Japan Charts: Bandai's Tamagotchi DS title tops the charts

Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop, Bandai's new Nintendo DS title based on the popular virtual pet franchise, has continued to sell strongly in its second week on sale in Japan, taking the top spot in this week's chart.

The game, which rather curiously sees the player and his or her pet Tamagotchi opening and running a corner shop, has clearly struck a chord with a segment of the Japanese gaming population - coming in strongly ahead of Koei's rather more traditional PS2 title Dynasty Warriors 5: Mosho Den at number two.

Three new games made it into the ranking this week, with Konami's new PS2 strategy title Rhapsodia selling around 42,000 units to make it in at number four, while Bandai's anime-based PSP action game Gundam Battle Tactics (yes, it's an action game, not a tactics game) was at number six, and another anime licensed title, Koei's PS2 adventure Harukanaru Toki No Naka De 3: Izayoiki slipped in at number ten.

There were three DS titles in the top ten, with DS Training for Adults: Work Your Brain and Gentle Brain Exercises both joining Tamagotchi Connection in the ranking, at numbers five and nine respectively, and two PSP titles - with Konami's Winning Eleven 9 on the platform coming in just behind Gundam Battle Tactics at number seven.

Nintendo also saw continued success with the Famicom Mini 20th Anniversary edition of Super Mario Bros, which held on at number three in the ranking, while the Game Boy Micro is also still doing well - selling 47,000 units of hardware in its second week on sale.

Looking more closely at hardware, the Nintendo DS was top dog again this week, taking just over 33 per cent of the market, while the Game Boy Advance - counting all three compatible versions - had just shy of 29 per cent share.

The PlayStation Portable was in third place with nearly 25 per cent market share, while the PlayStation 2 is being thoroughly outclassed by the new handhelds at last - managing just 12 per cent market share last week, probably one of the lowest showings for the console since its launch.