14 DAY TRIAL // As always, handhelds are the best sold gaming devices in Japan, with the Nintendo DS again edging out the PlayStation Portable. When it comes to home consoles, the domination of the PlayStation 3 seems to have come to an end, as for the third week, the Nintendo Wii captured the top spot. And Mass Effect, recently released in Japan, made an impact on the videogame chart. This according to data coming from research firm Media Create.
The Nintendo DSi, the newer version of the handheld, has managed to sell 33,833 units, while the older DS Lite is still available, although it only managed to move some 5,600 units in the same time frame. The PlayStation Portable takes second spot in the hardware charts with a little over 27,500 devices sold.
The Nintendo Wii seems to be recovering in Japan, selling a little over 16,000 consoles, while the PlayStation 3 managed only 10,932 in sales, no longer threatening the third sport in the chart. The Xbox 360 has again suffered the humiliation of being outsold by the PlayStation 2, 3,854 units to 4,075. The big software releases for the week were a puzzle and a baseball title, with Mass Effect also selling well in Japan on its first week.
Two new DS games topped Media Create's weekly Japanese sales charts for the week that ended on May 24: one a puzzler, the other a baseball title. Sloan to Michael: Nazo No Monogatari, which was released by Level 5 on the Nintendo DS, moved 44,000 while Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukurou 2, also for the DS but from SEGA, managed second place with 39,000.
Mass Effect, the space-based role playing title from BioWare, deserves a special mention. As people in the West are looking forward to E3 to learn more about the sequel, Japan is only getting the original game, which gave Microsoft a rare top three release. Mass Effect managed to sell 18,000 copies.