Vita Knocks 3DS Down to Second in Japan

Nintendolife

It's Japanese charts time and, to the astonishment of the world, the Gods and all creatures of the Universe, the 3DS is only the second highest selling system in Nintendo's homeland. Sony's PS Vita, combining last week's price drop and this week's release of Soul Sacrifice (as well as, to a lesser extent, Tales of Hearts R) has sneakily seized top spot.

To give some context, Soul Sacrifice has commonly been described as Sony's answer to Capcom's phenomenally successful — in Japan at least — Monster Hunter franchise, with rumour mills going around to suggest that development was pushed ahead as a reaction to the 3DS nabbing Monster Hunter 3 G — that's Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate to us — and this summer's Monster Hunter 4. Soul Sacrifice does go for an approach that uses magic a great deal, along with more mythical beasts and environments, yet there are undoubtedly similarities that give the "Sony's Monster Hunter" tag a little credence. Combining both versions of the Vita-exclusive brings week one sales of 114,000; for comparison, Monster Hunter 3 G sold 471,055 copies in its first two days on sale. The "Best Price" version of that title — given its own listing and separate lifetime sales — is still just about hanging on in the software top 20.

1. [PS3] Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F – 110,229 (New)
2. [PSV] Soul Sacrifice – 92,396 (New)
3. [PSP] Uta no Prince-sama All Star – 67,217 (New)
4. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf – 63,285 (2,802,940)
5. [PSV] Tales of Hearts R – 55,258 (New)
6. [PS3] Dynasty Warriors 8 – 46,866 (250,090)
7. [PS3] Far Cry 3 – 33,281 (New)
8. [3DS] Professor Layton and the Azran Legacies – 30,078 (160,764)
9. [3DS] Dragon Quest VII: Warriors of Eden – 24,045 (1,159,265)
10. [PSV] Soul Sacrifice Double Pack – 22,050 (New)
11. [3DS] Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission – 21,915 (110,302)
12. [PS3] Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance – 17,138 (111,461)
13. [PSV] Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus – 17,138 (111,461)
14. [3DS] Doraemon: Nobita to Himitsu Dougu Hakubutsukan – 12,768 (New)
15. [PSV] Phantasy Star Online 2 – 10,031 (71,258)
16. [PS3] Crysis 3 – 9,602 (New)
17. [PS3] Macross 30: Ginga o Tsunagu Utagoe – 9,294 (72,383)
18. [PSP] Shining Ark – 9,161 (63,999)
19. [3DS] New Super Mario Bros. 2 – 8,452 (1,950,816)
20. [3DS] Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Best Price!) – 8,096 (252,737)

And so to the hardware results. 3DS saw sales of both units dip this week, not helped by the absence of high profile new releases; Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon spooks Japan on 20th March. Even combining the two SKUs sees 3DS fall just behind Vita, while as expected Wii U remained at its usual level as it awaits new releases in the coming weeks; last week's sales are in parenthesis.

PlayStation Vita – 63,581 (62,543)
3DS LL – 39,801 (50,265)
3DS – 21,207 (27,174)
PlayStation 3 – 19,567 (25,725)
PSP – 18,023 (11,171)
Wii U – 9,454 (10,021)
Wii – 1,363 (1,383)
Xbox 360 – 738 (486)

So there you have it, one week when Nintendo didn't win in Japan; we imagine the company is expecting to go back to the top pretty soon.