3DS, Wii Sales Dip To Record Lows In Japanese Charts

Nintendo's Wii and 3DS systems saw their worst Japanese sales period on record last week, thanks to a lack of compelling software and an overall post-Golden Week dip. In all, only 18,324 3DS units were sold in Japan between May 9th and May 15th, according to tracking firm Media Create (as translated on the NeoGAF forums), a 37 percent decline from what it sold last week. That 37 percent drop is roughly in line with all hardware sales following the Golden Week sales boost -- when added up, hardware sales were down around 38 percent overall -- but it is by far the weakest performance by the 3DS on record, and an alarmingly low number for a system in only its twelfth week on the market. There was only one new release for the system this week: Nintendo's Steel Diver, which debuted at number 3 on the charts with sales of just 17,408 units. That game's delay in the region was cited by Enterbrain CEO Hirokazu Hamamura as being a major cause in the country's potential $88 million in lost sales following the March 11 earthquake, but its debut doesn't seem to have done much for the 3DS. Nintendo's Wii also had its weakest performance on record, at 6,336 units, a 45 percent drop from last week. No new Wii titles debuted, though three of its long-tail best-sellers -- Wii Party, Mario Kart Wii and Donkey Kong Country Returns -- continued to chart in the top twenty. Despite the overall decline, Sony's PSP continues to dominate the charts. Hardware sales were reported at 34,826, making it the highest-selling console on the charts., and ten games on the overall top twenty list -- including three debut titles -- were for that system. The hardware chart follows: 1. PSP - 34,826 (previous: 55,140) 2. Nintendo 3DS - 18,324 (29,149) 3. PlayStation 3 - 13,789 (20,883) 4. Nintendo DS - 10,858 (19,516) 5. Wii - 6,336 (11,520) 6. Xbox 360 - 2,763 (3,419) 7. PlayStation 2 - 1,319 (1,696) The best-selling game for the week, as it was the previous two weeks, was Square Enix's Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 - Professional for the DS, which sold 20,722 units. The best-selling new game was Bandai Namco's Suzumiya Haruhi no Tsuisou for the PlayStation 3, the sixth in a series of adventure games based on a popular manga and anime series. It sold 18,831 copies. The top twenty software chart follows: 1. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 - Professional (Square Enix, Nintendo DS) - 20,722 2. Suzumiya Haruhi no Tsuisou (Bandai Namco, PlayStation 3) - 18,831 (new) 3. Steel Diver (Nintendo, 3DS) - 17,408 (new) 4. Suzumiya Haruhi no Tsuisou (Bandai Namco, PSP) - 14,953 (new) 5. Patapon 3 (Sony Computer Entertainment, PSP) - 12,959 6. Pro Baseball Spirits 2011 (Konami, PSP) - 10,166 7. Planetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume (Charity Edition) (Prototype, PSP) - 9,222 (new) 8. Final Promise Story (Image Epoch, PSP) - 6,915 9. Pro Baseball Spirits 2011 (Konami, PlayStation 3) - 6,586 10. Dai-2-Ji Super Robot Wars Z: Hakai-hen (Bandai Namco, PSP) - 6,290 11. Wii Party (Nintendo, Wii) - 4,682 12. Monster Hunter Freedom 3 (Capcom, PSP) - 4,567 13. DokuSui: Doki Doki Suikoden (Irem, PSP) - 4,559 (new) 14. Pokemon Black/White (Pokemon Co., DS) - 4,386 15. Earth Defense Force 2 Portable (D3 Publisher, PSP) - 3,919 16. Nintendogs + Cats (Nintendo, 3DS) - 3,678 17. Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection (Square Enix, PSP) - 3,676 18. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 3,636 19. Pilotwings Resort (Nintendo, 3DS) 3,439 20. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Nintendo, Wii) - 3,356