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Japan chart: DQIX swoops past 3m sales

As Monster Hunter Tri prepares to ruin party.

Dragon Quest IX swoops past 3m Japanese sales and tops the software chart for a third consecutive week, according to Media Create data.

The DS-exclusive - which received a perfect 40/40 review from regional magazine Famitsu - dwarfs competition by selling 270,000 units - taking its lifetime total to 3.2m sales.

Its reign is expected to end abruptly with the Japanese launch of Wii-exclusive Monster Hunter Tri tomorrow, however. And many believe the Capcom game can also trump DQIX's gigantic opening-week sales of 2.9m units, too.

Nintendo's DS game Friend Collection and Wii MotionPlus flag-waver Wii Sports Resort are at two and three this week, respectively. But Wii Sports Resort is still weeks away from breaking 1m sales in Japan if current momentum continues.

Four new entries follow: Penguin no Mondai: Tenkuu no Senshi (DS, Konami) at four, Okaeri! Chibi-Robo! Happy Richie Oosouji (DS, Nintendo) at five, Katamari Damacy Tribute (PS3, Namco Bandai) at six and Katekyoo Hitman Reborn! DS Flame Rumble X - Mirai Chou-Bakuhatsu!! (DS, Takara Tomy) at seven.

Pro Baseball Spirits 6 is at eight on PS2 and nine on PS3, and the budget release of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite rounds the chart out at 10.

The hardware chart is unsurprisingly dominated by the DSi and DS Lite, which combine to shift 92,747 units.

The rest follow at a distance: PSP with 30,523 sales, Wii with 23,995 sales, PS3 with 8997 sales, PS2 with 3305 sales and Xbox 360 with 3080 sales.