Japan Charts: Market picks up as new PS2 titles launch

A trio of new PlayStation 2 titles debuted at the top of the Japanese software charts last week, led by Success' RPG Metal Saga: Sajin no Kusari which topped the ranking with around 63,000 sales.

Spike's adventure title Kenka Bancho took second place in the chart, followed by Banpresdo's sports simulation Soccer Life 2 - pushing last week's number one, unusual DS "non-game" title DS Training for Adults: Work Your Brain down to number four.

The launch of the three new games helped to lift sales significantly from last week's slump, although overall sales remain lower than they were in the same period last year as the seasonal drop in sales continues to hit more heavily than previously.

Three other new titles make it into the top ten ranking, with Marvelous Interactive's anime-licensed GBA game Magister Negi Magi: Private Lesson Library Island at number five, the PS2 version of Capcom's Cube title Killer 7 at number eight, and WellMADE's PS2 dating game Shoujo Yoshitsune Den 2 at number ten.

In hardware terms, Nintendo's DS continues to be the best selling console on the market, building its lead with almost 35 per cent market share this week compared to 23 per cent for the PlayStation Portable and 30 per cent for the PlayStation 2.