The Japanese games industry is alive and kicking. At least, that's what Japanese game retailers would have you believe. Japanese game magazine Famitsu recently asked 94 game retailers across Japan what 2009 did for them. Seventy percent said that the year end retail rush was was as good or better than previous years.

Retailers were split over what the hottest title of the season was. Super Mario Bros. Wii won over Final Fantasy XIII in a close vote. Both titles, with 74 and 69 votes respectively, dominated the nearest competitor, Phantasy Star Portable 2, which only received 38 votes.

"After FFXIII was released, I saw sales of the PS3 triple," said one retailer in Aichi prefecture.