Sonic misses the mark in Japan

Pokemon held strong at the top of the Japanese software chart last week, while another icon of gaming, Sonic the Hedgehog, languished at the opposite end.

Despite favourable scores in Famitsu - 36 for the Wii U version, 34 for 3DS - Sega's Sonic: Lost World struggled to rouse much excitement in Japan. Both versions of the game were released on Thursday October 24, but the 3DS version sold less than 5,000 units before the end of the weekend, leaving it at a lowly 18th place in the charts. The Wii U version, meanwhile, didn't make the top 20 at all.

Indeed, it was a busy week for new releases in Japan, and Sonic was outpaced by five releases without the same sort of brand recognition. The highest new release was Konami's Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2013 on PlayStation 3, which sold almost 84,000 units to finish in second place. However, both the PSP and PS Vita versions sold well enough to place sixth and seventh.

Elsewhere, Grand Theft Auto V continued to perform even three weeks after its release, selling another 50,000 to leave its lifetime sales just shy of 500,000 units.

The software chart is below, with lifetime sales in parentheses:

• 1. [3DS] Pokemon X and Y (Nintendo, 10/12/13) - 229,402 (2,569,124)
• 2. [PS3] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2013 (Konami, 10/24/13) - 83,883 (New)
• 3. [PS3] BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma (Arc System Works, 10/24/13) - 72,464(New)
• 4. [3DS] Monster Hunter 4 (Capcom, 09/14/13) - 68,160 (2,825,377)
• 5. [PS3] Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar Games, 10/10/13) - 50,286 (498,600)
• 6. [PSP] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2013 (Konami, 10/24/13) - 36,002 (New)
• 7. [PSV] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2013 (Konami, 10/24/13) - 24,331 (New)
• 8. [3DS] Sentouchu Densetsu no Shinobi to Survival Battle (Namco Bandai, 10/17/13) - 17,009 (61,574)
• 9. [PSP] Kamigami no Asobi (Broccolu, 10/24/13) - 12,078 (New)
• 10. [PSP] Diabolik Lovers More, Blood (Idea Factory, 10/24/13) - 10,481 (New)
• 11. [PSV] DanganRonpa 1&2 Reload (Spike Chunsoft, 10/10/13) - 10,459 (96,162)
• 12. [PS3] Samurai Warriors 2 with Xtreme Legends & Empires HD Version (Tecmo Koei, 10/24/13) - 6,900 (New)
• 13. [PS3] FIFA 14 (EA, 10/17/13) - 6,085 (32,056)
• 14. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nintendo, 11/08/12) - 5,552 (3,450,853)
• 15. [3DS] Tomodachi Collection: New Life (Nintendo, 04/18/13) - 5,518 (1,479,615)
• 16. [PS3] Sakatsuku Pro Soccer Club wo Tsukurou (Sega, 10/10/13) - 5,241 (90,756)
• 17. [PS3] Tales of Symphonia Chronicles (Namco Bandai, 10/10/13) - 5,186 (93,636)
• 18. [3DS] Sonic: Lost World (Sega, 10/24/13) - 4,919 (New)
• 19. [3DS] Disney Magic Castle: My Happy Life (Namco Bandai, 08/01/13) - 4,869 (301,047)
• 20. [PS3] Beyond: Two Souls (SCE, 10/17/13) - 4,602 (27,083)

The hardware chart is below, with the previous week's sales in parentheses:

• 1. 3DS LL - 69,001 (94,988)
• 2. 3DS - 40,507 (59,590)
• 3. PlayStation Vita - 24,513 (25,763)
• 4. PlayStation 3 - 11,460 (11,643)
• 5. PSP - 3,807 (3,651)
• 6. Wii U - 2,598 (2,999)
• 7. Wii - 742 (806)
• 8. Xbox 360 - 351 (539)

Thanks, Gematsu.