Assassin's Creed scrapes Japan top ten

The latest instalment in Ubisoft's blockbuster franchise, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, has managed a top ten placing in a busy week for the Japanese software sales chart, according to the latest data from Media Create.

It sold just over 36,000 PlayStation 3 units in the region, giving it tenth place overall, and was one of three new entries making the list for sales recorded in the week ending December 12.

Topping the chart once again was Capcom's Monster Hunter Freedom 3 for the PlayStation Portable, selling just shy of 630,000 copies and taking it's total past the 2.5 million mark already.

The other two new entries were Ni no Kuni: The Ebony Wizard on the Nintendo DS in second, selling 170,000 units and Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Wii, with 163,000 unit sales.

Meanwhile PSP hardware sales were still strong, thanks to Monster Hunter's popularity, but down on the previous week's huge numbers to just under 160,000 units, followed by the DS on 119,000 and the Wii with 79,000.

The complete top ten software sales chart:

• 1. Monster Hunter Freedom 3 (Capcom, PSP): 629,541
• 2. Ni no Kuni: The Ebony Wizard (Level 5, DS): 170,548
• 3. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Nintendo, Wii): 163,310
• 4. Pokemon Black / White (Pokemon Co, DS): 79,819
• 5. Mario Sports Mix (Nintendo, Wii): 68,430
• 6. Wii Party (Nintendo, Wii): 55,412
• 7. Super Mario All-Stars (Nintendo, Wii): 53,670
• 8. Mario vs Donkey Kong: Miniland Mayhem (Nintendo, DS): 51,828
• 9. Tales of Graces F (Namco Bandai, PS3): 39,640
• 10. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft, PS3): 36,098

The hardware sales unit numbers:

• 1. PlayStation Portable: 159,933
• 2. Nintendo DS: 119,011
• 3. Nintendo Wii: 79,424
• 4. PlayStation 3: 41,882
• 5. Xbox 360: 3695
• 6. PlayStation 2: 2054