Japanese video game market revenues declined 8% in 2011

Total revenue from the Japanese video game retail market fell 8 percent in 2011 year-over-year, despite increased hardware sales. According to data from Famitsu's Enterbrain, and as translated by Andriasang, hardware sales were up 2.4 percent to ¥179.7 billion ($2.3 billion), thanks in part to the launches of the Nintendo 3DS and the PlayStation Vita. However, retail software sales were down 13.7 percent to ¥274.6 billion ($3.6 billion) year-over-year. Overall revenue for the year was ¥454.4 billion ($5.9 billion). Overall, the Nintendo 3DS was the highest-selling console of the year, topping 4 million hardware sales in its first year, while Mario Kart 7 was the top selling game of the year. The full list of sales figures for hardware, and the top 10 best-selling games of 2011 in Japan, are below. Japanese hardware sales in 2011 (with lifetime hardware sales) Nintendo 3DS: 4,135,739 PSP: 1,960,177 (18,237,108) PlayStation 3: 1,467,261 (7,417,148) Wii: 937,451 (12,167,743) Nintendo DS: 711,204 (32,835,502) PlayStation Vita: 402,794 Xbox 360: 114,075 (1,520,738) Japanese top 10 best-selling retail games in 2011 1. Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo, 3DS): 1,082,391 2. Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo, 3DS): 1,042,511 3. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (Capcom, PSP): 1,021,457 (4,502,446) 4. Monster Hunter 3G (Capcom, 3DS): 809,322 5. Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Square Enix, PS3): 697,146 6. Final Fantasy Type-0 (Square Enix, PSP): 696,428 7. Minna no Rhythm Tengoku (Nintendo, Wii): 633,429 8. Tales of Xillia (Namco Bandai, PS3): 632,151 9. Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo, Wii): 612,807 (2,732,655) 10. Wii Party (Nintendo, Wii): 584,545 (2,123,773)