Nintendo Hardware Continues Fall In Japanese Charts

Market research firm Media Create has revealed data for weekly hardware sales in Japan for the week ending September 2nd, following details of the software top thirty. Mirroring a slow week of sales in the software charts, hardware sales in Japan have continued to record a seasonal low. Nintendo DS sales fell below 100,000 for the first time this year, down by over 6,000 units to 94,339 in total. Though the two Nintendo hardware platforms still dominate, Wii hardware sales dropped by almost 7,000 units to just 39,371 - also a recent low for the format. While there are few new titles to stimulate demand at the moment, Western analysts, including Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter, have suggested that hardware stock is currently being diverted to the West - particularly for the North American launch of Metroid Prime 3. Nintendo has failed to confirm or deny any such actions. Hardware sales for other formats are also at a low ebb, with the PSP falling by almost 4,000 units to 22,196. However, the PlayStation 3 saw an increase in sales of over 1,500 units to 18,068 – helped by the success of Koei’s Bladestorm at number two in the software charts. The PlayStation 2 was down by around 800 units to 14,280. Finally, Xbox 360 sales fell to below 2,000 units for the first time in several months, down by around 400 units to 1,635, the Game Boy Advance family of consoles fell to 474 units sold, and the GameCube dipped to just 73 units.