Atlus’ Persona 4 for the PS2 debuted at the top of the Japanese software chart with an impressive 193 000 copies. Wonder if Persona 4 will do as well when it is released across North America in December.

Nintendo’s Wii Fit moves up two places to number 2 with 30 000 copies while Nintendo’s Densetsu no Starfi Taketsu for the DS entered the charts at number 3 with 29 000 copies.

Nintendo’s Mario Kart Wii climbs two places to number 4 with 25 000 copies and Daigasso Band Brothers DX, another DS game published by Nintendo, drops from last week’s number 1 to fifth place in its third week with 23 000 copies.

Capcom’s Biohazard Zero for the Wii debuts at number 6 with 21 000 copies. Biohazard Zero is a port of the 2002 GameCube version, the fifth game in the popular series known as Resident Evil in the West. To date Capcom US has declined offers to bring the game to the West after gamers reacted adversely to Capcom of Japan’s announcement that they would be porting the GameCube version to the Wii.

Now in its third week Enterbrain’s Derby Stallion DS drops four places to number 7 with 20 000 copies and Konami’s Hanayori Danshi: Koi Seyo Onago for the DS debuts at number 8 with 20 000 copies.

Namco Bandai’s Gegege no Kitarou: Youkai Daigekisen for the DS enters the charts at number 9 with 16 000 copies and Capcom’s Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G for the PSP hangs on to tenth place with 16 000 copies. Wii Fit is now well ahead of MHP2G in terms of life-to-date sales, Wii Fit now stands at 2.353 million while MHP2G lags with 2.277 million copies.

With five new entries this week, let’s take a closer look at which titles dropped out of the Top 10 this week. Sega’s Initial D Extreme Stage for the PS3 is at number 14 losing quite a few sales after debuting at number 2 last week. Square Enix’ Nanashi no Game for the DS was at number 5 last week, Namco Bandai’s Tales of Symphonia Dawn of a New World for the Wii was at number 7 and Nintendo’s Super Mario Stadium Family Baseball for the Wii at number 8. Last week’s number 9, Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot, drops to number 15.

Looking ahead

I am wondering if Persona 4’s debut at number 1 will cause a bump in the PS2’s hardware sales tomorrow or whether gamers purchasing this software already own Sony’s previous-gen console.

Nintendo dominated the software side of things this week boasting eight games in the Top 10, three Wii titles and five DS titles (of which five were self-published). Sony claimed the remaining two Top 10 spots with one PS2 and one PSP title. Will this dominance impact on the DS and Wii hardware sales for this week?

The DS has beaten the Wii in terms of hardware sales in Japan for the past few weeks. However, the really interesting battle has been for chart dominance between the DS and PSP. The PSP sold 58 861 units for the week ending the 29th of June, while the DS sold 48 884 units – a difference of 9 977 units. Yet the difference between the two handheld consoles had narrowed to 8 984 units for the week ending the 6th of July with the PSP shifting 56 439 units and the DS 47 455 units.

Hardware sales are released tomorrow. Stay tuned for in-depth coverage or head over to last week’s software sales.

Source: Media Create