PSP takes top spots in Japan

By GamesIndustry International Published 23 May, 2008

Hardware and software victory.

The PSP has claimed the top spots on both the Japanese hardware and software charts for the week ended 18th May, according to figures from Media Create, GamesIndustry.biz reports.

Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G for the PlayStation Portable sold 53,248 units in that period, jumping up a place from last week to number one and bringing its total sales above two million. Mario Kart Wii follows in second place, down a position from last week with 41,739 units sold.

Luminous Arc 2: Will for the Nintendo DS and Bleach: Heat the Soul 5 for the PSP are two new releases in Japan coming in third and fourth respectively. Wii Fit fell two places from last week to number five, with Battalion Wars 2, also for the Wii, entering the charts at number six.

Nintendo platform titles continued to dominate the rest of the charts with DS Beautiful Letter Training coming seventh, followed by Link's Crossbow Training for the Wii in eighth place, Taiko Drum Master DS: Seven Island Adventure at number nine and Wii Sports coming in tenth.

This week's hardware figures saw sales fall for most platforms, with the PSP selling 70,536 units, down from 89,884 the previous week, and Nintendo's Wii selling 41,572 units.

Nintendo's DS sold 34,905 units, with the PlayStation 3 shifting 7701 units and the PlayStation 2 selling 7022 units.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 continues to sell poorly, with 1474 units, however numbers were up from last week.

The Japanese software chart follows:

  1. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP)
  2. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
  3. Luminous Arc 2: Will (Wii)
  4. Bleach: Heat the Soul 5 (PSP)
  5. Wii Fit (Wii)
  6. Battalion Wars 2 (Wii)
  7. DS Beautiful Letter Training (DS)
  8. Link's Crossbow Training (Wii)
  9. Taiko Drum Master DS: Seven Island Adventure (DS)
  10. Wii Sports (Wii)
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Comments (17) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Rizzle #1 4 years ago

    So, trusting history to repeat:

    New DS SKU - Confirmed.


    Not necessarily a bad thing as I've still got a Phat.
    Edited by Rizzle at 23/05/08 @ 12:55

  • Santino #2 4 years ago

    as of this week, wii fit has outsold the ps3 in japan, pretty crazy

  • monkie_king #3 4 years ago

    That's pretty evident from the figures, yeah. They love hunting them some monsters.

  • Steroyd #4 4 years ago

    o_O

  • Greebo #5 4 years ago


    Until this article, I'd forgotten I own a PSP.

    /wipes dust off then puts back in drawer

  • CitizenGeek #6 4 years ago

    Jesus those PS3 numbers are dismal :/

  • Widge #7 4 years ago

    I'm hoping the large amount of people in Japan shifting to PSP thanks to FF7:CC and MHP2GQUTGDUNFODSNUOFSN will mean that there will be MORE GAMES PLEASE.

    What has been has been good, but the lack of anything on the horizon is concerning.

  • Spazzfish #8 4 years ago

    What's the difference between monster hunter 2 and Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G or are they the same game? Sorry for being a bit naive.

  • penhalion #9 4 years ago

    "with the PlayStation 3 shifting 7701 units and the PlayStation 2 selling 7022 units.

    Microsoft's Xbox 360 continues to sell poorly, with 1474 units, however numbers were up from last week."

    Since when has 7701 been a good sales figure for a console? Let's face it, with the lack of any appealing games neither next gen console has exactly rocked Japan. I doubt the 360 would be there at all if Microsoft didn't need the likes of capcom and square on their side.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #10 4 years ago

    "Until this article, I'd forgotten I own a PSP.

    /wipes dust off then puts back in drawer "

    Lumines was good while it lasted though ;)

  • mcmonkeyplc #11 4 years ago

    PSP, WII, DS. LOL

  • SeesThroughAll #12 4 years ago

    "Until this article, I'd forgotten I own a PSP.

    /wipes dust off then puts back in drawer"

    /wonders when will the stupid and outdated "PSP has no gamezzz!1!!1" jokes stop

  • Widge #13 4 years ago

    I think there has been a great back catalogue, Jeanne D'Arc, FFT, Syphon Filter x 2, GTA x 2, Wipeout x 2, Burnout, FF7, God Of War of the ones I've played, not touched Lumines, Locoroco, Patapon etc either, so true that there is a distinct lack of anything on the horizon. I'm hoping this lull is a precursor to lots of devs noticing that the hardware and software sales have gone up a significant amount to bother putting in some effort to making some game-age.

    Of course the PS1 emu stuff is excellent too.

  • Les #14 4 years ago

    "Yeah the PSP has an awesome back catalog but there's a dearth of new stuff."

    Who needs new stuff when there's Patapon and Loco Roco available for the machine?! ;)

    And btw, each year there's a new (and often vastly improved) version of MLB The Show. Of course that has to be your kind of game and given your comment I guess it's not... Which puts your comment into perspective as well...

  • miiiguel #15 4 years ago

    Most EGers are funny, even in a fanboy kinda way, but this mate Les is too pedantic... .
    Edited by miiiguel at 23/05/08 @ 17:24

  • CaoSlayer #16 4 years ago

    "What's the difference between monster hunter 2 and Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G or are they the same game? Sorry for being a bit naive."

    Monster Hunter Freedom = Monster Hunter Portable
    Monster Hunter Freedom 2 = Monster Hunter Portable 2

    MHP2G is an expansion of MH2, that means that uses the same interface, graphics, sprites and such but adds some more brand new monsters to hunt, more weapons to collect, some powered up versions of old monsters and the most important new feature: you can bring with you a Felyne warrior to help you to hunt.

    The game is selling a ton because does so many things rights. The game has a very large amount of items to collect for collectors gamers, the combat is fine, your character is not your typical anime superhero and is somehow clumsy, but sill with skill you can defeat nearly anything by yourself.Finally the game has a live span of hundred of hours, I managed to beat just the single player missions after 120 hours of gameplay and that is without touching the longer and harder multiplayer missions.

    Monster Hunter is a masterpiece of game, the downside is that suffers from Capcom syndrome of launching several titles that are nothing but expansion packs with everything from previous games plus new stuff, being the only good thing that newcomers can enjoy all the good stuff from the first monster hunter by buying a single game.
    Edited by CaoSlayer at 26/05/08 @ 22:14

  • Ryze #17 4 years ago

    PS3: Who's arsed yet?