Third Pokemon Ranger title tops Japanese charts
Portable titles dominate software sales as Dragon Quest IX re-released on budget label
The third entry in the Pokemon Ranger series on Nintendo DS has cruised to an easy victory in the weekly Japanese sales charts, with sales of 161,000 units. Its predecessor sold 193,337 units in its debut.
The second highest new entry of the week, at number two, is Namco Bandai's .hack//Link with 60,000 unit sales. The new title is intended to be the last entry in the cross media franchise but is the first to be released on the PSP.
New at number three is the budget-priced re-release of Square Enix's Dragon Quest IX on DS, which despite record-breaking sales on its original release still managed to sell another 41,000 units. Square Enix also re-released its other Dragon Quest DS titles this week on the same Ultimate Hits budget label, with Dragon Quest V re-entering at number 20 and Dragon Quest IV at number 30.
The final new entry in the top ten is Tecmo Koei's Nobunaga's Ambition: Tendou for PlayStation 3 at number seven. The latest title in the long-running strategy franchise, the game sold 33,000 units in its first week.
The rest of the top ten is made up of the usual evergreen titles, with New Super Mario Bros. Wii still unmoved at number four, Friend Collection down only two places to number eight and Wii Fit Plus unchanged at number nine.
Notable release outside the top ten include From Software's Armored Core: Last Raven Portable on PSP at number 12 and the Xbox 360 version of Bioshock 2 at number 25.
- 01 Pokemon Ranger: Tracks of Light (DS)
- 02 .hack//Link (PSP)
- 03 Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (DS)
- 04 New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
- 05 Kenka Bancho 4: Ichinen Sensou (PSP)
- 06 Friend Collection (DS)
- 07 Nobunaga's Ambition: Tendou (PS3)
- 08 God Eater (PSP)
- 09 Wii Fit Plus (Wii)
- 10 Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition (PS3)