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...

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.

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..

Square Enix's Final Fantasy Type-0 for PSP took to the top of the Japanese weekly software sales charts last week, selling nearly half a million units in its opening week.

For the week ended October 30, 2011, data from tracking firm Media Create, and as reported by NeoGAF, shows that the new Final Fantasy title sold a total of 472,253 units in the days following its launch. Kirby's Return to Dream Land from Nintendo also had a good opening week, selling a total of 136,811 units and landing itself a position at number two in the charts.

Other new entries last week included Bandai Namco's The Idolmaster 2, Nippon Ichi's Disgaea 4: Fuuka & Desco-hen Hajime Mashita and Kadokawa's Ro-Kyu-Bu!, which took positions three, six and seven respectively.

Down the bottom of the chart, Senritsu no Stratus entered at number nine, while Ragnarok: Hikari to Yami no Koujo took position ten and Arcana Famiglia: La Storia Della Arcana Famiglia for PSP jumped in at number 18.

Last week's number one, Gekijouban Macross F: Sayonara no Tsubasa - Hybrid Pack, dropped down to number eight, while last week's number two, Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Impact dropped even further, down to number 15.

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

The latest Media Create software chart makes for wonderful viewing if you’re affiliated to Namco Bandai. The Japanese publisher has five titles in the top ten this week, including all three of the podium positions.

In first place is the Macross F Hybrid Pack on PS3 with 142,607 units sold during its opening week. This is essentially one Blu-ray disc which combines the Macross F movie with the PS3 game. Buying the hybrid pack is the only way to obtain the Blu-ray version of the film.

Other new entries include Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Impact in second spot. This brawler for PSP sold an impressive 53,148 copies during its first week.

The PS3 versions of two Western games - Dead Island and FIFA 12 - slot into five and six place respectively, while the Xbox 360 version of the former also did well in tenth position with 13,147 copies sold during the latest accounting period.

1. [NEW] Macross F Hybrid Pack (Bandai Namco) - PS3 - 142,607
2. [NEW] Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Impact (Bandai Namco) - PSP - 53,148
3. [NEW] Go Vacation (Bandai Namco) - Wii - 47,209
4. Just Dance Wii (Nintendo) - Wii - 45,580
5. [NEW] Dead Island (Spike) - PS3 - 39,945
6. [NEW] FIFA 12 (Electronic Arts) - PS3 - 25,640
7. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami) - PS3 - 22,902
8. Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (Bandai Namco) - PS3 - 18,120
9. AKB1/48: Idol to Guam de Koishitara (Bandai Namco) - PSP - 17,562
10. [NEW] Dead Island (Spike) - Xbox 360 - 13,147

More after the break..

Source: Media Create

Media Create has released sales data for the week of October 10 through 16, 20011 and the Japanese market apparently went fairly nuts over Ace Combat: Assault Horizon in a week full of new releases.

Namco’s title moved 149,470 units on PS3 during its three days on the market, and the Xbox 360 version landed at number six on the chart with 20,523 units moved.

The Japanese version of Just Dance Wii debuted in second place with 90,039 units moved, and Forza Motorport 4, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, Class of Heroes Final and Clock Zero rounded out the week of newcomers in the top 20.

Here is the top 20 as of 16 Oct, 2011 as provided by Media Create and translated on the NeoGAF forums:

1. Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (Bandai Namco, PS3) 149,470
2. Just Dance Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 90,039
3. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 (Konami, PS3) - 61,787
4. AKB1/48: Idol to Guam de Koishitara (Bandai Namco, PSP) - 34,114
5. Forza Motorsport 4 (Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360) - 24,854
6. Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (Bandai Namco, Xbox 360) - 20,523
7. Dead Rising 2: Off the Record (Capcom, PS3) - 16,913
8. Class of Heroes Final: Shinnyusei wa Ohimesama (Acquire, PSP) - 16,904
9. Rhythm Heaven (Nintendo, Wii) 13.202
10. Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary (Square Enix, Wii) - 12,987