Japan game charts: September 18-24

Media Create's Japanese software rankings for last week's sales are in, and judging by the way everyone is buying the top game, it's really living up to its name. The light-hearted sports game, Minna no Tennis--which translates to Everybody's Tennis--remained the top game for the second week in a row. The title managed to move another 87,814 unit last week, outselling the second-place title by more than 30,000 units.

On the other hand, the gap between second and third place was barely distinguishable. Final Fantasy III and New Super Mario Bros. were practically in a dead heat in terms of sales, with 56,596 and 56,045 units sold respectively. Another DS title, Tingle RPG, returned to the top 10 after dropping off it for a week. Despite--or maybe because of--its strange mascot, the old man pretending to be a fairy from the Legend of Zelda series, the game has proven a steady seller since its release earlier this month.

The week's top 10 was rather short on new titles, with only two saying konichiwa for the first time. Gintama DS, based on the alternate-history/sci-fi manga and anime, took fourth place. The other new game, Harukanaru Toki no Naka--literally "In a Distant Timespace"--is the latest installment in a Koei series of transdimensional romance/adventure games.