Big in Japan Mar. 23-29: Handhelds lead software, hardware
Top five positions in Media Create's weekly software chart belong to PSP and DS, as Kidou Senshi Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna Portable debuts strong on Sony's portable.
Handhelds are extremely popular in Japan. How popular? According to Media Create's sales recap for the week of March 23-March 29, seven of the top 10 software best-sellers were for either the PSP or the Nintendo DS. Though it was outpaced in terms of hardware sales by Nintendo's handheld, the PSP did play home to the top-selling software for the week, as Namco Bandai's debut of Kidou Senshi Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna Portable and Nippon Ichi's Makai Senki Disgaea 2 Portable led with respective sales of 85,000 and 39,000 units.
;){kind=link}
DS software mopped up positions three through five, with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator: World Championship 2009 heading the pack at 37,000 units sold for the week. Nintendo's Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!! continued its strong sales run, shifting an additional 36,000 units, while Super Robot Taisen K slipped from its top slot from a week prior, selling 32,000 units.
Also a top seller during the week-ago period, Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2009 for the PlayStation 2 placed 27,000, and Monster Hunter Freedom Unite for the PSP followed with 24,000 copies sold. Two PlayStation 3 titles--Koei's Musou Orochi Z and Capcom's Resident Evil 5--took the eighth and ninth slots with 21,000 and 17,000 copies sold, respectively. Rittai Picross rounded out the week's top software sellers with 16,000 units.
With handheld software selling well, the hardware also proved to be in demand. Nintendo's DSi and DS Lite combined to sell 65,800 units during the week, with Sony shifting 54,100 portable machines. The PS3 led consoles with 22,800 units, followed by the Wii with 17,300 machines. Microsoft's Xbox 360 again assumed its rear position in the Japanese current-generation console race, selling just 4,800 units.
Week of March 23-29, 2009
Software:
1) Kidou Senshi Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna Portable (PSP) - 85,000
2) Makai Senki Disgaea 2 Portable (PSP) - 39,000
3) Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator: World Championship 2009 (DS) - 37,000
4) Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!! (DS) - 36,000
5) Super Robot Taisen K (DS) - 32,000
6) Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2009 (PS2) - 27,000
7) Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP) - 24,000
8) Musou Orochi Z (PS3) - 21,000
9) Resident Evil 5 (PS3) - 17,000
10) Rittai Picross (DS) - 16,000
Hardware:
DSi - 57,400
PSP - 54,100
PS3 - 22,800
Wii - 17,300
DS Lite - 8,400
PS2 - 5,200
Xbox 360 - 4,800
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com
Join the conversation