If you want to know what games are selling and which ones are not in Tokyo, your best bet is to get down to Akihabara (the city's "Electric Town") and check out a few of the game shops in the area.
With Mario Kart Wii having been released just a few days ago here (April 10th), you'd expect it to be a good seller (and early numbers are suggesting that it is, in fact, another monster hit for Nintendo). Although copies of Mario Kart Wii are easy to come by, the standalone Wii Handle controller is sold out, suggesting that no one wants to play the game alone.
Can't stand to wait for the Handle to be back in stock? No worries: Datel Japan's Racing Handle sells right next to copies of the game for 200 yen less, and is available in black and white versions.
Even though it was the top selling game in Japan last year, it should be no trouble getting a copy of Wii Fit, right?
Sorry, no copies for you, but Hori's Wii Fit yoga-like mats are plentiful.
In the bins? How about copies of Devil May Cry 4, both for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, going for 3980 yen. That's down from 6580 yen for the PS3 version, and 6980 yen for the Xbox 360 version. Even stranger, walk up to Sofmap's used game section on the third floor and you'll find used copies of the same game selling for the same price.
With all the great reviews it got, you'd expect Ninja Gaiden DS to be doing well, but sadly for Tecmo -- and happily for us buyers -- it's already down to 2980 yen in the bins.
Photo: Jean Snow
