Japanese Hardware: Actually, Xbox 360 Just Missed Wii Victory

Though Enterbrain asserts that Xbox 360 sales topped Wii in Japan this week, data from Media Create disputes, asserting that the Xbox 360 just missed that achievement, selling 28,188 units to Wii's 29,686. It's a significant jump for Xbox from last week's sales of only 1,044, when stock was completely sold out in the country. On the other hand, it's a 3000-unit sales fall for Wii, down from last week and placing third on the charts. Thanks to the release of Pokemon Platinum and Konami’s Quiz Magic Academy DS the Nintendo DS was easily the best selling format of the week, with sales up over 12,000 units to 63,859. This was more than twice that of its nearest competitor, as the PSP saw sales dip by over 4,000 units to 30,156. Although at a recent low, the format’s sales are expected to rebound when the new PSP-3000 model is released in Japan on October 16th. The Xbox 360’s sudden improvement is due to a variety of factors, including stock replenishment, a price cut across all models and the release of Square Enix’s Infinite Undiscovery. However, stock is still reported to be low in some areas, and seems likely to be an issue for a number of weeks to come. Sales of the PlayStation 3 were almost unchanged this week, down just a few hundred at 8,053 units, while the PlayStation 2 was down almost 1,000 units to 7,669. Overall in the top 50 there were 25 titles for the Nintendo DS, nine for the Wii, five each for the PSP and PlayStation 2 and three each for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. (The latter saw Tales of Vesperia at number 21 and Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise at number 32.)