Namco's Ridge Racer 6 is the worst-selling game for Xbox 360 according to sales data from market research firm NPD Group.

The sequel sold 9,091 units in the month of November.

By comparison Activision's Call of Duty 2, the top-selling Xbox 360 game in Nov., sold 250,730 units.

In stark contrast, Ridge Racer 6 is the top-selling game in Japan at 29,891 units sold in the first two days of launch.

The Ridge Racer franchise has become a de facto launch brand for Sony's Playstation consoles since 1995. Ridge Racer 6 marks the first time a new installment has debuted on a non-Playstation system.

The latest installment features 230 races and 130 new vehicles in addition to online racing for up to 14 players.

The series' conservative progession has met with mixed reviews from trade press and has seen less attention than more high-profile launch games

According to preliminary sales data from Japan publication Famitsu, Namco's Ridge Racer 6 is the top selling Microsoft Xbox 360 video game in Japan.

Ridge Racer 6 for Xbox 360 has sold 29,891 units in Japan, followed by Microsoft's Perfect Dark Zero at 14,973 units, and EA's Need for Speed: Most Wanted at 6,842 units.

Ridge Racer 6 is the only high-profile game to debut at the Xbox 360 launch in Japan. Tecmo's Dead or Alive 4, a game expected to perform well in the territory, has been delayed to December 21st.

Microsoft sold 28 percent of Xbox 360 consoles at retail stores in Japan for a sore start in a territory that's already dominated by Sony PlayStation and Sony PS3 shoppers.

Many exclusive games, including those from Square-Enix and Mistwalker Studios will not be completed until 2006.

Here is a list of unlockables in Ridge Racer 6 for the Xbox 360. If you see any cheats or unlockables that we have missed, feel free to email them in, or post them in the comments section and we will add them to the list.

Unlock PacMan Mini Game
Finish races 77, 102-108

Car: Body Colors
Finish Advanced Races 1-4 and 8

Car: Unlimited Nitrous
Finish Advanced Races 4,8,12-16

Car: Wheel Colors
Finish Advanced Races 4-7 and 13.

Unlock DJ Heihachi
Finish Races 96, 99-101, 104,105,111 and Special Race 1 to unlock Tekken's Heihachi as the DJ voice.

How you can unlock Cars

• Assoluto Pronzione - Finish Special Race 15
• Astaroth Meltfire - Finish Races 6,17-29
• Burningforce Highjack - Finish Race 42
• BurningForce Meltfire - Finish Races 49,52-55,58-61,78-90
• CyberSled WildGang - Finish Races 42,64,68-77
• Derota Abeille - Finish Races 26, 30-32, 35,36,42,62-64,68 and 69
• Dragonspirit Wild Gang - Finish Race 16
• Galaga Goo - Finish Special Races 25-28
• Galaxian EO - Finish Races 32,52, 56-67
• Galaxian Hijack - Finish Races 23, 26-32, 50-52, 56 and 57
• Gaplus EO - Finish Races 16,26,33-42
• Gaplus Fatalia - Finish Races 3,4,5,6,8,9,10 and 11
• Grobda Abeille - Finish Due Race 2
• Himmel 490B - Finish Special Race 9
• Klik Starnose - Finish Race 6
• Mappy Goo - Finish Special Race 6
• Mappy Wild Gang - Finish Races 7,8,9,10 and 13
• Mitsurugi Meltfire - Finish Race 23
• Nebulasray Abeille - Finish Races 23,43-55
• Nebulasray EO - Finish Races 61,84-96 and Special Race 1
• NightRaven Pronzione - Finish Special Races 6,19,22,23,25,26
• Pac-Man Wild Gang - Finish Race 49
• Phelios Fatalia - Finish Races 6,10,11,12,16,24,25,26,33 and 34
• Phelios Fatalita - Finish Race 111
• Phelios Ultranova - Finish Special Race 12
• Phozon Fiera - Finish Races 1,2,3,7 and 8
• Quox's 490B - Finish Special Races 20-24
• Shootaway Fatalia - Finish Races 10,12,13,14 and 15
• Solvalou Fatalita - Finish Race 84
• Starluster EO - Finish Race 32
• Starluster Fatalita - Finish Race 96
• Terrazi Terrajin - Finish Special Race 18
• WarpMan Bass Cruiser - Finish Special Race 3
• Zolgear Meltfire - Finish Races 61,91-101

US Games (confirmed region-free)

• Ridge Racer 6 (region-free)
• Call Of Duty 2 (region-free)
• Quake 4 (region-free)
• Condemned (region-free)
• Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (region-free)
• Gun (region-free)
• Amped 3 (region-free)

USA Games (confirmed not region-free)

• Project Gotham Racing 3 (not working on JPN Sys)
• Kameo (not working on JPN Sys)
• Perfect Dark: Zero (not working on JPN Sys)

Japanese Games (all games)

• Ridge Racer 6 (complete english, not region-free)
• Perfect Dark Zero (complete english, not region-free)
• Every Party (not region-free)
• Need for Speed Most Wanted (not region-free)

Ridge Racer, Perfect Dark and more launch with the Xbox 360 in Japan.

Source: IGN

“December 13, 2005 - Yet another busy week in the Japanese game scene, this time with plus alpha content. As if two of the best PS2 games ever weren't enough. As if the latest Mario Kart wasn't enough, Microsoft had to go and release Xbox 360 and six launch titles at the close of the week. We were very busy gamers.

The following games were released between 12/04 and 12/10. You can follow the links for more details on the titles, but note that some links take you to Japanese pages.”

Read the full article [here].

According to this PDF, Namco Japan is expecting to sell 500,000 units of Ridge Racer 6. This is a prety optimistic estimate considering Japan may not even get that many Xbox360 units on launch. You need the Japanese Adobe language pack to read this PDF.

Check out the PDF Document [here].

"Ridge Racer 6" delivers an incredible gaming experience on the Xbox 360 that catapults gamers into the next generation of high definition racing. Running at a constant 60 frames per second, the game leads players through a breathtaking selection of high-speed courses throughout the world, from neon-drenched cityscapes to dramatic coastline vistas. Players will experience a remarkable sense of speed as they drift through hairpin turns in "Ridge Racer 6"’s more than 130 vehicles, each with their own unique traits and drifting style. Ridge Racer 6 expands upon the series’ nitrous system by letting players build up their charge and unleash explosive double and triple boosts of pure speed – further evolving the strategy for each race. By competing in "Ridge Racer 6"’s single player World Xplorer mode, players will be able to unlock additional game content such as cars, prizes and brand new routes by successfully completing their own customized multi-race route through the more than 200 races available in the Ridge Universe.

"Ridge Racer 6" takes the race online over the Xbox Live(R) online game service, a historic first for the storied "Ridge Racer" series. Players can choose to compete in a wide selection of different modes for up to 14 players, with voice chat support, including Rank Match and Player Match. Rank Match is tied into the game’s persistent leaderboard, allowing players to compete for World Ranking Points in a series of races that can be customized by the game’s host. Players can enjoy more casual races in Player Match, with outcomes that are not tied into World Ranking Points and settings that are also customizable by the game’s host. In either Rank Match or Player Match, players can choose to get behind the wheel and take part in the action, or observe the four wheeled fury from a variety of different camera angles as a spectator.

“The 'Ridge Racer' series has a history of delivering the most advanced next generation experience on new gaming hardware, and 'Ridge Racer 6' continues this tradition on the Xbox 360 with awe-inspiring graphics, original gameplay mechanics and thrilling online multiplayer for up to 14 players,” said Yoshi Niki, Business Unit Director with Namco Hometek Inc. “The sense of speed is tremendous, the drifting is smooth and the nitrous is more powerful than ever – 'Ridge Racer 6' is here and the next generation of gaming has arrived.”

For more information on "Ridge Racer 6," please visit www.namco.com.

To download new screenshots and a trailer for "Ridge Racer 6," please visit www.kohnkecomm.com/dl/namco/rr6_ships.zip.

Game Daily has posted their hands on impressions of Ridge Racer 6 on Xbox Live. They give it the thumbs up, more or less, and as this is the first Ridge Racer game to have an online component, it is not like there is much to compare it to (Ridge Racer wise). The game does not offer a four-player setup like Ridge Racer 64, but the online portion more than makes up for it, apparently.

Ridge Racer 6 is looking to continue the ongoing legacy of Namco's arcade racing series with style, and, thus far, it's a very good contender for those lucky enough to score a system with next week's launch. The good folks at Namco managed to show us a new build of the game, complete with flowing graphic details, a steady frame rate, vivid track designs, and a few unlockable goodies that are so noteworthy, we can't even reveal the details as to waht you'll find. Let's just say that, being a Namco product, you can expect a familiar name to reappear.