Siliconera's Spencer Yip took a short tour of electronic shops in Akihabara, Tokyo's famed shopping district, this morning to capture the masses that've skipped work and camped out in anticipation of today's Super Mario Galaxy release. Considering that this is one of Nintendo's biggest titles of the year and a much-hyped new entry to the company's most popular franchise, you would assume that the head count would surpass or at least rival the crowds that often gather for Dragon Quest titles, right?
Well, according to what Spencer saw at the there stores he surveyed, while a few people queued up outside of shops to snatch themselves a copy, there weren't any of the huge lines that we've come to associate with major releases in Japan. In fact, a few of the guys in the photo above were actually waiting on Ace Combat 6 for the Xbox 360. Perhaps everyone is waiting to pick up Super Mario Galaxy after work? Or maybe everyone preordered the game in advance to avoid the lines?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-01-2007 @ 11:27AM
meta said...
they have an HD tv sitting right by the door as well as a 360. snatch that shit up and run. the cops have little legs they'd never catch you.
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11-01-2007 @ 12:13PM
Ethan said...
Really? I'd say it's fairly hard to commit a crime as a foreigner. No way you'd get away with it, and do you really want a culture of mistrust? I'm not even going to start on the stature remark.
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11-01-2007 @ 12:20PM
troy said...
i'd say its silly to base sales data for japan on this picture alone
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11-01-2007 @ 12:37PM
Adv2k1 said...
I'm guessing it won't be "sold out in a day" but more like "constantly being sold". Not an explosion but drop, drop drop and soon you see a million copies sold and didn't know how
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11-01-2007 @ 12:41PM
Jeremy said...
Hey maybe the Japs. know something about this game that we don't. Maybe over their they have given the game poor reviews. Maybe in Japan point and click console games are not the in thing just like they are not popular here (even though I can only really think of one that we have in the US for the Wii). Maybe online orders in Japan are more popular than games store.
What the Hell am I saying it is the new Mario of course it will sell. I even played the demo at Gamestop while picking up BWii and I thought the game was freakin awesome.
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11-01-2007 @ 12:45PM
meta said...
@ethan
are you seriously that serious? i was obviously kidding i havent stole anything since i was like 6 and my grandpa put the fear of god in me.
also i showed this to my asain friend and said the same thing to him and he thought it was pretty funny...ok maybe it's not that funny to everyone but come on lighten up, at least i did say FIRST or something stupid like that, i never did understand the big deal with that. i mean if you want your opinion seen that bad to be first at least say something besides first, right?
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11-01-2007 @ 1:36PM
meta said...
@troy the photo above is obviously not what they are basing this story on, it is only an example.
also japan is ps3 dominated, even though nintendo is from there. they like more advanced technology and ps3 is obviously that. i have both so dont call me a troll. the nintendo is just fun because of the wiimote, and pretty much the only reason i got it(something new), which was still worth it.
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11-01-2007 @ 1:47PM
jonathannakandala said...
The fact that you stole when you were six suggests that you're some tramp that couldn't afford anything and just resorted to stealing like the dickhead you are.
Perhaps the reason that you don't see 360 demo stations out in the open where you live is because you live in a shit hole.
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11-01-2007 @ 1:50PM
Szu said...
Well, there's also the factor that some people might be waiting to get it as a Christmas present.
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11-01-2007 @ 2:25PM
Hunter said...
or perhaps people are exhibiting a healthy attitude of intending to purchase a product without letting it interfere with their responsibilities like work, and school?
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11-01-2007 @ 2:48PM
DeadPlasmaCell said...
@ Hunter
Sounds about right.. I know I wouldn't line up or cream myself over the next Mario game.. I'm going to get it day one for sure, but come on now.. we're all familiar with how Mario works.. Run around, get stars, watch Luigi get gayer, and so on.
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11-01-2007 @ 2:58PM
samfish said...
Were we...expecting lines for Galaxy? I kind of wasn't.
I'm not expecting lines in the US, either.
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11-01-2007 @ 3:12PM
hvnlysoldr said...
I'd like to remind people that Japs is derogatory word similar to n*****. Personally I've never been called that although the elementary kids called me things like Chinese, Japanese, Dirty-nese.
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11-01-2007 @ 3:29PM
k.dizzy said...
@ DeadPlasmaCell
If there was a game where you just collected stars and watched "Luigi get gayer," I'd definitely be in for one, but that's just me.
Obviously, I can take a joke, and I found it funny, but hvnlysoldr has a point, when dealing with strangers, you don't know if your words are having impact other than intended. It is something I try and think about.
That said, I'm sure our plumber friends will sell just fine in Japan, and in the USA. I've never seen lines in the USA either, but small mobs of people pissed off at gamestop employees is fairly commonplace.
-k
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11-01-2007 @ 4:54PM
Mr Khan said...
@ meta, dude, Japan is Wii country, (more DS country, but Wii out of the consoles)
just like in the other article, one picture does not tell the whole story. There are 800,000 preorders for this game in Japan.
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11-02-2007 @ 11:48PM
Matters said...
meta the Wii outsells the PS3 every week in Japan. The Wii is outselling the PS3 2 to 1.
Jeremy the reviews of Mario Galaxy in Japan have been very good. Famitsu gave it 10, 10, 9 and 9 I believe.
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