Japan Charts: Massive boost for PS2 sales as slimline model launches

Sony's PlayStation 2 has more than quadrupled its sales in Japan following the launch of the new slimline version of the console, while Nintendo's latest GBA Zelda outing, The Minish Cap, has topped the software ranking.

Sales of the PlayStation 2 reached around 91,000 according to some estimates, representing a huge increase over the 17,000 sales reported in the previous week; while Media Create reports that the console achieved almost 75 per cent share of the Japanese console hardware market last week.

That reversed a strong lead which the Game Boy Advance has had for some months, with the GBA slipping to under 19 per cent market share - while, in a surprising turn of events, the Xbox outsold the GameCube for the first week since its launch, taking 3.24 per cent of the market compared with 3.04 per cent for Nintendo's console.

That reversal of fortunes is largely due to the arrival of Tecmo's latest outing on the platform, online beat 'em up Dead Or Alive Ultimate, with the popular Dead Or Alive series rapidly becoming acknowledged as pretty much the only reason that Japanese consumers ever even look twice at Microsoft's console.

Dead Or Alive Ultimate entered the software ranking at number three this week, the first Xbox title to enter the top ten since Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, and sales of the console were undoubtedly boosted by the availability of a bundle deal featuring an Xbox and a copy of the game.

Topping the chart this week, however, was Nintendo's Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, the latest GBA outing for the classic series which sold around 97,000 units to take the top spot in the ranking, just ahead of Sega's PS2 RPG Shining Tears at number two.

Two more PS2 titles also debuted in the ranking this week, with Sony's own Arc The Lad: Generation in at number five and Asmik Ace's Dokapon The World at number seven, although none of the new releases managed the kind of figures achieved by Mario Tennis GC last week, and the market overall dropped by about 10 per cent week on week.