Mario Kart Wii the top seller in Japan in 2011

Mario Kart Wii the top seller in Japan in 2011

1/13/2012 06:03:00 PM | | No comment yet

NeoGaf, by way of Famitsu, has released the top 100 best-selling video games in Japan last year. The top seller was Mario Kart 7, which is amazing considering that the game was out in December. The tracking went from Dec. 27, 2010, to Dec. 25, 2011.

Mario Kart 7 beat out Super Mario 3D Land for the top spot by about 40,000 units sold. Those two games, as well as Monster Hunter Freedom 3, were the only games to sell more than 1 million copies.

It's great news and sad news at the same time.

Here's the good: With the amount of sales as well as the rise of community-based events all over the world, the 1 million mark within a month is a great sign (yes, I know people here who got the Japanese version). Keep in mind that many stores did not sell the game as part of a bundle package, and that probably was the case in Japan.

Here's the bad: Mario Kart 7's amount is the lowest for the top-selling game in Japan since 1996 and it's not even close. It joins Pokemon Red/Green/Blue in 1996, Final Fantasy X-2 in 2003, Animal Crossing Wild World in 2005 and Wii Sports in 2007 as the only games to be No. 1 and not break 2 million units sold in Japan.

Mario Kart Wii came in 23rd with more than 400,000 copies sold. It's now up to 3.3 million total.

Mario Kart DS was 60th, having sold 185,000 units. It's total is now at 3.8 million sold in the country.