Big in Japan Nov. 8-14: Tactics Ogre PSP

Square Enix is hoping its PSP remake Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together is a hit when it launches in North America on February 15, but the game is already a blockbuster in Japan. The strategy role-playing game topped the Media Create Japanese sales charts for the week of November 8-14 by a wide margin, easily tripling the total of the next-best-seller.

In its first week on sale, Tactics Ogre notched 176,153 copies sold. A remake of the original Super Famicom and PlayStation Tactics Ogre games, Let Us Cling Together features extra subplots, new and redesigned characters, and added gameplay mechanics that allow players to turn back time, either to change the story's direction by revisiting key plot points or to replay critical points of individual battles for a better outcome.

Namco Bandai's Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 for the PlayStation 3 finished the week in second place, selling 176,153 copies. The game actually launched in Japan a week later than in North America, where its arrival was met with an unimpressed critical response. The 3D fighting game based on the anime and manga series builds on last year's original Raging Blast with 20 extra characters (for a total of 90 fighters) and a new "raging soul" system that allows players to forsake the ability to use their super attacks in exchange for amped-up melee damage.

Namco Bandai's God Eater: Burst relinquished its hold on the top spot after two straight weeks, falling to sixth place with 31,372 units sold. Nintendo had a strong week with Super Mario All-Stars, Pokemon Black and White, Wii Party, and Kirby's Epic Yarn all ranking in the top 10, and a new bundle of Wii Sports Resort with a Wii Remote Plus debuting in ninth place with 14,438 copies sold. Rounding out the new releases was Konami's fifth-place DS virtual life game Tongari Boushi to Mahou no Omise.

Sony's PSP retained its top spot on the hardware charts, but not by much. The portable sold 40,328 systems for the week, edging out Nintendo's resurgent Wii, which tallied 39,308 sales. The Wii total was boosted by the launch of the red Super Mario 25th Anniversary hardware package, as well as white and black Wii bundles with the Wii Remote Plus packed in. The PS3 came in third with 21,114 units sold, followed by the one-two portable punch of the DSi LL and DSi, with 18,711 and 13,994 units sold, respectively.

JAPAN GAME SALES WEEK OF NOVEMBER 8-14, 2010
Software:
Rank / Title / Publisher / Platform / Unit sales
1. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together / Square Enix / PSP / 176,153
2. Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 / Namco Bandai / PS3 / 47,610
3. Super Mario All-Stars / Nintendo / Wii / 43,621
4. Pokemon Black and White / The Pokemon Company / DS / 42,279
5. Tongari Boushi to Mahou no Omise / Konami / DS / 40,208
6. God Eater Burst / Namco Bandai / PSP / 31,372
7. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2011 / Konami / PS3 / 30,353
8. Wii Party / Nintendo / Wii / 17,471
9. Wii Sports Resort / Nintendo / Wii / 14,438
10. Kirby's Epic Yarn / Nintendo / Wii / 13,896

Hardware:
PSP - 40,328
Wii - 39,308
PS3 - 21,114
DSi LL - 18,711
DSi - 13,994
PSP Go - 2,727
Xbox 360 - 2,149
DS Lite - 1,752
PS2 - 1,233