Japan Charts: Shadow of the Colossus goes in at number one

Sony's Shadow of the Colossus, the long-awaited second project from the team behind cult classic PS2 title ICO, has sold over 140,000 units in its first week at retail and gone straight in at number one in the Japanese charts.

The game, which has also been reviewed exceptionally strongly both in Japan and in North America, sold through almost 80 per cent of shipped units in the first two days, and is widely expected to match or exceed the 209,000 units of ICO which sold in Japan.

However, in Europe - where ICO is also considered a classic title but was not a commercial success - Shadow of the Colossus is not scheduled for release until early next year.

Looking further down the Japanese chart, three other new releases made it into the top ten ranking this week, with Nintendo's UK-developed Batallion Wars title on the Cube in at number three, followed by two PS2 titles - Bandai's Ultraman Fighting Evolution Rebirth (based on the long-running TV series Ultraman) and Bandai's Eureka Seven TR1: New Wave (based on the recent anime series).

DS software continued to sell strongly as well, with puzzle title Pokemon Torouze holding firm at number two in the ranking, while Nintendo's pair of Brain Training titles - DS Training for Adults and Gentle Brain Exercises - are both still in the chart, at numbers eight and nine respectively.

Indeed, the DS continues to be Japan's top-selling console as well, with the handheld garnering a massive 40 per cent of the market this week, compared to 24 per cent for the PlayStation Portable and 19 per cent for the PlayStation 2.

The Game Boy Micro, however, continues to see a slide in sales after a strong launch back in September, and this week saw its market share down to under 10 per cent for the first time - with the combined market share of all three Game Boy Advance variants sliding to below 16 per cent.