I was able to play Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, the new MGS title for Sony’s PSP, at last year’s Tokyo Game Show (where the game was playable for the first time). I thought it was pretty good back then, and now the Famitsu, Japan’s (and probably the world’s) best selling video game magazine reviewed the title and gave it a perfect total score of 40.

That 40/40 score means that four Famitsu editors rated Peace Walker with 10/10, the first time for a PSP title ever. Maker Konami plans to ship the game in the US on June 8 (see cover art above) and in Europe on June. The Japanese version will be released as early as April 29.

The last game getting this score was New Super Mario Bros. back in November 2009. For some reason, the number of perfect scores awarded by Famitsu has accelerated in the past years.

Here is a time line for all of Famitsu’s 40/40-games so far:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998, for Nintendo 64)
2. Soul Calibur (1999, for Dreamcast)
3. Vagrant Story (2000, for PlayStation)
4. The Legend of Zelda – The Wind Waker (2003, for GameCube)
5. Nintendogs (2005, for the DS)
6. Final Fantasy XII (2006, for PlayStation 2)
7. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008, for the Wii)
8. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008, for PlayStation 3)
9. 428: Fusasareta Shibuya de (2008, for the Wii)
10. Dragon Quest IX (2009, for the DS)
11. Monster Hunter Tri (2009, for the Wii)
12. Bayonetta (2009, for PlayStation 3/XBox 360)
13. New Super Mario Bros. (2009, for Wii)
14. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (2010, for PSP)

I was able to play Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, the new MGS title for Sony’s PSP, at last year’s Tokyo Game Show (where the game was playable for the first time). I thought it was pretty good back then, and now the Famitsu, Japan’s (and probably the world’s) best selling video game magazine reviewed the title and gave it a perfect total score of 40.

That 40/40 score means that four Famitsu editors rated Peace Walker with 10/10, the first time for a PSP title ever. Maker Konami plans to ship the game in the US on June 8 (see cover art above) and in Europe on June. The Japanese version will be released as early as April 29.

The last game getting this score was New Super Mario Bros. back in November 2009. For some reason, the number of perfect scores awarded by Famitsu has accelerated in the past years.

Here is a time line for all of Famitsu’s 40/40-games so far:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998, for Nintendo 64)
2. Soul Calibur (1999, for Dreamcast)
3. Vagrant Story (2000, for PlayStation)
4. The Legend of Zelda – The Wind Waker (2003, for GameCube)
5. Nintendogs (2005, for the DS)
6. Final Fantasy XII (2006, for PlayStation 2)
7. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008, for the Wii)
8. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008, for PlayStation 3)
9. 428: Fusasareta Shibuya de (2008, for the Wii)
10. Dragon Quest IX (2009, for the DS)
11. Monster Hunter Tri (2009, for the Wii)
12. Bayonetta (2009, for PlayStation 3/XBox 360)
13. New Super Mario Bros. (2009, for Wii)
14. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (2010, for PSP)

Would it be foolish to begin this story with the words “poor Microsoft”? I mean, the company isn’t exactly hurting for money, and yet it looks like 2009 was the year that the Xbox 360 finally died in Japan. Not that the Xbox 360 ever really did well in Japan, but this year it looks like everything fell off a cliff.

Look at this chart. It shows the sales of the various game consoles this year. You’ll immediately notice that sales across all platforms are down this year, which makes sense: the people who wanted a Wii probably hve a Wii by now, etc. The best selling console was the Nintendo DS (no doubt helped by the release of Dragon Quest IX), followed by the Wii, PSP (?!), PS3, PS2 (?!), and, lastly, the Xbox 360.

That’s right: the nine-year-old PS2 has outsold the Xbox 360 in Japan in 2009.

I’m not sure how much Microsoft cares, or should care. There weren’t too many (any?) Japanese games released exclusively for the system this year, so it probably wasn’t expecting… well, not monster sales, but respectable sales.

And then when you figure in that the Xbox 360 is so obviously a system designed and executed with the North American market in mind, and that Japan has always been an afterthought for the system, then you see where I’m going with this.

Japan’s biggest gaming magazine, the Famitsu [JP], has given Nintendo’s newest Mario game New Super Mario Bros. the highest honor in the latest issue. All four editors who tested the game gave 10 points out of 10, resulting in a perfect 40/40 score.

New Super Mario Bros. is already the fourth game in 2009 to get a 40/40 rating, even though until 2007 the magazine was well-known for not giving away this score easily. But the perfect rating isn’t that surprising, as the game seems to be really that good and many reviewers outside Japan gave it the thumbs up already.

Here is a time line for all of Famitsu’s 40/40-games so far:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998, for Nintendo 64)
2. Soul Calibur (1999, for Dreamcast)
3. Vagrant Story (2000, for PlayStation)
4. The Legend of Zelda – The Wind Waker (2003, for GameCube)
5. Nintendogs (2005, for the DS)
6. Final Fantasy XII (2006, for PlayStation 2)
7. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008, for the Wii)
8. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008, for PlayStation 3)
9. 428: Fusasareta Shibuya de (2008, for the Wii)
10. Dragon Quest IX (2009, for the DS)
11. Monster Hunter Tri (2009, for the Wii)
12. Bayonetta (2009, for PlayStation 3/XBox 360)
13. New Super Mario Bros.

Japan’s biggest gaming publication, the Famitsu, has rewarded another RPG for a Nintendo system with a perfect rating today. After giving Dragon Quest IX 40 out of 40 possible points, all four Famitsu editors testing Monster Hunter 3 (aka Monster Hunter Tri) think it’s worth receiving 10s from each reviewer, too.

It’s not really surprising. The Monster Hunter brand is huge in Japan. But no game of the series has ever made its way to America or Europe. Capcom will release Tri in these territories, however (in “early 2010″).

Famitsu is known for being very cautious when it comes to giving perfect ratings. Here is a time line for all 40/40-games so far:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998, for Nintendo 64)
2. Soul Calibur (1999, for Dreamcast)
3. Vagrant Story (2000, for PlayStation)
4. The Legend of Zelda – The Wind Waker (2003, for GameCube)
5. Nintendogs (2005, for the DS)
6. Final Fantasy XII (2006, for PlayStation 2)
7. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008, for the Wii)
8. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008, for PlayStation 3)
9. 428: Fusasareta Shibuya de (2008, for the Wii)
10. Dragon Quest IX (2009, for the DS)
11. Monster Hunter Tri

Here is a Monster Hunter Tri demo from the finished game:

Just how big is Dragon Quest in Japan? Not only did the game sell some 2.3 million copies already, but it helped double the sales of the Nintendo DS. In MMA terms, Dragon Quest is a huge, Brock Lesnar-like draw.

The week before the game went on sale, Nintendo sold 51,601 DSs. That number jumped to 126,785 after the game’s release.

There’s still no U.S. release date, but given that Square Enix takes its sweet time localizing games, it could be something of a wait.

Or, you could hop on eBay and buy a copy of Dragon Quest VIII for the PS2. If you’re not prepared to grind for more than hour just outside the starting village, then maybe it’s not the game for you.

Final Fantasy is child’s play compared to Dragon Quest.