Big in Japan Jan. 11-17: PSP, Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

Sony and its PSP are starting the year off strong in Japan. The second full week of the year ended the same as the first, with the PSP and Square Enix's first Kingdom Hearts game for the portable topping the charts.

According to Media Create's weekly sales chart for January 11-17, Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep finished the week with 177,405 copies sold, handily beating second place New Super Mario Bros. Wii (138,683 copies sold). Likewise, the PSP beat out the Wii as the best-selling piece of hardware for the week, racking up 71,186 units sold, compared to 57,349 for the Nintendo console.

Just as the top of the hardware charts held steady, so too did the assortment of laggards. The Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, and PSP Go were the worst-selling systems once again, with Sony's digital distribution handheld only managing to sell an anemic 2,027 systems, down from the previous week's 2,841 sales.

Not everything about the charts was static. Capcom's Wii shooter Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles debuted during the week and racked up 72,804 sales, enough for third place on the charts. Tekken 6 for the PSP also made its Japanese debut, with its 25,131 sold good enough to earn sixth place.

The only other new release to make the top 10 was Nintendo's DS Last Window: Mayonaka no Yakusoku. Developed by Cing, the game is a follow-up to 2007's critically acclaimed Hotel Dusk: Room 215.

JAPAN GAME SALES WEEK OF JANUARY 11-17, 2010
Software:
Rank / Title / Publisher / Platform / Unit sales
1) Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep / Square Enix / PSP / 177,405
2) New Super Mario Bros. Wii / Nintendo / Wii / 138,683
3) Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles / Capcom / Wii / 72,804
4) Tomodachi Collection / Nintendo / DS / 54,764
5) Wii Fit Plus / Nintendo / Wii / 42,359
6) Tekken 6 / Namco Bandai / PSP / 25,131
7) Last Window: Mayonaka no Yakusoku / Nintendo / DS / 24,668
8) The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks / Nintendo / DS / 22,414
9) Wii Sports Resort / Nintendo / Wii / 22,328
10) Inazuma Eleven 2: Kyoui no Shinryokusha - Fire and Blizzard / Level 5 / DS / 20,370

Hardware:
PSP - 71,186
Wii - 57,349
PS3 - 35,156
DSi XL - 30,418
DSi - 27,292
DS Lite - 6,574
Xbox 360 - 4,622
PS2 - 2,580
PSP Go - 2,027