – 9,163 (3,947,256)
12. [NSW] Super Mario Party (Nintendo, 10/05/18) – 6,662 (1,811,902)
13. [NSW] Buddy Mission: BOND (Nintendo, 01/29/21) – 6,531 (New)
14. [NSW] Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (Marvelous, 11/12/20) – 6,056 (128,442)
15. [NSW] Umineko When They Cry Saku: Nekobako to Musou no Koukyoukyoku(Entergram, 01/28/21) – 5,821 (New)
16. [NSW] Re:ZERO – Starting Life in Another World: The Prophecy of the Throne</em. (Spike Chunsoft, 01/28/21) – 5,083 (New)
17. [NSW] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo, 03/03/17) – 5,032 (1,765,762)
18. [NSW] Pikmin 3 Deluxe (Nintendo, 10/30/20) – 4,834 (532,285)
19. [NSW] Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise (Imagineer, 12/03/20) – 4,340 (64,698)
20. [NSW] Human Fall Flat (Teyon Japan, 06/25/20) – 4,164 (112,345)
21. [NSW] Super Mario 3D All-Stars (Nintendo, 09/18/20) – 4,114 (551,663)
22. [NSW] New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (Nintendo, 01/11/19) – 4,072 (1,027,859)
23. [NSW] Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition (New Price Version) (Square Enix, 12/04/20) – 3,963 (58,653)
24. [NSW] Gal Gun Returns (Inti Creates, 01/28/21) – 3,718 (New)
25. [NSW] Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (Koei Tecmo, 11/20/20) – 3,429 (338,046)
26. [PS4] Umineko When They Cry Saku: Nekobako to Musou no Koukyoukyoku(Entergram, 01/28/21) – 3,361 (New)
27. [PS4] Re:ZERO – Starting Life in Another World: The Prophecy of the Throne</em. (Spike Chunsoft, 01/28/21) – 2,868 (New)
28. [NSW] Marchen Forest: Mylne and the Forest Gift (Clouded Leopard Entertainment, 01/28/21) – 2,686 (New)
29. [NSW] Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo, 10/27/17) – 2,652 (2,206,067)
30. [NSW] Pokemon Sword / Shield + Expansion Pass (The Pokemon Company, 11/15/19) – 2,584 (194,310)

I’ve re-iterated this so many times, but what’s most interesting about the Japanese software sales numbers, particularly in January, is how many older Nintendo Switch games have made the charts. Most of the Switch games on these charts are well over a year old, sans a few. This just shows the longevity of Nintendo’s software, and as the year goes on and 2021’s lineup is revealed, the charts will change.