The incredible sales success of
Dragon Quest VIII (aka
Dragon Warrior VIII) has had a huge effect on both the hardware and software sales charts in Japan. Around 2,167,000 units have been sold in just the two days covered by these charts - an incredible achievement that it is difficult to imagine ever being equaled in the West, by any title.
The sequel surpassed its predecessor’s first week sales record by around 336,000, and has a good chance of beating
Dragon Quest VII's overall sales of 3,834,000. However, only 75 percent of
Dragon Quest VIII stock shipped to stores has so far been sold, compared to 92 percent in
Dragon Quest VII’s first week on sale.
Unsurprisingly, sales this week are up on last week, by 362%, and work out as 296% of the weekly average. However, all other software sales paled next to
Dragon Quest, with the new
Ratchet & Clank (perhaps the most popular Western platform franchise in Japan) selling just 77,000 units.
Indeed, if all other software sales for the week are combined, they only amount to 616,307 units – giving an idea of just how important an event the release of
Dragon Quest VIII has been.
This is no less evident in the hardware charts, where the PlayStation 2 has accounted for 73.58 percent of the market. The Game Boy Advance is well behind with a 21.76 percent share, followed by the GameCube at 4.15 percent and the Xbox at 0.46 percent.
| TW | LW | Title | Publisher | Format | Release Date |
| 1 | NE | Dragon Quest VIII | Square Enix | PS2 | 2004.11.27 |
| 2 | NE | Ratchet & Clank 3 | SCE | PS2 | 2004.11.25 |
| 3 | 1 | Momotaro Railway USA | Hudson | PS2 | 2004.11.18 |
| 4 | 3 | Mario Party 6 | Nintendo | GC | 2004.11.18 |
| 5 | NE | Slotter Up Core 3 | Dorart | PS2 | 2004.11.25 |
| 6 | 2 | Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen! 3 | Tomy | GC | 2004.11.18 |
| 7 | 4 | Dragon Ball: Advance Adventure | Banpresto | GBA | 2004.11.18 |
| 8 | NE | Kidou Senshi Gundam Seed Destiny | Bandai | GBA | 2004.11.25 |
| 9 | 6 | Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories | Square Enix | GBA | 2004.11.11 |
| 10 | NE | Game Boy Wars Advance 1+2 | Nintendo | GBA | 2004.11.25 |
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