PSP thumps competition in Japan

By Robert Purchese Published 11 April, 2008

Monster Hunter proves quite popular.

Monster Hunter fever continues to grip Japan as both game and PSP dominate their respective charts.

The Sony handheld sold 121,000 units this week, the figure slightly down from last week but still more than double that pertaining to its nearest competitor, the Nintendo DS.

Sony also celebrated its flagship PS3 console passing 2 million units in the region. Otherwise the hardware charts were largely unchanged i.e. Xbox 360 still in bin.

In software land, Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G sold a massive 488,000 copies for the week, taking its total to over 1.5 million since its launch on 27th March.

Fresh release Warriors Orochi: The Evil King Returns sold 230,000 units on PS2 to take second, and Star Ocean 2: Second Evolution sold 91,000 units on PSP to claim third.

In fourth and fifth were the PS2 and PS3 versions of Pro Baseball Spirits 5, respectively, combining to sell 140,000 copies.

These strong sales meant Sony platforms accounted for nearly 1 million software sales in the Top Ten, while Nintendo commanded just over 180,00.

Still, Nintendo got its own back lower down the chart.

The charts, courtesy of Media Create:

Hardware

  • PlayStation Portable (120,964)
  • Nintendo DS (55,190)
  • Nintendo Wii (44,618)
  • PlayStation 3 (11,303)
  • PlayStation 2 (10,423)
  • Xbox 360 (1452)

Software

  • Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP)
  • Warriors Orochi: The Evil King Returns (PS2)
  • Star Ocean 2: Second Evolution (PSP)
  • Pro Baseball Spirits 5 (PS2)
  • Pro Baseball Spirits 5 (PS3)
  • Pokemon Ranger: Batonnage (DS)
  • Wii Fit (Wii)
  • Tottado! Yowiko's Deserted Island Life (DS)
  • Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii)
  • Deca Sporta (Wii)
Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (17) Latest comment 4 years ago

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  • mingster #1 4 years ago

    Gotta love that Monster hunter...
    They're hasn't been much worth getting on the DS recently.

  • Tejstar #2 4 years ago

    Or its the fact that everyone in Japan already has a DS!

  • Prodigy_BE #3 4 years ago

    I wonder what MGS4 will do for the PS3 in Japan. They need it over there, that's for sure.

  • Widge #4 4 years ago

    Tempted by Monster Hunter... know nothing about it, or this new variation.... so could be a nice surprise.

    I reckon Final Fantasy will be a bumper time for Japan PS3 too, I mean look what happened when Crisis Core came out!

  • Steroyd #5 4 years ago

    I wonder what MGS4 will do for the PS3 in Japan. They need it over there, that's for sure.

    MGS hasn't been that popular in Japan so don't expect much.

  • Goffee #6 4 years ago

    And Monster Hunter 3 is Wii only, crikey - can you imagine the scrum?

  • mingster #7 4 years ago

    Yeah when MH3 hits the shops expect riot police to be about!!

  • Zander #8 4 years ago

    Its about time Nintendo wasn't top over there. Hopefully people will see how much of a gimmick the wii is over here soon (not a fan boy - i own all 3 consoles). Or at least they will get bored of Mario games (Who's up for Mario Ploughing?).
    Edited by 1 at 11/04/08 @ 15:53

  • Madafunkola #9 4 years ago

    As Japan has a population of about 127million i find it hard to fathom that one in every 1000 people bought a PSP last week! Surely some people must be on their 6th or 7th handheld by now?

  • mingster #10 4 years ago

    Yup as hard as it is to believe 1 in 1000 japanese people bought a psp last week.. whether it was their 1st or not isn't known but yes they are a gadget obsessed nation.

  • Widge #11 4 years ago

    oh LOL

    Red Rings Of Death

    No GT5 damage

    lets CRAM THEM ALL IN NOW QUICK

  • drumbaby #12 4 years ago

    MH3 on PSP...it'll happen.

    Waving a plastic stick at the Wii version isn't my idea of fun.

  • Speedyjx #13 4 years ago

    Monster Hunter FREEDOM 3 may appear on the PSP over here. Definately in Japan. The Sony fanboys should stop complaining about the development of MH3 being moved to the Wii and get over it. Sheesh...

  • mrharvest #14 4 years ago

    'I find it hard to fathom that one in every 1000 people bought a PSP last week! Surely some people must be on their 6th or 7th handheld by now?'

    The MHP2ndG special edition Slim&Lite PSP looks very, very nice. To be honest I was tempted to import one despite its rather salty price tag.

  • elvenearth #15 4 years ago

    Just imagine DS sales though when Dragon Quest IX comes out.

  • Triggerhappytel #16 4 years ago

    The whole top five was all Sony - or more significantly, no Nintendo?! Well done Sony, the PSP seems to be doing very well over there on the whole, I hope it's a sign of a general change of fortune for them.

  • MDL199 #17 4 years ago

    Good to see the PSP kicking some serious DS ass!

    Good games on the under powered DS are drying up fast and the Wii never had any good games to start with and i hope this starts the fall from grace Ninty deserves.

    I'm sick of the gimmicks let's get back to proper gaming and say goodbye to the DS & Wii owning Chav games.