As expected, the latest addition to the hugely popular Dragon Quest franchise shook some life back into the limp Japanese software sales when it launched across Japan this week. Dragon Quest IX: Defenders of the Starry Sky on the DS sold 2.319 million copies in its launch week. Bear in mind that since the game launched on the 11th of July, this massive total was reached in the just two days on sale.

According to Japan Game Charts, the sales of Dragon Quest IX’s are higher than its predecessor, Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King on the PS2 which was released back in 2004. Dragon Quest VIII sold 2.236 million in its opening week and went on to sell 3.5 million units in Japan alone. Analysts predict that based on these figures Dragon Quest IX could go on to reach 5 million units in Japan.

Let’s pause here and think about the effect these incredible DS software sales are going to have on the number of DS units sold this week. Early reports indicate that combined sales of the DS could be as high as 130 000. Although this will be a huge jump from last week’s tally of 54 362 units, it also stands as testament to how huge the install base of the DS is in Japan. Remember that a new red DSi also launched across Japan on the 11th of this month so sales would also have been boosted by this new hardware. Hardware figures will be out tomorrow so be sure to check back then to see the final results.

Back to the software chart now, Wii Sports Resort was knocked down to number 2 after occupying the number 1 spot for the past two weeks. Despite its third week sales being somewhat eclipsed by Dragon Quest IX, Wii Sports Resort still manages to sell an impressive 103 000 copies bringing its life-to-date sales to 617 000.

Tomodachi Collection (Friend Collection) for the DS remains in third with 57 000 copies while Boku no Natsuyasumi 4 for the PSP, now in its second week on the chart, is another non-mover at number 4 with 24 000 copies. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva for the PSP drops to number 5 with 14 000 copies after debuting at number 2 last week.

The continually popular Monster Hunter Portable 2G (Best) is sixth with 14 000 copies while Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 is seventh with 9 000 copies. Wii Fit re-enters the Top 10 at number 8 with 9 000 copies while Pokemon Platinum also reclaims a Top 10 spot at number 9 with 8 000 copies. Sloan and MacHale’s Mysterious Story is at number 10 with 7 000 copies.

Three titles fall out of the Top this week, Ken to Mahou to Gakuen Mono. 2, Atelier Rorona: Alchemist of Arland and Infinite Space drop to numbers 11, 12 and 15 respectively.

Software Chart

• Dragon Quest IX: Defenders of the Starry Sky (Square Enix) - NDS - 2 319 000 (New)
• Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo) - Wii - 103 000
• Tomodachi Collection (Friend Collection) (Nintendo) - NDS - 57 000
• Boku no Natsuyasumi 4 (My Summer Vacation 4): Youth Detective Group in Seto - Me and the Secret Map (SCEI) - PSP - 24 000
• Hatsune Miku: Project Diva (SEGA) - PSP - 14 000
• Monster Hunter Portable 2 G (BEST) (Capcom) - PSP - 14 000
• Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (Square Enix) - NDS - 9 000
• Wii Fit (Nintendo) - Wii - 9 000
• Pokemon Platinum (Pokemon Co.) - NDS - 8 000
• Sloane and MacHale’s Mysterious Story (Level 5) - NDS - 7 000

Source: Media Create