Big in Japan August 8-14: Monster Hunter and Pokemon spin-offs

Gamers should never underestimate the power of offshoot titles, particularly if they come from large franchises like Monster Hunter and Pokemon. For the week of August 8-14 on the Japanese Media Creates sales chart, Monster Hunter and Pokemon spin-off titles took the top two spots, respectively. Monster Hunter Diary Poka Poka Felyne Village G sold 98,269 units in its debut, while Super Pokemon Rumble sold 86,294 units.

Capcom's spin-off title is an action game focused on the Monster Hunter world's Felyne race. Players control a group of Felynes as they hunt down monsters to restore their village to its former glory. Super Pokemon Rumble lets players duke it out amongst themselves using toy versions of existing Pokemon in an arena. Unlike the mothership titles, all battles between Pokemon toys are done in real time and through a top-down perspective a la Smash TV. The game will feature toy versions of Pokemon from all five generations of the series, including the recent Unova region Pokemon.

Meanwhile, Kirby Mass Attack gets bumped from second to fourth place with 52,173 units sold, while J. League Pro Soccer Club! 7 Euro Plus dropped considerably to seventh place with 30,291 units sold. Rhythm Heaven for the Wii climbed a notch with 63,590 units sold. The 3D version of Ocarina of Time returned to the top 10 at sixth place with 31,772 units sold. Two other Wii titles, Wii Sports Resort and Disney Epic Mickey, hung tough on the top 10, the former in ninth place with 20,524 units sold and the latter in 10th place with 15,536 units sold.

On the hardware front, the 3DS was the best-selling hardware for the week due to the recent price cut of the system. The system sold 196,077 units, compared to just 4,132 units for the week before. Thanks to Nintendo's announcement last month, the 3DS in Japan now costs 15,000 yen ($195), with the discount going into effect on August 11. Sony's two consoles are still within the top three, with the PSP selling 40,389 units and the PS3 selling 20,239 units. Despite a number of Wii titles on the software charts, the console itself is just below the top three consoles with 19,607 units sold.

JAPAN GAME SALES WEEK OF AUGUST 8-14

Software:
Rank/Title/Publisher/Platform/Unit sales
1. Monster Hunter Diary Poka Poka Felyne Village G / Capcom / PSP / 98,269
2. Super Pokemon Rumble / Nintendo / 3DS / 86,294
3. Rhythm Heaven / Nintendo / Wii / 63,590
4. Kirby Mass Attack / Nintendo / DS / 52,173
5. Uta no Prince Sama Repeat / Broccoli / PSP / 32,180
6. The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time 3D / Nintendo / 31,772
7. J. League Pro Soccer Club! 7 Euro Plus / Sega / PSP / 30,291
8. Toriko: Gourmet Survival! / Namco Bandai / PSP / 28,174
9. Wii Sports Resort / Nintendo / Wii / 20,524
10. Disney Epic Mickey / Nintendo / Wii / 15,536

Hardware:
3DS: 196,077
PSP: 40,389
PS3: 20,239
Wii: 19,607
DSi XL: 4,213
DSi: 3,531
Xbox 360: 1,576
PS2: 1,513
DS Lite: 90
PSP Go: 20