While the fanfare for Namco Bandai's "Tales of" series isn't really big in North America, it's a strong series in Japan that is just a notch below Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy in terms of popularity. The company recently announced that the next game in the series, Tales of Xillia, crossed the 500,000 mark in shipments all throughout Japan.

　　The Xillia gang striking a pose in response to huge preorder numbers. Namco Bandai stated that the reason for the figures is the series' 15th anniversary as well as the company's collaboration efforts with singer Ayumi Hamasaki (for the game's theme song) and amusement park Namco Namja Town (for Tales of Xillia-themed merchandise). On a related note, series producer Makoto Yoshizumi previously confirmed on Twitter last month that the PS3 title is the most preordered Tales game ever two weeks before its release. Back in July, the game had 80,000 copies on preorder.

　　The last role-playing franchise entry, the PS3 version of Tales of Graces, sold 345,000 units in 2010. Back in 2008, Tales of Vesperia sold 210,000 units on the Xbox 360, while in 2009 it sold 420,000 units on the PS3. For more information on Tales of Xillia, check out GameSpot's recent coverage.