Dragon’s Crown Is Sold Out Almost Everywhere in Japan

Giuseppe Nelva July 28, 2013 11:00 AM EST

If you live in Japan and don’t want to settle with the digital version of Dragon’s Crown you may want to hurry, as the latest game by Vanillaware appears to have made a big splash in the archipelago of the rising sun, big enough to be sold out at almost every retailer.

I just spent a couple hours checking Amazon Japan, Tsutaya, Media Land, Yodabashi Camera, Super Potato, 7Net, Lawson, Net Off, Jbook, Happinet, Sofmap and quite a few smaller local retailers.

The only ones of the bunch that have the game available for immediate shipping are Yodabashi Camera and Happinet. At Yodabashi they have only the PS Vita version available, while Happinet only has the PS3 version. Both have a “low stock” notice. The first shipping batch of the game is sold out everywhere else.

I’m quite sure that a few months ago not many would have bet ten bucks on this old-school side scrolling action JRPG making such a successful debut, but this is a nice demonstration that hardcore games revisiting genres from the past can definitely fly off the shelves as long as developers make an effort to give them an unique style and decent marketing.

One thing is for sure: the Media Create software charts coming out this Wednesday are going to be interesting, while a few internet pundits that shook their angry fist at the game seem to be destined to swallow a healthy ration of crow.