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Big in Japan Dec. 27-Jan. 2: Monster Hunter Portable 3

Capcom's PSP beat-'em-up maintains chart-leading position during uneventful cusp week; PSP sells nearly 100,000.

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Just because Christmas has come and gone doesn't mean Japanese gamers have a mind to slow their spending on gaming software, especially with a hot new game like Monster Hunter Portable 3 on the market. This week, Media Create reports that Capcom's wildly popular PSP beat-'em-up sold 283,931 units, making it the best-selling software title in Japan for the December 27-January 2, 2011, period.

Japan continues its crusade against the monsters in Monster Hunter Portable 3.
Japan continues its crusade against the monsters in Monster Hunter Portable 3.

Monster Hunter Portable 3 led a week that saw no new releases crack Media Create's top 10 software sales chart. Donkey Kong Country Returns and Wii Party came closest to challenging Capcom's PSP hit, as the Wii duo sold a respective 107,487 and 102,933 units during the week. Namco Bandai's PSP adventure game AKB1/48: Idol to Koishitara… and Nintendo's Mario Sports Mix round out the top 5.

Handheld titles dominated the back half of Media Create's top 10, with Pokemon Black and White outselling Level 5's Ninokuni: Shikkoku no Madoushi on the DS by just over 3,000 units. Level 5 also scored a top 10 finish with Inazuma Eleven 3: Sekai e no Chousen! The Ogre, an arcade soccer game. Square Enix's The 3rd Birthday and Namco Bandai's Gundam Musou 3 rounded out the week's top 10.

On the hardware front, Sony's PSP continued its reign as the most popular gaming machine in Japan, selling 99,703 units during the week. The Wii and PS3 finished the week in a dead heat, with Nintendo's system besting Sony's console 77,307 units to 76,422. Sony's DSi duo followed with a combined 95,837 units. Notably, the PSP Go, which has suffered anemic sales since it launched in November 2009, turned in a better-than-usual performance with sales of 9,083 units.

JAPAN GAME SALES WEEK OF DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2010
Software:
Rank / Title / Publisher / Platform / Unit sales
1. Monster Hunter Portable 3 / Capcom / PSP / 283,931
2. Donkey Kong Country Returns / Nintendo / Wii / 107,487
3. Wii Party / Nintendo / Wii / 102,933
4. AKB1/48: Idol to Koishitara… / Namco Bandai / PSP / 63,513
5. Mario Sports Mix / Nintendo / Wii / 58,109
6. Pokemon Black and White / The Pokemon Company / DS / 57,576
7. Ninokuni: Shikkoku no Madoushi / Level 5 / DS / 53,295
8. Inazuma Eleven 3: Sekai e no Chousen! The Ogre / Level 5 / DS / 45,306
9. The 3rd Birthday / Square Enix / PSP / 45,105
10. Gundam Musou 3 / Namco Bandai / PS3 / 43,283

Hardware:
PSP - 99,703
Wii - 77,307
PS3 - 76,422
DSi - 48,039
DSi LL - 47,798
PSP Go - 9,083
DS Lite - 3,741
Xbox 360 - 3,708
PS2 - 2,480

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