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Pokemon Ranger: Hikari no Kiseki and .hack//Link were the two big releases in Japan last week. Pokemon Ranger topped the Media Create charts, outselling .hack nearly three to one.
But .hack may have had the bigger influence on hardware sales. PSP saw a surge over the week to nearly twice its previous week total. With .hack//Link marking the debut for the franchise on the system, the surge may just be due to series' fans picking up the PSP for the first time.
Here's the full top ten software chart for March 1 through March 7.
* 1. Pokemon Ranger Hikari no Kiseki (Nintendo, DS): 161,000
* 2. .hack//Link (Namco Bandai, PSP): 60,000
* 3. Dragon Quest IX Ultimate Hits (Square Enix, DS): 41,000
* 4. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo, Wii): 41,000 (3,452,000)
* 5. Kenka Bancho 4 (Spike, PSP): 37,000 (108,000)
* 6. Friend Collection (Nintendo, DS): 35,000 (2,917,000)
* 7. Nobunaga's Ambition Tendou (Koei, PS3): 33,000
* 8. God Eater (Namco Bandai, PSP): 29,000 (543,000)
* 9. Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo, Wii): 26,000 (1,720,000)
* 10. Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition (Capcom, PS3): 24,000 (215,000)
It's worth noting that neither Pokemon Ranger nor .hack//Link managed to meet the first week totals of past entries in their respective series. In Ranger's case, however, the game was limited to just two days sales due to a Saturday release, so there could be a recovery.
You'll also notice DQIX up in rank 3. That's actually a budget re-release version of the game. Square Enix also released budget versions of DQVI, DQV and DQIV. These all made it into the top 30.
Presumably not performing to expectation were Namco Bandai's Keroro RPG for DS and Sony's Eye of Judgment for PSP. These placed, respectively, at 14 and 50. Keroro RPG in particular is based off a popular anime license and was developed by the studio that makes the Tales RPGs. Tales games usually debut at the top of the sales charts.
In the hardware race, PSP's surge was notable because everything else stayed at the same level as the week prior. When you combine the three DS platforms (DSi, DSi LL and DS Lite), DS usually outsells PSP overall. Not this time.
Here's the full hardware chart, with last week's sales in parenthesis:
* PSP: 64,808 (37,338)
* Wii: 33,880 (36,241)
* PS3: 28,824 (27,763)
* DSi LL: 23,611 (24,605)
* DSi: 15,017 (15,586)
* DS Lite: 4,316 (5,029)
* Xbox 360: 2,794 (2,510)
* PS2: 1,839 (1,912)
* PSP go: 1,275 (1,296)
source
As a hardcore .hack fan, I have little hope for this link series while at the same time a high hope. Glad to see others are keeping their hopes high for this new and last of the .hack series.
But .hack may have had the bigger influence on hardware sales. PSP saw a surge over the week to nearly twice its previous week total. With .hack//Link marking the debut for the franchise on the system, the surge may just be due to series' fans picking up the PSP for the first time.
Here's the full top ten software chart for March 1 through March 7.
* 1. Pokemon Ranger Hikari no Kiseki (Nintendo, DS): 161,000
* 2. .hack//Link (Namco Bandai, PSP): 60,000
* 3. Dragon Quest IX Ultimate Hits (Square Enix, DS): 41,000
* 4. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo, Wii): 41,000 (3,452,000)
* 5. Kenka Bancho 4 (Spike, PSP): 37,000 (108,000)
* 6. Friend Collection (Nintendo, DS): 35,000 (2,917,000)
* 7. Nobunaga's Ambition Tendou (Koei, PS3): 33,000
* 8. God Eater (Namco Bandai, PSP): 29,000 (543,000)
* 9. Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo, Wii): 26,000 (1,720,000)
* 10. Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition (Capcom, PS3): 24,000 (215,000)
It's worth noting that neither Pokemon Ranger nor .hack//Link managed to meet the first week totals of past entries in their respective series. In Ranger's case, however, the game was limited to just two days sales due to a Saturday release, so there could be a recovery.
You'll also notice DQIX up in rank 3. That's actually a budget re-release version of the game. Square Enix also released budget versions of DQVI, DQV and DQIV. These all made it into the top 30.
Presumably not performing to expectation were Namco Bandai's Keroro RPG for DS and Sony's Eye of Judgment for PSP. These placed, respectively, at 14 and 50. Keroro RPG in particular is based off a popular anime license and was developed by the studio that makes the Tales RPGs. Tales games usually debut at the top of the sales charts.
In the hardware race, PSP's surge was notable because everything else stayed at the same level as the week prior. When you combine the three DS platforms (DSi, DSi LL and DS Lite), DS usually outsells PSP overall. Not this time.
Here's the full hardware chart, with last week's sales in parenthesis:
* PSP: 64,808 (37,338)
* Wii: 33,880 (36,241)
* PS3: 28,824 (27,763)
* DSi LL: 23,611 (24,605)
* DSi: 15,017 (15,586)
* DS Lite: 4,316 (5,029)
* Xbox 360: 2,794 (2,510)
* PS2: 1,839 (1,912)
* PSP go: 1,275 (1,296)
source
As a hardcore .hack fan, I have little hope for this link series while at the same time a high hope. Glad to see others are keeping their hopes high for this new and last of the .hack series.
