Japanese Charts: Monster Hunter 3 Dethrones Dragon Quest IX, Gears 2 Debuts

After a blistering entry onto Japanese software charts that pushed sales to over 3 million units, Dragon Quest IX dropped a spot to accommodate a new weekly leader, Monster Hunter 3 for Wii, Japanese tracking firm Media Create said Thursday. Capcom's Monster Hunter 3 action role-playing game sold 520,000 during the week ended August 2. The game launched on August 1. Monster Hunter 3 is the latest in a series that has proven tremendously popular in Japan. It's also the first time that the franchise has appeared on a Nintendo platform. It's best known for previous iterations that appeared on PlayStation 2 and PSP. The game was originally slated to appear on PS3, continuing the series' PlayStation tradition, but in 2007, Capcom said it was switching the game to the Wii. The company cited high development costs associated with Sony's flagship console. Capcom has sold 9.5 million Monster Hunter software units across the entire franchise. With Monster Hunter 3 knocking down Square Enix's DS RPG Dragon Quest IX, it ends the latter's two week reign that after this week generated over 3.38 million units sold. The RPG sold 180,000 this most recent week. Japan also saw the release of Microsoft and Epic Games' Gears of War 2, which sold 49,000 in its debut week, breaking the top 10. The shooter was a huge hit when it launched in November last year in the US, and has sold over 5 million copies. Falling out of Media Create's top 10 from last week was Konami's Penguin no Mondai: Tenkuu no Senshi and Pro Yakyuu Spirits 6 (PS3, PS2), Namco Bandai's Katamari Damacy Tribute, Takara Tomy's Katekyoo Hitman Reborn! DS Flame Rumble Hyper -- Moeyo Mirai, and Capcom's Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP the Best). Below are the Japanese sales charts for the week ended August 2:

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