JAPAN CHARTS: Dark Souls sells almost 300K in first week, Gears 3 sells over 50K, 3DS sells like crazy (again)

The Japan charts for the week ending September 25 are in, and the sales are pretty impressive this week. Dark Souls has debuted on the charts on the No.1 position and has sold a little under 300K units, 279,567 to be precise, in its first week on the market. It’s way ahead of ICO / Shadow of the Colossus HD Collection, which came in second and sold 91,902 units.

What is more surprising, though, is that even Gears of War 3 sold fairly well, selling over 56,000 units. You don’t expect Microsoft games, especially shooters, to sell well in Japan. But it’s nice to see that it’s selling well there too.

Media Create Sales: (Sep 19 – Sep 25) – Software (Lifetime Sales)

01. [PS3] Dark Souls (From Software) – 279,567 (NEW )
02. [PS3] ICO / Shadow of the Colossus Limited Box (SCE) – 91,902 (NEW )
03. [PSP] Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Tag Force 6 (Konami) – 64,350 (NEW )
04. [360] Gears of War 3 (Microsoft Game Studios) – 56,113 (NEW)
05. [WII] Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary: Famicom & Super Famicom Dragon Quest I-II-III (Square Enix)- 54,775 (318,174) (-79%)
06. [3DS] Senran Kagura: Shoujotachi no Shinei (Marvelous Entertainment) – 52,206 (NEW)
07. [PSP] Busou Shinki: Battle Masters Mk. 2 (Konami) – 32,318 (NEW)
08. [PS3] To Heart 2 DX Plus (Aqua Plus) – 24,429 (NEW)
09. [PS3] Tales of Xillia (Bandai Namco) – 22,484 (595,386) (-52%)
10. [WII] Champion Jockey: Gallop Racer & G1 Jockey (Koei Tecmo)- 18,281 (NEW)
11. [WII] Rhythm Heaven (Nintendo) – 17,354 (469,914) (+18%)
12. [PSP] Monster Hunter Freedom 3 (PSP the Best) (Capcom) – 14,924 (NEW )
13. [WII] Wii Sports Resort with Remote Plus (Nintendo) – 14,876 (566,992) (-2%)
14. [PS3] Shadow of the Colossus (SCE) – 13,420 (NEW)
15. [NDS] Kirby Mass Attack (Nintendo) – 12,658 (231,815) (+16%)
16. [3DS] The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (Nintendo) – 11,596 (391,734) (+10%)
17. [PS3] Monster Hunter Freedom 3 HD Ver. (Capcom) – 9,263 (383,276) (-30%)
18. [PS3] Shadows of the Damned (Electronic Arts) – 9,145 (NEW )
19. [3DS] Pokemon Rumble Blast (Pokemon Co.) – 8,722 (170,367) (+13%)
20. [PS3] ICO (SCE) – 7,941 (NEW)

On the hardware front, the 3DS swaw a significant boost, selling over 70K units, again the highest selling system of the week. The Xbox 360, surprisingly, also saw a boost, though not a large one. Probably because of Gears of War 3’s release.

Hardware Sales (Last Week):

3DS- 70,159 (58,837)
PS3- 39,452 (36,061)
PSP- 28,548 (25,129)
WII- 14,034 (15,406)
NDS- 5,428 (5,181)
360- 3,897 (1,295)
PS2- 1,517 (1,317)