Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Normally we bring you Japanese sales charts on Wednesday, but since Japan was on vacation this week, that didn't exactly work out. It's back to work for Japan, however, which means that the sales numbers for games and hardware for the week of 12/24 were finally released.

So, how did Nintendo fare? While software sales were good, the company certainly lost its dominance in the charts. The week of 12/17 had Nintendo in nine out of ten of the top spots, while the week of 12/24 had the company in only seven. (Note: When "only seven" is a bad week, that's a good thing.)

To see what this means for the Wii (and to view the actual Famitsu sales numbers), check after the break.

Most software sales (for all platforms) slowed down this week, including those for Super Mario Galaxy, which found itself slipping to the number ten spot. The top Wii game for the week was Wii Sports, which beat out its newer cousin Wii Fit by about 13,000 copies. In the end there weren't many surprises, as all the big contender games we assumed would be in the charts were, in fact, there.

As for hardware, sales dropped for the Wii by about 100,000 units this week. While this is quite a large drop, it's important to note that the sales from 12/17 were a huge jump from the week before, and not indicative of current sales trends (or sustainable sales trends). Still, the Wii finds itself with a little less breathing room, as the PSP inches closer and closer to the second place spot.

Hardware:

• DS: 195,000
• Wii:162,000
• PSP: 158,000
• PS3: 49,000
• PS2: 30,000
• Xbox 360: 9,200

Software:

1. Super Robot Taisen: Original Generations Gaiden (PS2) --- 199,000
2. Mario Party DS (DS) --- 162,000 (1,232,000)
3. Final Fantasy IV (DS) --- 138,000 (447,000)
4. Star Ocean: First Departure (PSP) --- 115,000
5. Wii Sports (Wii) --- 94,000 (2,465,000)
6. Dragon Quest IV (DS) --- 90,000 (1,053,000)
7. Wii Fit (Wii) --- 81,000 (818,000)
8. Wii Play (Wii) --- 72,000 (1,991,000)
9. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (PSP) --- 71,000
10. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) --- 68,000 (748,000)
11. Professor Layton 2 (DS) --- 65,000 (615,000)
12. Mario & Sonic at Beijing Olympics (Wii) --- 56,000 (363,000)
13. Mario Party 8 (Wii) --- 46000 (1,054,000)
14. Monster Hunter Portable 2 (PSP) --- 38,000 (1,490,000)
15. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (DS) --- 38,000 (1,257,000)