Green PSP boosts sales in Japan

The latest colour in the PlayStation Portable palette went on sale in Japan on February 28 and launched the handheld to the top of this week's charts.

According to figures released today by sales tracking firm Media Create, the PSP is top dog for the week of February 25 to March 2 in the Japanese hardware charts, selling 73,706 units.

Next up was the Wii, which sold 64,535 units, followed by the DS Lite with 51,922 units and the PlayStation 3 with 13,520. Still going strong is the PlayStation 2, which totted up 10,986 in sales despite the availability of three next-generation platforms. The Xbox 360 brought up the rear with 2,282 consoles sold.

The mint-green PSP was announced in January, and Sony said in a statement that the new colour was designed to attract female users (and all those who like flowers).

In the software charts, Gundam Musou Special for the PlayStation 2 went straight in at number one, knocking Super Smash Bros. Brawl off the top slot. Gundam Musou Special sold 149,846 copies in its first week on sale, followed by Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Wii Fit.