Nintendo DS games dominate January sales in Japan

Nintendo DS games are the ‘top sellers’ in Japan for January, according to Enterbrain, a publication that issues weekly and monthly sales information for software and game consoles. Overall, software sales did not change since last year, while console and component sales dropped 6.2%. The hardware decline was attributed to the unavailability of the Nintendo DS. (Can you believe it?!)

The portable game console from Nintendo is currently the most fast-selling unit in the market. 8 out of the 10 most popular games in Japan were made for DS. Seven of those came from Nintendo.

Topping the list is the follow-up title of the popular brain game, “DS Training to Strengthen Your Brain”. More than one million units of the game have been sold since its release on December 29. A game that enhances English proficiency (yes, also by Nintendo) also had robust sales, with 231,770 units sold.

The top Playstation 2 game was “Final Fantasy VII Dirge of Cerberus”. 365,495 units of the game were sold, making it the fifth best-selling game on the list.

“Dead or Alive 4” was the top seller for Microsoft’s Xbox 360. However, it only placed 26th overall with 74,782 units sold. The Microsoft console also trails behind the Nintendo DS, Playstation Portable and Playstation 2 in the hardware category, having only sold 112,657 units since its release last December.