Japanese Top 30 Sales for 2009

Media Create has released a Top 30 total software sales list for Japan in 2009. The chart stops before the launch of both New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Final Fantasy XIII, which is why both are absent from the list. Square Enix's Dragon Quest IX and the Nintendo remakes of Pokemon Gold and Silver are the clear victors for the year, but Friend Collection, Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit Plus certainly have put up a good fight to help Nintendo formats claim the entire Top 5.

Check out the data below:

Media Create Top 30 - 1st December, 2008 - 29th November, 2009
1.) Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (NDS, Square Enix) - 4,043,218 | NEw
2.) Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver (NDS, The Pokemon Company) - 3,090,387 | NEW
3.) Friend Collection (NDS, Nintendo) - 1,747,516 | NEW
4.) Wii Sports Resort (Wii, Nintendo) - 1,395,912 | NEW
5.) Wii Fit Plus (Wii, Nintendo) - 992,639 | NEW
6.) Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (BEST) (PSP, Capcom) - 967,894 | 1,057,270
7.) Monster Hunter 3 (Wii, Capcom) - 931,705 | NEW
8.) Dissidia Final Fantasy (PSP, Square Enix) - 920,201 | NEW
9.) Wii Fit (Wii, Nintendo) - 715,136 | 3,561,821
10.) Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City (Wii, Nintendo) - 713,141 | 1,126,868
11.) Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (NDS, Nintendo) - 705,050 | NEw
12.) Kirby Super Star Ultra (NDS, Nintendo) - 674,920 | 1,149,668
13.) Inazuma Eleven 2: Threat of the Invaders - Fire / Blizzard (NDS, Level-5) - 663,516 | NEW
14.) Rhythm Heaven (NDS, Nintendo) - 621,168 | 1,835,670
15.) Style Boutique (NDS, Nintendo) - 602,992 | 843,731
16.) Taiko no Tatsujin Wii (Wii, Bandai Namco) - 602,744 | NEW
17.) Pokemon Platinum (NDS, The Pokemon Company) - 578,789 | 2,550,212
18.) Mario Kart Wii (Wii, Nintendo) - 574,051 | 2,459,862
19.) Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (NDS, Square Enix) - 538,800 | NEW
20.) Yakuza 3 (PS3, SEGA) - 514,080 | NEW
21.) Resident Evil 5 (PS3, Capcom) - 488,769 | NEW
22.) Professor Layton & the Final Time Journey (NDS, Level-5) - 439,263 | 786,623
23.) Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky (NDS, The Pokemon Company) - 384,687 | NEW
24.) Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce (PSP, Koei Tecmo) - 383,526 | NEW
25.) White Knight Chronicles (PS3, Sony) - 338,161 | NEW
26.) Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 (PSP, Bandai Namco) - 332,016 | NEW
27.) Tales of Vesperia (PS3, Bandai Namco) - 331,918 | NEW
28.) Wii Sports (Wii, Nintendo) - 331,890 | 3,580,152
29.) Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times (NDS, Konami) - 327,385 | 430,098
30.) Momotarou Dentetsu: 20th Anniversary (NDS, Hudson) - 315,224 | NEW

For sales completists, Famitsu has revealed its own Top 10 for the year. It is quite clear that both Media Create and Famitsu have some major discrepancies in sales totals. Cubed3 sticks with Media Create data to avoid confusion for readers, but in this case it is interesting to see just how different the totals for certain games are:

Famitsu Top 10 - 2009 through to Week 51
1.) Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (NDS, Square Enix) - 4,046,945 | NEW
2.) Pokemon HeartGold / SoulSilver (NDS, The Pokemon Company) - 3,233,000 | NEW
3.) Friend Collection (NDS, Nintendo) - 2,065,000 | NEW
4.) New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii, Nintendo) - 1,972,000 | NEW
5.) Final Fantasy XIII (PS3, Square Enix) - 1,516,532 | NEW
6.) Wii Sports Resort (Wii, Nintendo) - 1,406,753 | NEW
7.) Wii Fit Plus (Wii, Nintendo) - 1,165,000 | NEW
8.) Monster Hunter 3 (Wii, Capcom) - 939,707 / NEW
9.) Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP the Best) (PSP, Capcom) - 894,469 | 1,093,586
10.) Inazuma Eleven 2: Threat of the Invaders - Fire / Blizzard (NDS, Level 5) - 817,000 / NEW

On this chart, all games are lifetime sales up to 20th December, 2009, with the exception of Dragon Quest IX (6th December), Wii Sports Resort (13th December), Monster Hunter 3 (8th November) and Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP the Best) (6th December).

There have been seven 'million sellers' in 2009, compared to 9 in 2006, 10 in 2007 and 7 in 2008. According to Media Create, 2009's market value dropped considerably, however. Hardware saw a 15.3% year-on-year drop, whilst software was down 4.7% from last year, mainly due to an awful first half to the year. The latter half of 2009 was actually stronger than 2008, but not strong enough to balance out the poor start to the year.