Big in Japan March 28 - April 3: PSP reclaims lead from 3DS

When the 3DS launched in Japan February 26, it instantly shot to the top of the hardware sales charts, ending the PSP's run of five straight weeks as the country's best-selling system. Tracking firm Media Create today released its sales figures for the week of March 21-27, revealing that Sony's handheld has retaken the hardware sales crown after five weeks of trailing Nintendo's newest portable.

The PSP sold 57,379 systems for the week, opening up a significant lead over the 3DS's 42,979 systems sold. The week before, both handhelds moved just under 51,000 units. On the console front, the PlayStation 3 was easily the best-selling home system with 27,453 sold, while the Wii continued to roll along with 10,249 sold for the week. The Xbox 360 brought up the rear in the console space, with its 1,789 units sold falling short of the PlayStation 2's mark of 1,996 sold.

Square Enix claimed the best-selling software for the third time in five weeks, with a different title each time. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 Professional, which adds a slew of new monsters to last year's creature-training role-playing game, took the top spot in its debut week with 163,008 copies sold. The other two recent chart-toppers from Square Enix, Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection and Dissidia 012: Duodecim Final Fantasy, finished third and eighth, respectively.

Other notable entries on the software chart include Arc System Works' latest iteration of its current fighting franchise, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II. In its first week on sale, the PSP fighter finished fifth on the chart with 23,808 sold. With Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle and Nintendogs + Cats finally dropping out of the top 10, the 3DS was left with a single representative on the chart, Namco Bandai's just-released baseball game Pro Yakyuu Famista 2011.

JAPAN GAME SALES WEEK OF MARCH 28 - APRIL 3, 2011
Software:
Rank / Title / Publisher / Platform / Unit sales
1. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 Professional / Square Enix / DS / 163,008
2. EbiKore + Amagami / Kadokawa Shoten / PSP / 69,221
3. Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection / Square Enix / PSP / 31,382
4. Dynasty Warriors 7 / Koei Tecmo / PS3 / 26,493
5. BlazBlue Continuum Shift II / Arc System Works / PSP / 23,808
6. EbiKore + Amagami / Kadokawa Shoten / PS2 / 17,261
7. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd / Capcom / PSP / 15,864
8. Dissidia 012: Duodecim Final Fantasy / Square Enix / PSP / 15,223
9. Pro Yakyuu Famista 2011 / Namco Bandai / 3DS / 12,851
10. Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity / Sega / PSP / 12,002

Hardware:
PSP - 57,379
3DS - 42,979
PS3 - 27,453
Wii - 10,249
DSi LL - 9,706
DSi - 9,566
PS2 - 1,996
Xbox 360 - 1,789
PSP Go - 696
DS Lite - 629