PSP on Top of the DS in Japan

There are new software and hardware numbers coming out from Japan, courtesy of research firm Media Create. They paint a picture of the
PlayStation Portable outselling the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii for the week ending on April 27.

The PlayStation Portable is edging ever closer to the 100,000 units a week sales mark, standing now just over 92,000. Its nearest rival is the Wii, with sales of around 49,000 units, while the Nintendo DS is now in third place with some 44,000 handhelds sold during the week which ended on April 27. It is the first time that the PSP has sold more than its nearest rivals combined and it marks the continued fall of DS sales, a fall which is rather surprising taking into account the fact that the console used to dominate the Japanese market.

The Xbox 360 posted a relative rise in sales to a weekly total of 1,283 units, while both the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation 2 outsold the Microsoft console.

The rise of the PSP continues to be fueled by the release and the strong sales of Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, which is sitting at number two in the games chart for Japan, with sales of about 93,000 games. More people are buying the game bundled with a special edition PSP than buying the game stand alone, which means that the PSP is getting a huge boost in sales. The first title in the chart was Mario Kart Wii, which managed to sell more than 150,000 copies.

A surprise appearance in the top ten is the new strategy and RPG hybrid from SEGA, called Valkyria Chronicles. The PS3 exclusive managed to sell 77,000 units in its first week, which is pretty impressive for a PS3 game.

The first DS game in the charts is Meccha! Taiko no Tatsujin DS: 7-tsu no Shima no Daibouken, also known as Taiko Drum Master, which managed to send some 56,000 copies to eager gamers.

The overall trend in Japan now seems to be for a continued good streak for the PSP, on the back of Monster Hunter, and of a slow decline in DS sales, mainly because of the lack of a killer title which could boost demand for the console.