Big in Japan Apr. 20-26: Monster Hunter G, PSP victory

While many have lamented the softening Wii market in Japan--Nintendo president Satoru Iwata among them--the console was bolstered last week by the release of Capcom's Monster Hunter G. Although just an appetizer to the Wii debut of Monster Hunter 3, the port of the 2005 hit PlayStation 2 title was sufficiently intriguing to draw first-week sales of 132,000.

The game also helped push hardware sales, as the Wii followed the previous week's sales of 13,200 with a stronger showing of 18,400 systems sold. Regardless, that's still far from the dominant position the console holds in North America, as the Wii was only the fourth-best-selling hardware for the week, yet again falling behind the resurgent PlayStation 3, which had 23,400 units sold.

Sony's PSP topped all platforms with 41,200 systems sold. It also sported the most games in the top 10 with three: Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 3, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, and BASARA Battle Heroes. The Wii, DS, and Xbox 360 each had two games in the top 10, with the PlayStation 3's only chart appearance coming in the form of Killzone 2 at the third spot with 41,000 units.

Week of April 20-April 26, 2009
Software:
1) Monster Hunter G (Wii) - 132,000
2) Pokemon Fushigi no Dungeon (DS) - 54,400
3) Killzone 2 (PS3) - 41,000
4) Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 3 (PSP) - 31,000
5) Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP) - 23,000
6) Death Smiles (360) - 20,000
7) BASARA Battle Heroes (PSP) - 17,000
8) Mario & Luigi RPG 3 (DS) - 17,000
9) Wii Fit (Wii) - 11,000
10) HAWX (360) - 10,000

Hardware:
PSP 41,200
DSi 37,500
PS3 23,400
Wii 18,400
Xbox 360 7,000
DS Lite 6,400
PS2 4,500