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Very much in keeping with Japan’s penchant for RPGs, Square Enix’s Dragon Quest IX has emerged as the best selling game of 2009 in the country with sales over 4m units throughout the year.
Hot on its heels is the new Pokemon outing, sales of which hit 3.382m units and New Super Mario Bros Wii with 2.458m units shifted.
Despite having hit the streets in the closing moments of the year – and having only ten days to register in Famitsu’s sales data – new PS3 RPG Final Fantasy XIII manages to chart highly, claiming fifth place thanks to its 1.698m sales.
Unsurprisingly, no Xbox 360 games feature in the listings, though PSP does remarkably well thanks to its ongoing popularity in the country.
Here’s Japan’s 2009 Top 50 in full as reported by Kotaku (lifetime sales in brackets):
1. Dragon Quest IX [DS] – 4,100,968
2. Pocket Monsters HeartGold/SoulSilver [DS] – 3,382,597
3. New Super Mario Bros Wii – [Wii] 2,485,150
4. Tomodachi Collection [DS] – 2,311,948
5. Final Fantasy XIII [PS3] – 1,698,256
6. Wii Sports Resort [Wii] – 1,542,806
7. Wii Fit Plus [Wii] – 1,298,533
8. Monster Hunter 3 Tri [Wii] – 968,033
9. Inazuma Eleven 2 [DS] – 943,615
10. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G [PSP] – 911,497 (1,110,614)
11. Mario & Luigi RPG3 [Wii] – 717,940
12. Wii Fit [Wii] – 588,258 (3,555,555)
13. Professor Layton and the Specter’s Flute [DS] – 552,085
14. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days [DS] – 522,260
15. Yakuza 3 [PS3] – 509,223
16. Resident Evil 5 [PS3] – 508,959
17. Rhythm Heaven Gold [DS] – 480,326 (1,830,997)
18. Mario Kart Wii [Wii] – 446,447 (2,449,762)
19. Phantasy Star Portable 2 [PSP] – 443,216
20. Pokmon Fushigi no Dungeon [DS] – 417,226
21. Taiko no Tatsujin Wii [Wii] – 390,416 (641,599)
22. Shin Sangoku Musou: Multi Raid [PSP] – 384,336
23. Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 [PS3] – 377,340
24. Gundam vs. Gundam NEXT PLUS [PSP] – 339,034
25. Tales of Vesperia [PS3] – 337,783
26. Style Savvy [DS] – 330,079 (879,427)
27. Pocket Monster Platinum [DS] – 328,490 (2,515,827)
28. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks [DS] – 320,940
29. Kirby Super Star Ultra [DS] – 319,422 (1,174,849)
30. Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 [PSP] – 317,730
31. Animal Crossing: City Folk [Wii] – 311,261 (1,206,563)
32. SD Gundam G Generation Wars [PS2] – 307,754
33. Gyakuten Kenji [DS] – 303,445
34. New Super Mario Bros [DS] – 287,399 (5,659,586)
35. Wii Sports [Wii] – 286,364 (3,592,834)
36. Final Fantasy: Echoes of Time [DS] – 259,705
37. Animal Crossing: Wild World [DS] – 258,996 (5,111,049)
38. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 [PSP] – 250,204
39. Gran Turismo [PSP] – 247,869
40. Mario Kart DS [DS] – 246,192 (3,563,510)
41. Pok Park Wii [Wii] – 243,075
42. DISSIDIA Final Fantasy [PSP] – 242,136 (902,398)
43. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 [PS2] – 239,928
44. Monster Hunter G [Wii] – 236,020
45. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu Portable 4 [PSP] – 233,864
46. Gundam Senki [PS3] – 233,473
47. Tales of VS. [PSP] – 231,351
48. Musou OROCHI Z [PS3] – 221,718
49. Momotaro Dentetsu 20th Anniversary [DS] – 218,856 (340,996)
50. Tongari Boushi no Mahou no 365 Nichi [DS] 218,139 (451,588)
Data was collected between December 28th 2008 and December 27th 2009
