Big in Japan Mar. 9-15: PS3 tops hardware, software charts

Resident Evil 5 lit up the weekly Japanese sales charts on its debut earlier this month, though it did so in a decidedly lopsided fashion. Of the nearly 400,000 units of RE5 sold in Japan during its first week, more than 300,000 copies were for Sony's PlayStation 3. Into week two, the PS3 edition of RE5 sold an additional 61,500 units, securing it the second slot in Media Create's weekly Japanese sales recap, though the Xbox 360 edition was nowhere to be found.

RE5 aside, the top performer for March 9-March 15 was Koei's Musou Orochi Z for the PS3, which sold 112,000 units during its opening week. A pair of DS games slotted in behind RE5, with Rittai Picross 3D's 38,000 units just edging out Japanese favorite Mario & Luigi RPG 3's 37,900 copies. Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce for the PSP slipped a slot, week-over-week, to finish in fifth with 33,300 units sold.

New Play Control Pikmin 2 represented the Wii's only charting game, debuting with 28,700 units sold, while Sega's Yakuza 3 for the PS3 and 7th Dragon for the DS sold a respective 23,800 and 22,300 copies. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite again turned in a ninth-place finish with 16,200 units sold, while Resistance: Retribution for the PSP achieved first-week sales of 15,600.

Handhelds led the week in the hardware domain, with the PSP taking the week with 43,500 units, and the DSi and DS Lite combining to sell 39,100. The PS3 again outsold the Wii and Xbox 360, as Sony's flagship sold 28,000 units, Nintendo moved 17,900 consoles, and Microsoft trailed with 8,400 systems.

Week of March 9-15, 2009
Software:
1) Musou Orochi Z (PS3) - 112,000
2) Resident Evil 5 (PS3) - 61,500
3) Rittai Picross (DS) - 38,000
4) Mario & Luigi RPG 3 (DS) - 37,900
5) Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce (PSP) - 33,300
6) New Play Control! Pikmin 2 (WII) - 28,700
7) Yakuza 3 (PS3) - 23,800
8) 7th Dragon (DS) - 22,300
9) Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP) - 16,200
10) Resistance: Retribution (PSP) - 15,600

Hardware:
PSP 43,463
PS3 28,014
DSi 27,564
Wii 17,941
DS Lite 11,571
Xbox 360 8,378
PS2 4,844