14 DAY TRIAL // Media Create has put up data regarding the sales of gaming hardware and software in Japan for the week that ended on June 15. The big news is that the PlayStation 3 console from Sony has leapfrogged the Nintendo line-up to take the first spot in the hardware sales department. The first week at number one for the PlayStation 3 also meant that the consoles enjoyed the biggest sales in Japan since their launch more than one year ago.
The Sony made gaming consoles jumped by more than 60,000 units and reached sales of 75,311 only to take the first spot, managing to sell in Japan in one week more than one third of the consoles sold in North America in one month.
Nintendo also had good sales although nowhere near the magnitude of Sony's numbers. The Wii registered a 1,000 unit increase in sales, reaching some 45,000 consoles sold in one week while the Nintendo DS is not far behind with around 39,000 units sold in Japan in one week. But, somewhat surprisingly, second place is again occupied by the PlayStation Portable which again enjoyed strong sales in Japan despite disappointing numbers in the rest of the world. The handheld console from Sony sold over 64,000 units.
Despite being a very old piece of hardware the PlayStation 2 still manages to outsell the much newer Xbox 360 from Microsoft, with 7,287 units sold as compared to 2,163.
The sudden rise of the PlayStation 3 can be quickly pinned on the release of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, an exclusive title published by Konami which took the software chart by storm to reach number one. The eagerly awaited title managed to convince people to get a PS3 to play the game on while also drawing many gamers that already owned a console.
If the trend exemplified by Japan is followed by the rest of the world we might just see hardware charts all over the world being dominated by the PlayStation 2 while Metal Gear Solid 4 occupies the top spot in videogame sales.