After two straight weeks of drastically improved PlayStation Vita sales in Japan — one of which included the impressive accomplishment of besting the 3DS in total weekly sales for the first time ever — Sony’s late February price cut appears to be losing some of its momentum. Sales of Sony’s latest handheld fell from 63K to 36K for the week ending March 17, 2013, which was more than enough to push the Vita down into second place behind 69.4K units for Nintendo’s 3DS (up from 61K in the prior week).
The drop in Vita hardware sales was also reflected in Media Create’s weekly software chart, as the handheld went from five titles ranking in the top 20 during the prior period to just three titles last week. Sony’s Soul Sacrifice remained the Vita’s top selling game at retailers, coming in at #5 with 29K copies sold (down from its #2 debut in the previous week).
After the 3DS and PS Vita, Sony’s PlayStation 3 landed in third place on the hardware charts with 20.6K units sold (up slightly from 19.5K), followed by the PSP with 12.7K units (down from 18K). Nintendo’s Wii U maintained a very familiar fifth place finish with 9.5K units sold (up from 9.4K), and the Wii and Xbox 360 brought up the rear with 1.3K and 543 units respectively.
Nintendo’s 3DS handheld and Sony’s PlayStation 3 console each claimed 8 titles in the top 20 chart, and the PSP picked up the remaining top spot with the debut of Namco Bandai’s Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment. Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix for the PS3 landed in third, followed by Super Robot Wars UX and Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the 3DS in third and fourth.
For the week ending March 17, 2013, Media Create’s top 20 video game sales in Japan were as follows:
01./00. [PSP] Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment # (Bandai Namco Games) {2013.03.14} (¥6.280) – 138.180 / NEW
02./00. [PS3] Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX (Square Enix) {2013.03.14} (¥6.980) – 128.414 / NEW
03./00. [3DS] Super Robot Wars UX # (Bandai Namco Games) {2013.03.14} (¥7.140) – 115.384 / NEW
04./04. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf # (Nintendo) {2012.11.08} (¥4.800) – 58.578 / 2.861.517
05./02. [PSV] Soul Sacrifice # (Sony Computer Entertainment) {2013.03.07} (¥5.980) – 29.121 / 121.517
06./01. [PS3] Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f (Sega) {2013.03.07} (¥7.329) – 26.248 / 136.477
07./06. [PS3] Dynasty Warriors 8 # (Koei Tecmo) {2013.02.28} (¥7.560) – 22.122 / 272.211
08./00. [PS3] God of War: Ascension # (Sony Computer Entertainment) {2013.03.14} (¥5.980) – 19.744 / NEW
09./08. [3DS] Professor Layton and the Legacy of Civilization A (Level 5) {2013.02.28} (¥5.500) – 14.976 / 175.740
10./09. [3DS] Dragon Quest VII: Fighters of Eden (Square Enix) {2013.02.07} (¥6.090) – 14.813 / 1.174.077
11./07. [PS3] Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft) {2013.03.07} (¥7.770) – 14.772 / 48.054
12./00. [PS3] Darkstalkers Resurrection (Capcom) {2013.03.14} (¥2.990) – 11.591 / NEW
13./11. [3DS] Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission (Bandai Namco Games) {2013.02.28} (¥5.800) – 11.396 / 121.698
14./19. [3DS] New Super Mario Bros. 2 # (Nintendo) {2012.07.28} (¥4.800) – 8.747 / 1.959.564
15./05. [PSV] Tales of Hearts R # (Bandai Namco Games) {2013.03.07} (¥6.480) – 8.409 / 63.668
16./14. [3DS] Doraemon: Nobita to Himitsu Dougu Hakubutsukan (FuRyu) {2013.03.07} (¥5.229) – 8.267 / 21.035
17./12. [PS3] Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance # (Konami) {2013.02.21} (¥6.980) – 7.544 / 394.452
18./00. [PS3] Winning Post 7 2013 (Koei Tecmo) {2013.03.14} (¥7.560) – 7.143 / NEW
19./20. [3DS] Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Best Price!) (Capcom) {2012.11.15} (¥3.800) – 7.098 / 259.835
20./13. [PSV] Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus: Otome Shoujotachi no Shoumei # (Marvelous AQL) {2013.02.28} (¥6.980) – 6.902 / 118.364
