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Big in Japan June 14-20: Super Mario Galaxy 2

Nintendo mascot's extraterrestrial exploits score big again; Ghost Trick, Xenoblade, PS3 Grand Theft Auto: Episodes also crack top five as DSi XL easily tops hardware chart.

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While the Japanese sales charts often highlight games and series that are cherished overseas but largely overlooked in the West, they can also underscore just how broad the appeal for other franchises can be. For example, the popularity of Nintendo's Mario is international, and in the case of his latest adventure, intergalactic.

When Mario is really ticked off, he brings out the stardust.
When Mario is really ticked off, he brings out the stardust.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 topped Media Create's Japanese sales charts again for June 14-20, its fourth week of release. While the 52,978 copies it sold over that stretch were a far cry from the nearly 340,000 sold in its debut week, the game still topped the week's charts handily. Super Mario Galaxy 2 more than doubled the sales total of the second-best-selling game, Capcom's supernatural DS adventure game, Ghost Trick.

Mario wasn't the only cross-cultural success of the week. At fifth place, Take-Two Interactive's Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City was the week's best-selling game for a non-Nintendo system. The compilation of formerly Xbox 360-exclusive add-ons for the open-world crime game sold 20,682 copies, just shy of the 20,810 sales posted by Nintendo's Wii role-playing game Xenoblade.

Nintendo was also successful on the hardware front, with the DSi LL (known as the DSi XL internationally) handily besting all systems with 30,183 sold for the week. The PSP was a distant second with 20,929 sold, narrowly edging out a pack of contenders in the Wii, DSi, and PlayStation 3. Sony's other handheld, the PSP Go, continued to flounder, finishing last among all hardware platforms with just 837 units sold.

JAPAN GAME SALES WEEK OF JUNE 14-20, 2010
Software:
Rank / Title / Publisher / Platform / Unit sales
1. Super Mario Galaxy 2 / Nintendo / Wii / 52,978
2. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective / Capcom / DS / 23,977
3. Eigokoro Kyoushitsu DS / Nintendo / DS / 20,949
4. Xenoblade / Nintendo / Wii / 20,810
5. Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City / Take-Two / PS3 / 20,682
6. Tamagotchi no Pichi Pichi Omisecchi / Namco Bandai / DS / 17,401
7. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010: Aoki Samurai no Chousen / Konami / PS3 / 16,055
8. Tomodachi Collection / Nintendo / DS / 13,953
9. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010: Aoki Samurai no Chousen / Konami / PSP / 13,250
10. Hakuouki: Junsouroku / Idea Factory / PS3 / 13,076

Hardware:
DSi LL - 30,183
PSP - 20,929
Wii - 19,045
DSi - 18,214
PS3 - 17,175
DS Lite - 5,126
Xbox 360 - 2,060
PS2 - 1,568
PSP Go - 837

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