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Big in Japan Apr. 26-May 2: Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2

Square Enix's critter-capture RPG outsells Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker during both games' debut week; PSP cruises into top hardware slot.

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In Japan, there are few games that can trump the popularity of Konami and Kojima Productions' Metal Gear franchise. As it would turn out, Square Enix's Dragon Quest franchise happens to be one of them. Media Create reports this week that Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 for the DS debuted atop its sales charts for the week of April 26-May 2 with 623,643 units sold. That tally gave it a wide margin over Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker's still-substantial 434,366 unit performance.

Not even a gaggle of Snakes could stand up to Dragon Quest.
Not even a gaggle of Snakes could stand up to Dragon Quest.

The other top debut in Japan this week was Capcom's Super Street Fighter IV. An expanded edition of 2009's hit fighter, Super Street Fighter IV on the PlayStation 3 finished third on Media Create's chart with 80,882 units while the Xbox 360 version sold an additional 28,454 copies. Sandwiched between the two versions of Capcom's fighter, and rounding out the top five, was Nintendo's stalwart platformer New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which sold 44,593 units.

Takara Tomy's mouthful Katekyoo Hitman Reborn! DS Fate of Heat III - Yuki no Shugosha Raishuu! represented the final debut of the week, selling 24,050 units to secure an eighth-place finish. The game just outpaced last week's top performer, Nier Replicant on the PS3, which fell to ninth after selling just 20,889 units in its second week.

Peace Walker may not have been the top performer, but it appears to have lifted PSP sales to 59,315 units. The PS3's 32,874-unit haul managed to just outdo the Wii's 30,757 tally, while the DSi LL and DSi combined to sell 41,197 units. The Xbox 360 gained a slot on the chart, finishing just above the DS Lite with 4,943 units sold.

JAPAN GAME SALES WEEK OF APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2010
Software:
Rank / Title / Publisher / Platform / Unit sales
1) Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 / Square Enix / DS / 623,643
2) Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker / Konami / PSP / 434,366
3) Super Street Fighter IV / Capcom / PS3 / 80,882
4) New Super Mario Bros. Wii / Nintendo / Wii / 44,593
5) Super Street Fighter IV / Capcom / X360 / 28,454
6) Mario Kart Wii / Nintendo / Wii / 28,152
7) Tomodachi Collection / Nintendo / DS / 26,787
8) Katekyoo Hitman Reborn! DS Fate of Heat III - Yuki no Shugosha Raishuu! / Takara Tomy / DS / 24,050
9) Nier Replicant / Square Enix / PS3 / 20,889
10) Wii Fit Plus / Nintendo / WII / 19,690

Hardware:
PSP - 59,315
PS3 - 32,874
Wii - 30,757
DSi LL - 25,569
DSi - 15,628
Xbox 360 - 4,943
DS Lite - 4,068
PSP Go - 1,890
PS2 - 1,577

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