Zelda Pushes 3DS On Top In Weekly Japanese Charts

Nintendo's 3DS is back on top in Japan's weekly hardware sales charts for the first time in nine weeks, thanks to a boost from the release of Nintendo's high-profile The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. According to numbers provided by tracking firm Media Create (as translated on NeoGAF), the 3DS sold 40,649 units for the week ending June 19, beating out the PSP's 31,796. Zelda was the second-best selling game of the week, pushing a healthy 164,110 units for Nintendo. The last time the 3DS topped the charts was during the week ending April 17th. The release of Nintendo's Pilotwings Resort may have boosted sales a bit at the time, but the more likely reason was a shortage of PSPs on store shelves, which caused its sales to dip dramatically. Despite being in second place, the PSP did see a boost during the week, thanks to an anime tie-in called Little Battler Experience being released by Professor Layton publisher Level-5. That game topped the charts at 166,187 copies sold, and is among the strongest debuts for a new IP from the company as a publisher (only the Studio Ghibli collaboration Ninokuni had a stronger debut). Sales for the remaining hardware types remain flat, with the Xbox 360 continuing to struggle while both the Wii and the DS continue their decline as Nintendo begins phasing out support in favor of their new consoles. Rounding out the software top five were Sega's Yakuza: Of The End for the PSP at number 3 with 53,755 copies sold, 5pb's visual novel sequel Steins;Gate: Hiyoku Renri no Darling for the Xbox 360 at number 4 with 31,666 copies, and a double pack containing the Steins;Gate sequel and its predecessor at number 5 with 11,041 sold. The full hardware chart follows.