Japanese Charts: PS3 Slim Launch Spike Drops Off, Pokemon Captures Software Lead

After last week's mega-boost to PlayStation 3 sales driven by the Slim launch, this week's Japanese hardware sales charts see the console posting more moderate numbers. At 55,344 units, the PS3 comes in just behind regular leader DSi, whose numbers it beat for the first and only time last week. Prior to the Slim launch, weekly PS3 sales had been averaging about 6,000 to 9,000 units, so this week's Media Create data still represents a continued strong debut for the redesigned, price-reduced console, which launched in the region on September 3. Below are the Japanese hardware charts for the week ending September 18: Nintendo DSi: 66,498 Sony PlayStation 3: 55,344 Nintendo Wii: 17,568 Nintendo DS Lite: 11,179 Microsoft Xbox 360: 7,568 Sony PlayStation 2: 2,612 Although DSi numbers had been exceptionally high with the launch of Dragon Quest IX -- which continues to drive unit sales as it stays near the top of the Japanese software charts -- this week, it's two new Pokemon releases, Heart Gold and Soul Silver, keeping sales of the new hardware strong. Sales of the older-generation DS Lite are also up slightly thanks to the popular franchise releases. Last week, the debut of Kidou Senshi Gundam Senki: Lost War Chronicles led software sales, but this week sees the title drop to fifth place in favor of new Pokemon titles and a return to higher position for DQIX and the enduring Tomodachi Collection. The latest Japanese software top 10 is as follows: 1. Pokemon Soul Silver (Nintendo, DS): 723,000 2. Pokemon Heart Gold (Nintendo, DS): 720,000 3. Tomodachi Collection(Nintendo, DS): 74,000 4. Dragon Quest IX (Square Enix, DS): 37,000 5. 5. Kidou Senshi Gundam Senki: Lost War Chronicles (Namco Bandai, PS3): 33,000 6. Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo, Wii): 32,000 7. Love Plus (Konami, DS): 22,000 8. Monster Hunter 3 (Capcom, Wii): 15,000 9. Monster Hunter Portable 2 G: (Capcom, PSP) 13,000 10. MAPLUS Portable Navigator 3 (Edia, PSP): 12,000