Japan: Nintendo 3DS Comes Ahead, Vita Is Flat

The Nintendo 3DS handheld has once again managed to deliver a solid week on sales on the Japanese home market while the new PlayStation Vita from Sony has continued its lackluster performance during a week that did not see any significant video game releases.

The 3DS has managed to move 240,819 units for the seven day period, an increase over the 197,952 that it sold during the previous week.

Second place in the hardware chart has again gone to the PlayStation 3 home console from Sony, which posted sales of 74,459, which represents a small increase over the 67,199 of the last week of 2011 while the normal PlayStation Portable line-up has also seen a good increase, reaching 71,033 devices when coming from 62,746.

The Nintendo Wii has seen the biggest increase when it comes to home consoles, reaching a total of 49,525 units moved to gamers, a significant increase over the 33,208 of the previous week.

The Vita languishes in fifth place, with sales of 42,915, essentially flat week over week, while the last places in the chart are occupied by the DSi LL, the Xbox 360, the normal DSi and the PlayStation 2.

The video game chart was a lot quieter, mainly because the first week of Japan has not seen any significant retail releases.

This means that once again Mario Kart 7 from Nintendo and for the 3DS has managed to top the software chart, with sales of 157,188 copies, reaching an overall total of more than 1.3 million units.

Second place has gone to Super Mario 3D Land, also for the 3DS, while the final place on the podium was picked up by Monster Hunter 3G from Capcom.

The rest of the top ten includes: Inazuma Eleven Go, Musou Orochi 2, Just Dance Wii, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Wii Party, Hoshi no Kirby Wii and Wii Sports Resort Wiimote Plus Pack.