Several large stores have recently released rankings of their best-selling galge/eroge/visual novels for 2008, allowing to see which of the last year’s crop attained the most favor from eroge fans.
Little distinction is made between the various types of bishoujo type games, such as pure visual novels or hardcore eroge, but the results are still interesting to look at:
Notes:
- Tora no Ana figures only cover games released in the first half of 2008. Softmap and Getchu’s rankings are for the entire year.
- The data for Tora no Ana’s numbers are from its main Akihabara store; Softmap’s are from its main Osaka store.
- Links to the game’s Amazon or Getchu sales pages are provided to aid in identification.
Tora no Ana – First-Half 2008 Eroge Sales Ranking
1. ToHeart2 AnotherDays
2. FORTUNE ARTERIAL
3. G線上の魔王 / G Senjou no Mahou
4. 超昂閃忍ハルカ / Beat Blades Haruka
5. つよきす２学期 / Tsuyokisu 2 Gakki
6. ef – the latter tale.
7. プリンセスラバー! / Princess Lover!
8. 暁の護衛 / Akatsuki no Goei
9. こんぼく麻雀 / Konpaku Mahjong
10. CHAOS;HEAD
Softmap – 2008 Eroge Ranking
1. ToHeart2 AnotherDays
2. FORTUNE ARTERIAL
3. リトルバスターズ! エクスタシー 初回限定版 / Little Busters! Ectasy
4. 超昂閃忍ハルカ / Beat Blades Haruka
5. 真・恋姫†無双 ～乙女繚乱☆三国志演義～ / Shin Koihime Musou~ Shoujo Ryouran☆Sangokushi Engi
6. 闘神都市III / Toushin Toshi III
7. CHAOS;HEAD
8. つよきす２学期 / Tsuyokisu 2 Gakki
9. D.C.II プラスコミュニケーション / Da Capo II Plus Communication
10. G線上の魔王 / G Senjou no Mahou
Getchu.com 2008 Eroge Sales Ranking
1. FORTUNE ARTERIAL
2. ToHeart2 Another Days
3. Little Busters! Ecstasy
4. 真・恋姫†無双 ～乙女繚乱☆三国志演義～ / Shin Kohime Musou~ Shoujo Ryouran☆Sangokushi Engi
5. D.C.II プラスコミュニケーション / Da Capo II Plus Communication
6. タユタマ -kiss on my deity- / Tayutama -kiss on my deity-
7. 闘神都市III / Toushin Toshi III
8. G線上の魔王 / G Senjou no Mahou
9. 超昂閃忍ハルカ / Beat Blades Haruka
10. つよきす２学期 / Tsuyokisu 2 Gakki
The preferences of the different store’s customers seems to not vary much, as many names keep reappearing and with To Heart 2 and Fortune Arterial at the top of all three lists.
Recent visual novel-turned anime Chaos;Head did quite well, unsurprising given the large amount of buzz and rather outlandish publicity the series had generated.
The selection of games shown here may not live up to some banner years (as 2004 / 2005), and there does seem to be a surplus of sequels/continuations of older titles.
Still, I think most avid eroge players will be satisfied, as they’re sure to find at least some of their favorites on these lists?
Tora no Ana Rankings Display, from Akiba Blog.
not konpaku mahjongg, it’s KonBoku
Pretty spot-on. Though there are a few games that I thought would be contenders. Clannad full voice not up there is surprising, considering the fan base of the franchise. 暁の護衛 was pretty good. 戦女神ZERO has good game play. さかあがりハリケーン and MagusTale Infinity are personal favorites, so is 11eyes -罪と罰と贖いの少女-.
I’m kind of sad that Sumaga isn’t on the list. But oh well, Nitro+ games hardly ever top the charts.
Related: here are figures of number of units sold from 2006:
http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/Editorial:Eroge_sales_ranking_top_20,_Year_of_2006_-_part_of_the_%22Best_of_Japan%22_series
The top eroge outsells the top anime DVDs!
Interesting, thanks!
While we’re passing out links, I’d like to once again recommend Hongfire as a good source for foreign eroge players…
http://www.hongfire.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=114
I’m surprised to hear that ToHeart 2 AD did so well, considering that the 初回限定版 first release edition has been in the bargain bins for \1980 in Akiba since summer time.