Switch Takes Japan’s Entire Top 30 Software Chart, The First Console To Do So Since 1988

If you keep up to date with our regular Japanese chart updates, you’ll have spotted that Nintendo Switch games made up the entire top ten last week. That’s actually a pretty common occurrence these days, but it turns out that last week’s performance was even better than we could have imagined.

Japanese physical chart data, published by Famitsu, comes in two waves – on a Thursday, we get to see the top ten, and then a full top 30 list gets published the following day. That top 30 list is now in, and Nintendo Switch has taken the entire lot (thanks, Gematsu):

1. [NSW] Minecraft (Microsoft, 06/21/18) – 14,912 (2,102,413)
2. [NSW] The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD (Nintendo, 07/16/21) – 13,873 (234,224)
3. [NSW] Crayon Shin-chan: Ora to Hakase no Natsuyasumi – Owaranai Nanokakan no Tabi (Neos, 07/15/21) – 13,798 (156,274)
4. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 04/28/17) – 13,615 (3,958,065)
5. [NSW] Ring Fit Adventure (Nintendo, 10/18/19) – 12,282 (2,734,231)
6. [NSW] Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban! (Konami, 11/19/20) – 10,927 (230,976)
7. [NSW] Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin (Capcom, 07/09/21) – 10,135 (205,463)
8. [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo, 12/07/18) – 8,978 (4,367,573)
9. [NSW] eBaseball Pro Baseball Spirits 2024: Grand Slam (Konami, 07/08/21) – 8,950 (159,492)
10. [NSW] Game Builder Garage (Nintendo, 06/11/21) – 8,925 (200,100)
11. [NSW] Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury (Nintendo, 02/12/21) – 8,248 (836,565)
12. [NSW] Super Mario Party (Nintendo, 10/05/18) – 6,780 (1,952,132)
13. [NSW] Miitopia (Nintendo, 05/21/21) – 6,536 (217,957)
14. [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo, 03/20/20) – 6,529 (6,844,545)
15. [NSW] Mario Golf: Super Rush (Nintendo, 06/25/21) – 6,057 (161,785)
16. [NSW] Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (Nintendo, 06/05/20) – 5,077 (762,996)
17. [NSW] Pokémon Sword and Shield (The Pokémon Company, 11/15/19) – 4,974 (4,099,325)
18. [NSW] Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom, 03/26/21) – 4,748 (2,303,192)
19. [NSW] Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2024 Olympic Games (Sega, 11/01/19) – 4,639 (397,154)
20. [NSW] Splatoon 2 (Nintendo, 07/21/17) – 4,460 (3,915,901)
21. [NSW] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo, 03/03/17) – 4,210 (1,852,012)
22. [NSW] The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (Capcom, 07/29/21) – 3,737 (18,197)
23. [NSW] NEO: The World Ends With You (Square Enix, 07/27/21) – 3,229 (22,028)
24. [NSW] The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II (Clouded Leopard Entertainment, 08/05/21) – 2,853 (New)
25. [NSW] New Pokémon Snap (The Pokémon Company, 04/30/21) – 2,756 (265,980)
26. [NSW] Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum ‘n’ Fun! (Bandai Namco, 07/19/18) – 2,620 (613,725)
27. [NSW] Ace Angler: Nintendo Switch Version (Bandai Namco, 07/25/19) – 2,577 (604,827)
28. [NSW] Human: Fall Flat (Teyon Japan, 06/25/20) – 2,447 (168,897)
29. [NSW] Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition (New Price Version) (Square Enix, 12/04/20) – 2,274 (122,574)
30. [NSW] Super Mario Maker 2 (Nintendo, 06/28/19) – 2,256 (1,116,046)

According to Game Data Library, which described the achievement as “unprecedented”, this is an extremely rare event. In a social media post, Game Data Library explains that this is the first time all top 30 games have been from the same system since the top 30 began tracking all formats – the last known time that a similar event occurred was back in November 1988, when the top 30 was made up exclusively of Famicom games.

With Sony still stuck in a transition between generations and struggling to supply enough PS5s to meet demand, the Japanese market really is Switch’s for the taking at the moment. Perhaps top 30 lockouts will become slightly more common over the next few months?