PSP Beats DS In Japanese Weekly Hardware Sales

Market research firm Media Create has revealed data for weekly hardware sales in Japan for the week ending September 16th, following details of the software top thirty. In a turnaround of fortunes that would have seemed impossible even a month ago, the PSP has outsold the Nintendo DS for the first time in over a year. The launch of the PSP Slim and Lite and the release of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII has seen a massive increase in sales of over 79,923 units to a total of 95,487. How many of these units are the new PSP Slim and Lite and how many the original version of the hardware is unclear. Previously even this large increase in sales would not have seen the PSP totally outsell the Nintendo DS, but the Nintendo portable continues to endure unusually low sales. Despite a small increase of 2,501 units it could still manage a total of only 79,989, with no reports of significant stock problems. The Wii is also reported to be relatively easily available in Japan, but has seen sales sink by almost 3,000 units to a new low of 26,181. This coincides with the first week since launch that neither Wii Sports nor Wii Play are in the software top ten. With the other home console formats also poorly represented in the software top ten the PlayStation 2 has seen sales slip by a few hundred to 13,128. The PlayStation 3 has also dropped by a similar amount to 13,101 units for the week. With new entry Warriors Orochi at number thirty-three the only Xbox 360 title in the top fifty, Microsoft's consoles has also remained at a recent low with just 1,243 unit sold. Sales for the Game Boy Advance family of consoles rose by a few hundred to 836 units, while the GameCube was also up slightly to 97 units.