There are no less than four new games represented on this week's Media Create top ten chart, and that we finally have a PS Vita game on the podium..

PS Vita have rebounded slightly in Japan after week-over-week declines since launch, and the new handheld should send Namco a thank you card for the resurgence, as it was due to Tales of Innocence R’s debut which did it. Over on Media Create's weekly software chart, the Tales game wasn’t the only debut in the top three, as Armored Core V and Resident Evil Revelations took the number one and second place spots, respectively.

This week’s Media Create software chart is a sorry sight, with no title selling more than just over 35K units. As we’ve come to expect, the list is dominated by games for Japan’s most popular system - the 3DS - with Mario Kart 7 staying on top.

There are four new entries on this week’s chart: Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure, Onechanbara Z: Kagura, Heroes Phantasia and Beyond the Labyrinth.

None of them sold particularly well but at least their presence on the chart indicates that the pace of video game releases is once again heating up as we approach February.

The most interesting detail to be gleaned from future Media Create reports is whether PS Vita software will make any sort of impact on the top ten chart. The fact that every PSV title is also available on the PlayStation Store from day one will definitely eat into retail numbers, so we’ll just have to wait and see what kind of chart positions PSV software manages to achieve.

The full top 20 for the week with LtD sales in parentheses is posted below.

It's time for the weekly Japanese Media Create charts. The narrative is about the same as it has been for a while now: 3DS maintains a tight grip on the software chart, while the system is pretty much the only thing selling very sell in the hardware chart.

However, Mario Kart 7 was kept off the top of the chart for the first time in a few weeks by a new Super Robot Wars on PSP. Other notable new releases included Tecmo and Nintendo's Spirit Camera, which had a quiet opening week; and the 3DS debut of Namco Bandai's Ace Combat series, which seems to be finding its feet on a Nintendo platform.

3DS remained Japan's best-selling platform by a long shot during the week ended January 8, 2012.

The system sold close to a quarter of a million units during the seven day period, according to Media Create figures reported by Andriasang.

Its closest competitors, PS3 and PSP, both moved under 75,000 units, while Wii leapt above Vita with just shy of 50,000 sales. Sony's new portable sold almost 43,000 units.

Mario Kart 7 leads the Japanese sales charts as the year wound down.

Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land have become major sellers as 2011 is coming to a close, the latest Japanese Media Create sales data confirms.

From December 19 til December 25, Mario Kart 7 managed to sell 260,836 units for a total of 1,050,706 copies sold since its December 1 debut. Super Mario 3D Land came in third with its 174,566 copies for a total of 1,011,709 units sold.

One of the 3DS's biggest third party titles, Monster Hunter 3G, came in fourth with 155,069 units sold for a total of 885,456 copies sold since its debut. The Wii also saw some strong sales with Kirby's Return to Dream Land selling 114,545 copies, placing it in the sixth position. Right behind it is Just Dance Wii, the localized, Nintendo published version of Ubisoft's popular dancing game. For the week, Just Dance Wii sold 96,771 units.

The last half of the chart was dominated by software on Nintendo hardware. SD Gundam G Generation 3D from Namco Bandai pulled 90,873 copies for the week, followed by Level-5's Inazuma Eleven Go for the 3DS at 86,026 units sold, and last is the Wii game Inazuma Eleven Strikers 2012 Extreme  at 85,117 units sold.

The top twenty list of the best selling games in Japan according to Media Create is as follows:
[3DS] 01. Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo, 12/01) 260,836 (1,050,706)
[PS3] 02. Musou Orochi Z (Tecmo Koei, 12/22) 200,526
[3DS] 03. Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo, 11/03) 174,566 (1,011,709)
[3DS] 04. Monster Hunter 3G (Capcom, 12/10) 155,069 (885,456)
[PS3] 05. Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Square Enix, 12/15) 118,816 (643,033)
[WII] 06. Hoshi no Kirby Wii (Nintendo, 10/27) 114,545 (513,061)
[WII] 07. Just Dance Wii (Nintendo, 10/13) 96,771 (420,064)
[3DS] 08. SD Gundam G Generation 3D (Namco Bandai, 12/22) 90,873
[3DS] 09. Inazuma Eleven Go (Level-5, 12/15) 86,026 (221,285)
[WII] 10. Inazuma Eleven Strikers 2012 Extreme (Level-5, 12/22) 85,117
more after the break...

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword's debut in Japan has topped last week's software sales in the region, while the Nintendo 3DS continues to dominate hardware and move even more units week-over-week.

After spending four days on Japanese retailers' shelves, Nintendo's Skyward Sword for Wii has sold nearly 195,000 copies and is the best-selling game for the November 21-27 period, according to data from tracking firm Media Create, as translated by NeoGAF.

The Sega-published and Imageepoch-developed PSP title 7th Dragon 2020, a sequel to Japan-only DS RPG 7th Dragon, debuted at #2, followed by another newcomer, Dimps and D3 Publisher's PS3 game Saint Seiya Senki (Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle in Europe). Super Mario 3D Land, four weeks after its release, remains at #4 and has seen its weekly sales drop by just 1 percent to 61,710 copies. Aside from Bandai Namco and Ganbarion's One Piece: Gigant Battle 2 at #11, it is the only DS/3DS game in the top 20. Five more new titles broke into the top 10: Konami's Metal Gear Solid HD Edition (PS3) at #5, folowed by Level-5's Little Battlers eXperience: Boost (PSP), Bandai Namco's Weiss Schwarz Portable (PSP), Broccoli's Uta no Prince-Sama (PSP), and Bandai Namco's Taiko Drum Master Wii.

Square Enix-published Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - Subtitled Edition for PS3 fell from #1 last week to #10, with sales dropping by 84 percent to 27,000. The Xbox 360 version, which was #7 last week, has disappeared from the top #20.

The complete top 20 chart, as supplied by Media Create, is shown below:

Last week’s Media Create software chart featured a number of Western games, but the latest results are decidedly Japanese in flavour. Sega’s rhythm game for the PSP - Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Extend - is the best selling title this week, notching up sales of 184,673 units.

Sengoku Basara 3: Utage also charted well, coming in at second and sixth place on the PS3 and Wii respectively. This historical beat-em-up looks very similar to Dynasty Warriors, although Capcom have clearly added a few ingredients of their own to spice up the experience.

In seventh spot is Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD Edition on PS3. In Japan Peace Walker HD was released before and separately from Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 HD (unlike in the West). This decision on Konami’s part may end up being the wrong one as Peace Walker HD made a smaller splash than expected with just 39,743 copies sold during its first four days on sale.

You can find the rest of the top ten chart entries below, while this week’s hardware figures also make for an interesting read.

Software Chart

After the break.. read more.

Survey Reveals Americans Consider Gifts that Offer an Experience Such as Musical Instruments a Top Pick this Holiday Season

New NAMM-Commissioned Survey Findings Reflect Growing Consumer Trend

CARLSBAD, Calif., Nov. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new holiday retail survey commissioned by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), more than one-third of Americans prefer to give loved ones gifts that offer meaningful, life-enriching experiences.

Perhaps telling of which experiences consumers may likely share with their families this year, the survey also found that 58 percent of those surveyed regretted not learning to play a musical instrument.

"The only way a retailer is going to drag a consumer away from their PC or mobile phone this holiday season is by offering a compelling experience, one they don't want to miss," said Robin Lewis, CEO, The Robin Report and co-author of The New Rules of Retail. "Whether it's Lululemon's yoga classes, cooking classes at Macy's or music lessons at their hometown music store, these are life-enriching experiences that consumers cannot get online."

Mario's first 3DS adventure sold 343,492 units, putting it in first place for the week. It appears to have caused a spike in 3DS hardware sales, with the system selling 145,271 units this week.

The 343,492 unit total is almost triple the total amount of software the system sold in all of October. Last month, Enterbrain's sales stats showed the system's hardware outselling software two to one (see this story). It was widely believed that many were upgrading their DS systems in anticipation of major year-end releases like Mario Land, Mario Kart and Monster Hunter.

The week was packed with new releases. Trailing Mario were two western PS3 titles, Uncharted 3 and Battlefield 3. These sold over 120,000 units each. Sony gave Uncharted a big marketing push, with a series of commercials featuring Harrison Ford. Uncharted 2 debuted in October of 2009 with 54,000 units in its first week.

Other newcomers in the top 20 this week included Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest 3 and various versions of Winning Eleven. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Winning Eleven were released last month.

Here's the top 20 software chart for October 31 through November 6. Publisher, release date and life-to-date sales are in parentheses.

1.  [3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo, 11/03): 343,492
2.  [PS3] Uncharted 3 (Sony, 11/02): 124,989
3.  [PS3] Battlefield 3 (EA, 11/02): 123,379
4.  [PSP] Final Fantasy Type-0 (EA, 10/27): 122,286 (594,540)
5.  [WII] Kirby Wii (Nintendo, 10/27): 55,779 (192,589)
6.  [PSP] Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami, 11/03): 45,437
7.  [3DS] Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest 3 (Square Enix, 11/03): 38,859
8.  [360] Battlefield 3 (EA, 11/02): 27,723
9.  [WII] Just Dance Wii (Nintendo, 10/13): 25,665 (189,116)
10.  [WII] Go Vacation (Namco Bandai, 10/20): 16,995 (89,463)
11.  [WII] Winning Eleven Play Maker 2012 (Konami, 11/03): 14,117
12.  [WII] Wii Sports Resort Wiiplus Pack (Nintendo, 11/11): 12,570 (638,091)
13.  [PS3] Idolmaster 2 (Namco Bandai, 10/27): 10,721 (76,233)
14.  [PS3] Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami, 10/06): 10,636 (381,156)
15.  [PS2] Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami, 11/03): 9,786
16.  [PSP] AKB1/48 If I Loved an Idol in Guam (Namco Bandai, 10/06): 8,883 (310,625)
17.  [WII] Minna no Rhythm Heaven (Nintendo, 07/21): 8,581 (535,523)
18.  [PS3] Macross F Sayonara no Tsubasa Hybrid Pack (Namco Bandai, 10/20): 8,352 (167,700)
19.  [PSP] Naruto Narutimate Impact (Namco Bandai, 10/20): 7,144 (72,374)
20.  [3DS] Model Fashion Audition 2 (Alchemist, 11/03): 6,643

Hardware data to follow after the page break..

Veterans Day 11/11/11 - PPNStudio would like to thank all Veterans for your service to (y)our country. We join the rest of the nation on Veterans Day in remembering the sacrifices of America's 25 million veterans and expressing our appreciation for your service.

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