Japanese video game fans caught a new strain of Pokemon fever this week with the release of the unlikely Nintendo DS game, Battle & Get! Pokemon Typing DS. The Nintendo game that comes bundled with a keyboard for the DS was Japan’s bestselling game. Take that, Mavis Beacon!
On the software side, it was a good week for the Nintendo DS with Pokemon Typing and Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 Professional securing the top two spots, according to sales tracker Media Create. New top ten debuts included the Japanese release of SOCOM 4 for the PlayStation 3 and Otomedius X for the Xbox 360.
There was less good news for Nintendo 3DS software, which is slowly creeping out of Media Create’s top 20 list. Here’s that list from the week of April 18 to 24.
01. Battle & Get! Pokemon Typing DS (DS) – 59,363 / NEW
02. Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 Professional (DS) – 45,397 / 337,166
03. Dai-2-Ji Super Robot Taisen Z Hakai-hen (PSP) – 44,973 / 351,992
04. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 2011 (PSP) – 27,931 / 99,195
05. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 2011 (PS3) – 24,365 / 110,851
06. Detective Conan: Aoki Houseki no Rinbukyoku (DS) – 19,786 / NEW
07. GachiTora! Abarenbou Kyoushi in High School (PSP) – 13,560 / NEW
08. SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs (PS3) – 12,613 / NEW
09. Pilotwings Resort (3DS) – 10,675 / 37,228
10. Otomedius X (Xbox 360) – 10,502 / NEW
11. Persona 2: Tsumi (PSP)
12. Monster Hunter Frontier Online – Forward.1 Premium Package (Xbox 360)
13. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (PSP)
14. Original Story from Fairy Tail: Gekitotsu! Kardia Daiseidou (DS)
15. Earth Defense Force 2 Portable (PSP)
16. Clannad (PS3)
17. Final Fantasy IV: Complete Collection (PSP)
18. Amagami (EBKore+) (PSP)
19. Wii Party (Wii)
20. nintendogs + cats (3DS)
On the hardware side, the clear winner this week is the PSP which more than doubled sales of its closest competitor, the Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo’s new handheld is close to being overtaken by PlayStation 3 hardware by the looks of things, now that 3DS software is hitting a brief dry spell in Japan.
Who wants to place bets on when the PSPgo and DS Lite get dropped from Media Create’s hardware chart?
PSP – 49,162
Nintendo 3DS – 23,038
PlayStation 3 – 19,033
Wii – 7,866
Nintendo DSi LL – 7,064
Nintendo DSi – 6,214
Xbox 360 – 1,891
PlayStation 2 – 1,163
Nintendo DS Lite – 283
PSP go – 265
