Big in Japan March 14-20: Dynasty Warriors 7

In the wake of the massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami that struck Japan March 11, games were a relatively trivial concern for a country facing tens of thousands missing or dead and a crisis at a nuclear power plant, and beginning what is sure to be a lengthy recovery process. That's reflected in the sales data, as Media Create today released its retail figures for the first full week after the quake, showing a sharp dip in hardware and software sales.

For the week of March 14-20, the top 10 best-selling games combined to sell fewer than 211,000 copies. The previous week's top 10 sold nearly 491,000 copies, with the best-selling game, Koei's Dynasty Warriors 7, topping 250,000 copies sold on its own.

Dynasty Warriors 7 took the top spot for the second straight week, thanks in part to the earthquake-prompted postponement of Sega's zombie-ridden crime game sequel Yakuza: Of the End. It wasn't a great week for the games that actually made their scheduled launch dates for the week, with Konami's Powerful Golf for the DS having the strongest debut, selling 10,125 copies and finishing in ninth place.

There wasn't much movement near the top of the charts, as Dynasty Warriors 7, Dissidia 012: Duodecim Final Fantasy, and Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle repeated their gold, silver, and bronze finishes for the week. It was the fourth straight week in third place for Level Five's 3DS launch title. The second-best-selling 3DS launch title, Nintendogs + Cats, slipped a spot to sixth place after three straight weeks in fifth.

Hardware was similarly down, though that would be expected in part as the Nintendo 3DS entered its fourth week of availability and the launch frenzy continues to cool. Media Create tallied 139,099 systems sold for the week, compared to 200,364 sold the week before. The 3DS retained its spot atop the charts with 61,394 sold, while the PS3 overtook the PSP for second place, though both systems' sales totals were down significantly week-over-week.

JAPAN GAME SALES WEEK OF MARCH 14-20, 2011
Software:
Rank / Title / Publisher / Platform / Unit sales
1. Dynasty Warriors 7 / Koei Tecmo / PS3 / 67,475
2. Dissidia 012: Duodecim Final Fantasy / Square Enix / PSP / 31,058
3. Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle / Level Five / 3DS / 18,470
4. Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity / Sega / PSP / 16,175
5. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd / Capcom / PSP / 14,773
6. Nintendogs + cats / Nintendo / 3DS / 14,726
7. SD Gundam G Generation World / Namco / PSP / 14,263
8. Way of the Samurai 4 / Spike / PS3 / 13,807
9. Powerful Golf / Konami / DS / 10,125
10. Hanaoni: Koisomeru Koku - Eikyuu no Shirushi / Idea Factory / PSP / 10,021

Hardware:
3DS - 61,394
PS3 - 26,623
PSP - 22,911
Wii - 9,724
DSi LL - 7,452
DSi - 6,513
PS2 - 1,638
Xbox 360 - 1,619
DS Lite - 625
PSP Go - 600