Yakuza 4 has debuted at number 1 on the Media Create Japanese software charts for the week of March 15 - 21, 2010 with a whopping 384,000 copies. The PS3 exclusive just managed to beat the opening sales for its predecessor, Yakuza 3, which sold 372,301 copies.

Gundam: Assault Survive for the PSP is also new at number 2, scoring slightly less sales of 91,000 copies while Pokemon Ranger: Tracks of Light for the DS, falls to third with 49,000 copies after a number of weeks spent in the number 1 spot.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii drops one place to number 4 with 37,000 copies while Friend Collection slips three places to fifth with 35,000 copies. Dynasty Warriors for the PSP is at number 6 with 19,000 copies and Wii Fit Plus climbs three spots to number 7 with 19,000 copies.

Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman for the PSP drops to number 8 with 18,000 copies after debuting in fourth last week, while Dragon Quest IX for the DS remains at number 9 with 15,000 copies sold this week. God Eater for the PSP re-enters the Top 10, selling 15,000 copies to earn tenth place. It’s interesting to see that God of War Collection for the PS3 debuts at number 13.

Software Chart

1. Yakuza 4: Densetsu o Tsugumono (Sega) - PS3 - 384 000 (New)
2. Gundam: Assault Survive (Namco Bandai) - PSP - 91 000 (New)
3. Pokemon Ranger: Tracks of Light (Pokemon Co.) - NDS - 49 000
4. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo) - Wii - 37 000
5. Friend Collection (Nintendo) - NDS - 35 000
6. Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce 2 (Koei) - PSP - 19 000
7. Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo) - Wii - 19 000
8. Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! 3D (SCE) - PSP - 18 000
9. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (Ultimate Hits) (Square Enix) - NDS - 15 000
10. God Eater (Namco Bandai) - PSP - 15 000

Source: Media Create

More after the break.. 

Japanese Software charts continued.. Hardware data to be found below.

11. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (the Best) (PSP)
12. Crayon Shin-Chan: Obaka Daininden - Susume! Kasukabe Ninja Tai! (DS)
13. God of War Collection (PS3)
14. Nobunaga no Yabou Tendou (PS3)
15. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PS3)
16. Kenka Bancho 4 (PSP)
17. Wii Sports Resort (Wii)
18. Nettou! Powerful Koushien (DS)
19. Hakuoki DS (DS)
20. Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition (PS3)
21. Dragon Quest VI (DS)
22. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS)
23. .hack//LINK (PSP)
24. New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
25. Zettai Hero Kaizou Keikaku (PSP)
26. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
27. Everyone's Tennis Portable (PSP)
28. Fushigi no Dungeon: Fuurai no Shiren 4 - Kami no Hitomi to Akuma no Heso (DS)
29. Pokemon HeartGold / SoulSilver (DS)
30. Inazuma Eleven 2: Fire / Blizzard (DS)

With a little help from Kazuma Kiryu, the PlayStation 3 manages to leapfrog ahead of the Wii this week in the Japanese Hardware Charts (15th - 21st March 2010, courtesy Media Create). Of course, we say 'a little', because a lot of the attention surrounded the TV recording device Torne.

1. PS3: 50,164 (26,481)
2. PSP: 38,017 (39,125)
3. Wii: 31,101 (31,460)
4. DSi LL: 20,765 (21,604)
5. DSi: 14,256 (13,581)
6. DS Lite: 3,953 (3,920)
7. 360: 2,419 (2,668)
8. PS2: 1,711 (1,825)
9. PSP Go: 1,491 (1,191)

(Previous week's unit sales in brackets for comparison)

Oddly enough, the only other platform to see a sales increase this week was the floundering PSP Go, which managed to better its last number by 300 units. I guess the poor little thing was due a break one of these days.

It's a drop in sales for everything else though, with the lure of Gundam not pushing enough people to buy a PSP 3000 and Wii sales maintaining the 31,000 mark. Nintendo's announcement of a 3DS perhaps could not have come at a better time for its handheld platform, with the DS family appearing to have hit its peak some time ago.