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Big in Japan Apr. 27-May 3: Persona pumps up PSP

Brendan Sinclair
By Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor

Atlus remake of classic PlayStation role-playing game rules the retail roost as Sony's handheld tops hardware charts for second straight week.

Although it has gained increasing notoriety and acclaim from Western audiences in recent years, the Persona series is the very embodiment of "Big in Japan." The PSP remake of the original Persona role-playing game drove that point home when it debuted at the top of the Media Create Japanese sales charts for the week of April 27 to May 3, leading all comers with 79,200 copies sold.

Spooky!

Spooky!

Persona wasn't the only new release to make the charts that week, given that the top four slots were all taken up by just-launched games. Namco Bandai's Nintendo DS RPG Dragon Ball Kai: Saiyajin Raishuu was a close second with 74,300, trailed by Nintendo's make-your-own-WarioWare-game WarioWare Myself (56,200), and Konami's MLB-licensed baseball game Jikkyou Powerful Major League 2009 for the PlayStation 2 (43,000). Other new releases included Namco Bandai's ToraDora Portable for the PSP (38,400), and a Wii version of Jikkyou Powerful Major League 2009 also managed to squeak into the top 10, rounding out the list with 16,600 in sales.

A few older games also clung to the top of the sales charts for the week. The latest installment in the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series, Pokemon Fushigi no Dungeon: Sora no Tankentai managed to make fifth place with 43,000 sold, followed by Monster Hunter G for the Wii in sixth (40,300) and Monster Hunter Freedom Unite in eighth (26,200). The last catalog release to make the charts was Nintendo's Mario & Luigi RPG 3, which placed ninth with 22,000 sold.

On the hardware front, the PSP once again led all comers with 49,600 sold, but it barely outpaced Nintendo's DSi handheld, which moved 49,100 units for the week. As in previous weeks, Nintendo actually topped Sony's portable hardware sales when the DSi and DS Lite are both taken into account.

Of the home consoles, Sony's PlayStation 3 maintained a similarly narrow edge on the Wii, selling 23,600 systems to the Nintendo product's 21,500. Despite a handful of new releases placing in the charts in recent weeks, Microsoft's Xbox 360 remained locked in the current-generation cellar, selling only 7,300 systems for the week.

Week of April 27-May 3, 2009
Software:
1) Persona (PSP) - 79,200
2) Dragon Ball Kai: Saiyajin Raishuu (DS) - 74,300
3) WarioWare Myself (DS) - 56,200
4) Jikkyou Powerful Major League 2009 (PS2) - 43,000
5) Pokemon Fushigi no Dungeon (DS) - 43,000
6) Monster Hunter G (Wii) - 40,300
7) ToraDora Portable! (PSP) - 38,400
8) Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP) - 26,200
9) Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!! (DS) - 22,000
10) Jikkyou Powerful Major League 2009 (WII) - 16,600

Hardware:
PSP - 49,600
DSi - 49,100
PS3 - 23,600
Wii - 21,500
DS Lite - 7,500
Xbox 360 - 7,300
PS2 - 5,500

Brendan Sinclair
By Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor

Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.

33 comments
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ChidoriBoyU
ChidoriBoyU

this is gonna be the best RPG to ever hit the psp and @uriyasama but not than persona

uriyasama
uriyasama

mario is better than anything sony can offer

fps_d0minat0r
fps_d0minat0r

@ mariokart64fan go and play mario, thats all wii has to offer.

fps_d0minat0r
fps_d0minat0r

PS3 and PSP rule! not that sales really matter, their simply just better lol.

rohail88
rohail88

Its Japan thats helping PS Sales!!!If sales rate in Japan would be like america then PS Consoles would be on top!!!Stupid recession!

ico92
ico92

wow the 360 outsold the ps2 in japan congrats microsoft

ico92
ico92

is the entire world going to implode wow the psp outsold the dsi because of 1 game and the ps3 outsold the wii in japan last month because of one demo that was probaly 10minutes long damn i wonder whats gonna happen when FF13 the full game is actually released.

flyingteddy
flyingteddy

rikufan, i think the point is that the psp has caught up significantly.

Rikufan
Rikufan

for those of you who are saying go psp the dsi and the ds light combined out sold the Psp

Zerabp
Zerabp

@mariokart64fan Since when was it normal for the PS3 to still for the third month straight outsell the Wii? And when you consider that the Dsi sales are half what Nintendo was projecting and you see the bigger picture. While I applaud nintendo on their success this gen I can't see how you can think that falling numbers are a good thing in any way shape or form for your company of choice. I look at these numbers and am personally glad to see relatively high numbers considering Japan's and the rest of the world's numbers. Basically take your fanboyism some place else and let these people celebrate their handheld of choice.

chappy_man
chappy_man

psps on the up and up, cant wait to see it here.

abu_eljod
abu_eljod

Am glad to see that everything seems normal.

mariokart64fan
mariokart64fan

as suspected a 2 month ps3 lead then the sales would go back to normal

mariokart64fan
mariokart64fan

wii is catching the steam again , by a mear margin ps3 lead lol , and those saying go psp , dont forget dslite and ds i combined sales! out did psp , ,

wiidsduelpack
wiidsduelpack

DS sold more software not taking the sales of wii than the psp and ps2. Nintendo software leads in Japan. There were more ds's sold than the psp. PS3 outsold Wii by a close margin. Competition will mean better games for gamers.

rizalariff
rizalariff

Persona! Hope the remake is good.. I'll get it regardless..

lostn
lostn

I hope Persona is a true remake and not a port. It had better have widescreen and higher resolution. Otherwise, I'm very much looking forward to it.

hatieshorrer
hatieshorrer

Thats great for the PSP but I have to say Im surprised to see the DSi doing that well and I own one.

MHN3WB
MHN3WB

I can't wait for Unite to come out. Also this persona game looks fun. I need to find out a little more about it.

CorruptGamerGX
CorruptGamerGX

Another PlayStation Domination week for Sony. Can't wait for the PSP port of Persona this fall.

kono11
kono11

PSP rejoices! The Persona series continues its way to PSP, along with Monster Hunter sequel.

Amnesiac23
Amnesiac23 moderator

I'm looking forware to getting Persona for the PSP. Never got to play the original for the Playstation.

poorisaac
poorisaac

Can't wait to compare this one with the original and see how hilarious the old localization was compared to this one.

cowdrunk
cowdrunk

@ lamprey263 Persona for the psp is going to be awsome (aside from the black guy is now white) but you should know that it doesnt have any of the socializing stuff of 3 and 4

gordos24
gordos24

ps3 is selling better as the wii thats awesome.now please bring the japenese games to the western market

lamprey263
lamprey263

I've only played Persona 3 & 4, but I absolutely loved these games, so I'm gonna try the PSP version when it comes out.

CoolKidX
CoolKidX

haha DBZ is still rollin' baby!

kavadias1981
kavadias1981

Cool, I haven't played a Persona game but I know they are awesome. I would love to pick up the PSP version.

TristanH12
TristanH12

PS3 is really selling kind of well, and Persona as well.

Loucetios
Loucetios

I have a feeling that the current chart isn't gonna change much, the Psp & DSi will switch places occasionally and the Wii might get close or slightly above the Playstation 3 but is gonna be on top most of the time

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