Nintendo’s Mario & Luigi RPG 3 has beaten Capcom’s Street Fighter IV to the top of the Japanese sales charts this week, although both titles are enjoying healthy sales.
The new Nintendo DS game has no confirmed Western release date or name, but is the sequel to Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - all of which in turn are spin-offs from the Super Mario RPG/Paper Mario series. The latest entry in the franchise sold a commanding 193,000 units in its first week.
Amid reports of stock sell-outs in some stores, combined sales of Street Fighter IV totaled 124,000 units, with 86,000 for the PlayStation 3 version at number two and 38,000 for the Xbox 360 at number five. As such the title has become the fastest selling fighting game of recent times in Japan, beating SoulCalibur IV’s combined first week total of 110,000 units.
Namco Bandai’s latest Mobile Suit Gundam anime tie-in is also a new multiplatform release, with the PSP version at number three and the PlayStation 2 version at number four. Here, the difference in sales is more minor, with Sony’s portable leading on 40,000 units and its elder home console on 38,000 units.
Outside the top 10, Nintendo titles are particularly dominant this week, with only two titles in the top 30 not for either the Nintendo DS or Wii. The first is Monster Hunter Freedom Unite for PSP at number 11 and the other is From Software’s new entry Tenchu 4 for the PSP at number 12.
TW
LW
Title
Publisher
Format
Weekly Sales
1
NE
Mario & Luigi RPG 3
Nintendo
DS
193,000
2
NE
Street Fighter IV
Capcom
PS3
86,000
3
NE
Kidou Senshi Gundam: Giren no Yabou - Axis no Kyoui V
Namco Bandai
PSP
40,000
4
NE
Kidou Senshi Gundam: Giren no Yabou - Axis no Kyoui V
Namco Bandai
PS2
38,000
5
NE
Street Fighter IV
Capcom
360
38,000
6
3
World Soccer Winning Eleven 2009
Konami
PSP
27,000
7
4
World Soccer Winning Eleven 2009
Konami
PS2
25,000
8
2
Demon's Souls
Sony
PS3
22,000
9
1
Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2
Namco Bandai
PSP
22,000
10
5
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - Echoes of Time
As for titles article, I think "Japanese Charts: Mario & Luigi Fireball Street Fighter IV " would have made for a more interesting word play, since fireballs exist in both titles.
