Big in Japan January 3-9: Monster Hunter Portable 3

Capcom's critter-killing beat-'em-up easily retains top software slot with 133,500 sales, but PSP loses hold on hardware crown.

 

Game sales continue to deflate following the holiday rush in Japan, but the Christmas season's top choices remain much the same. Reporting on Japanese retail sales for the week of January 3-9, Media Create pegged Capcom's Monster Hunter Portable 3 as the top seller, continuing its run atop the stat-tracker's charts with 133,562 units sold.

Monster hunting is basically a national pastime in Japan.

In a repeat of the week prior's top 10, Nintendo's Donkey Kong Country Returns and Wii Party, both for the Wii, followed Capcom's PSP beat-'em-up, selling 66,551 units and 53,144 units, respectively. A collection of usual suspects followed, with Pokemon Black/White, Mario Sports Mix, Ninokuni: Shikkoku no Madoushi, and Gundam Musou 3 lining up behind Wii Party.

The week offered only one new release to crack Media Create's top 10 software chart: SaGa 3: Jikuu no Hasha - Shadow or Light for the DS. A spin-off from Square Enix's name-brand Final Fantasy franchise, SaGa 3 sold 27,344 during its first week of availability in Japan.

Though the software chart remained much the same, Media Create's hardware chart shuffled during the week. Namely, the PSP lost its weeks-long grip on the top of the hardware chart, selling just 28,757 units during the week. That performance put it behind the PlayStation 3 (59,612), Wii (56,547), DSi LL (44,122), and DSi (38,486).

JAPAN GAME SALES WEEK OF JANUARY 3-9, 2011
Software:
Rank / Title / Publisher / Platform / Unit sales
1. Monster Hunter Portable 3 / Capcom / PSP / 133,562
2. Donkey Kong Country Returns / Nintendo / Wii / 66,551
3. Wii Party / Nintendo / Wii / 53,144
4. Pokemon Black and White / The Pokemon Company / DS / 45,590
5. Mario Sports Mix / Nintendo / Wii / 40,123
6. Ninokuni: Shikkoku no Madoushi / Level 5 / DS / 37,237
7. Gundam Musou 3 / Namco Bandai / PS3 / 30,128
8. SaGa 3: Jikuu no Hasha - Shadow or Light / Square Enix / DS / 27,344
9. The 3rd Birthday / Square Enix / PSP / 27,279
10. New Super Mario Bros. Wii / Nintendo / Wii / 24,888

Hardware:
PS3 - 59,612
Wii - 56,547
DSi LL - 44,122
DSi - 38,486
PSP - 28,757
DS Lite - 4,510
PSP Go - 4,084
Xbox 360 - 3,859
PS2 - 2,547

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"Big in Japan January 3-9: Monster Hunter Portable 3" was posted by Tom Magrino on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:41:37 -0800

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/wii/adventure/donkeykongcountryreturns/news.html?sid=6286400

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