Derby Stallion Leads The Pack In Japanese Charts

After several weeks dominated by a small number of key releases, the Japanese charts have seen a much larger influx of new entries and an overall increase in sales across the board. Many of the titles are peculiar to the Japanese market, led by the first DS iteration of the long running horse racing simulator series Derby Stallion. The game has proven a significant success with first week sales of 148,000 units. A total of three titles this week sold over 100,000 units, all of which are new entries. The second highest, at number two in the charts, is a spin-off from GameCube and PlayStation 2 role-playing game Tales of Symphonia for the Wii. To be subtitled Dawn of the New World in the West, the game sold 137,000 units on its debut. Also new at number three is rhythm action sequel Daigasso! Band Brothers DX for the Nintendo DS. Although the original game was for a time scheduled for release in the West under the title Jam with the Band, it was never released. No announcement has yet been made for the sequel. New at number four is the latest in the long line of Evangelion anime licensed pachinko/pachi-slot simulators from D3 Publisher. The new PlayStation 2 game sold 55,000 units in its first week. Debuting at number five is visual novel Higurashi no Nakukoru ni Kizuna: Dai-Ichi-Kan - Tatari from Alchemist. The Nintendo DS title, including an expansive box set, sold 42,000 units. The final new entry in the top ten, at number ten, is an Xbox 360 exclusive Mobile Suit Gundam tie-in, to be known in the West as Mobile Ops: The One Year War. Despite the Xbox 360’s small userbase in Japan the game managed a creditable 28,000 unit sales in its first week. The rest of the top thirty is filled with almost a dozen other new releases, including Capcom’s PlayStation 2 title Sengoku Basara X (a follow-up to what is known in the West as Devil Kings) at number twelve and Bleach: The 3rd Phantom for Nintendo DS (the first in the series not to be developed by Treasure) at number fourteen. 2D beat ‘em-up The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match for PlayStation 2 debuts at number fifteen, the Xbox 360 version of Battlefield: Bad Company at number nineteen, strategy role-paying game Disgaea DS at number twenty and The Tower DS (a Japanese produced variant of SimTower) at number twenty-six.

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