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Big in Japan Nov. 21-27: Skyward Sword

New Zelda title is at the top spot of the Japan sales chart; Wii sales double but 3DS still number one.

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Trust Nintendo to pull rank on the Japanese sales charts after the release of one of its major IPs. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Wii secured the top spot of the recent Media Create sales update for the week of November 21-27.

An elf's quest triumphed for the week of November 21.
An elf's quest triumphed for the week of November 21.

The Wii title sold 194,978 units in its debut week, beating out other titles, like Sega's 7th Dragon 2020 (122,498 units), Saint Seiya Senki (66,557 units), and the PS3 version of Metal Gear Solid HD Edition (61,192). For comparison's sake, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Wii sold 139,011 units in its first week of release in 2006, while The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the DS sold 302,887 units in its debut week in 2007.

Former number-one title Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3--distributed by Square Enix in the region--was bumped to 10th place, with 29,726 sold. Other former top-spot holders fell just below the top 10 spot for the week; One Piece: Gigant Battle 2 sold 27,379 units to finish in 11th place, while Ninokuni: Wrath of the White Witch sold 20,185 units and was at 13th place.

Wii sales doubled for the week, likely boosted by the launch of Skyward Sword. Nintendo sold 20,148 units of its console, an improvement over the 13,613 units sold for the week of November 14. Meanwhile, Nintendo sold 120,920 units of the 3DS, while Sony sold 34,031 units of the PS3 and 33,151 units of the PSP.

Japanese game sales for the week of November 21-27:

Software
Rank/Title/Publisher/Platform/Unit sales
1. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword / Nintendo / Wii / 194,978
2. 7th Dragon 2020 / Sega / PSP / 122,498
3. Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle / Namco Bandai / PS3 / 66,557
4. Super Mario 3D Land / Nintendo / 3DS / 61,710
5. Metal Gear Solid HD Edition / Konami / PS3 / 61,192
6. Danball Senki Boost / Level-5 / PSP / 60,727
7. Weiss Schwarz Portable / Namco Bandai / PSP / 47,586
8. Uta no Prince-Sama: Music / Broccoli / PSP / 38,918
9. Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: Ketteiban / Namco Bandai / Wii / 32,098
10. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 / Square Enix / PS3 / 29,726

Hardware
3DS - 120,920
PS3 - 34,031
PSP - 33,151
Wii - 20,148
DSi XL - 2,237
Xbox 360 - 1,678
PS2 - 1,294
DSi - 993
DS Lite - 35

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