Big in Japan Oct. 19-25: Pokemon, Wii Fit Plus repeat

Nintendo's latest financial report might have been a bit gloomier than the company's investors are used to in recent years, but at least the company is managing to keep its stranglehold on its home market. For the seventh straight week, Nintendo has claimed at least two of the top three chart spots on Media Create's Japanese retail sales charts.

This unfortunate Pokemon appears to have a constantly exploding spine.

For October 19-25, Nintendo actually reprised its performance from the previous week, locking down the top three spots with the same games in the same order. The company's DS hit Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver led all games with 117,972 sold, followed by Wii Fit Plus' 88,197 sold, and the DS game Tomodachi Collection's 52,464 weekly sales.

The next best-seller of the week, Inazuma Eleven 2: Kyoui no Shinryokusha - Fire and Blizzard for the DS, wasn't made by Nintendo, but it showed the same consistency. The Level 5 soccer-themed role-playing game sold 49,238 copies, claiming its fourth straight week on the charts since release, and third in a row at the four spot.

Rune Factory 3 for the DS, was the best-selling new release of the week, selling 41,279 units and leading a field of four strong new releases. Microsoft had a rare Xbox 360 game near the top of the charts with the sixth-place debut of Forza Motorsport 3 (31,818 sold), while EA's footie sim FIFA Soccer 10 dribbled to seventh place with 20,598. The latest addition to Koei's Dynasty Warriors series rounded out the new releases, with Dynasty Warriors 5 Special on the PSP edging its way into 10th place with 18,348 copies sold.

On the hardware front, sales were slightly down almost all the way across the board. The DSi retained its top spot with 42,199 sold, followed by the PSP with 32,865 sold. With the portables claiming the top two spots, Sony's PS3 and its 29,977 sold had to settle for third. The Wii trailed in fourth with sales of 25,917, and the Xbox 360 was a distant fifth (sixth when counting DS Lite sales separately from the DSi) with 4,470 sold.

JAPAN GAME SALES WEEK OF OCTOBER 19-25, 2009
Software:
Rank / Title / Publisher / Platform / Unit sales
1) Pokemon HeartGold and Soul Silver / Nintendo / DS / 117,972
2) Wii Fit Plus / Nintendo / Wii / 88,197
3) Tomodachi Collection / Nintendo / DS / 52,464
4) Inazuma Eleven 2: Kyoui no Shinryokusha - Fire and Blizzard / Level 5 / DS / 49,238
5) Rune Factory 3 / Marvelous / DS / 41,279
6) Forza Motorsport 3 / Microsoft / 360 / 31,818
7) FIFA Soccer 10 / EA / PS3 / 20,598
8) Wii Sports Resort / Nintendo / Wii / 19,262
9) Uncharted 2: Among Thieves / SCE / PS3 / 18,508
10) Dynasty Warriors 5 Special / Koei / PSP / 18,348

Hardware:
DSi - 42,199
PSP - 32,865
PS3 - 29,977
Wii - 25,917
DS Lite - 6,550
Xbox 360 - 4,470
PS2 - 1,951