PSP thumps competition in Japan

Monster Hunter fever continues to grip Japan as both game and PSP dominate their respective charts.

The Sony handheld sold 121,000 units this week, the figure slightly down from last week but still more than double that pertaining to its nearest competitor, the Nintendo DS.

Sony also celebrated its flagship PS3 console passing 2 million units in the region. Otherwise the hardware charts were largely unchanged i.e. Xbox 360 still in bin.

In software land, Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G sold a massive 488,000 copies for the week, taking its total to over 1.5 million since its launch on 27th March.

Fresh release Warriors Orochi: The Evil King Returns sold 230,000 units on PS2 to take second, and Star Ocean 2: Second Evolution sold 91,000 units on PSP to claim third.

In fourth and fifth were the PS2 and PS3 versions of Pro Baseball Spirits 5, respectively, combining to sell 140,000 copies.

These strong sales meant Sony platforms accounted for nearly 1 million software sales in the Top Ten, while Nintendo commanded just over 180,00.

Still, Nintendo got its own back lower down the chart.

The charts, courtesy of Media Create: