Japan Hardware: Handhelds Rule, Consoles Drool

The numbers are in for the Japanese Hardware Chart (19th - 25th July 2010, courtesy Media Create), and it seems that despite a #1 victory in the software Top 10, Nintendo Wii are still slowing week-on-week. The drop in units for the company's home console and DSi LL handheld are offset by sales boosts for the DSi and DS Lite.

Home Console
Wii: 21,092 (22,239) (24,604)
PS3: 19,420 (19,473) (18,345)
360: 6,056 (5,936) (5,688) N3 2
PS2: 1,475 (1,507) (1,558)

Handheld
PSP: 28,747 (26,786) (24,421)
DSi LL: 24,189 (25,884) (28,916)
DSi: 18,202 (16,318) (17,356)
DS Lite: 5,059 (4,895) (4,992)
PSP Go: 831 (1,155) (1,046)

(Previous week's unit sales in brackets for comparison)

It's a similar story for Sony, where the PlayStation Portable is seeing a lift in sales compared to the PS3. With the gap between the PS3 and the Wii getting closer, Sony needs to be bringing out some AAA titles to better take advantage of the situation. On the other side of the handheld chart, the PSP Go seems to be back into sub-1000 units territory. Can it hold out much longer?

The Xbox 360 sees a nice, if subtle, lift in sales – if you're looking for a reason as to why this is happening, it's likely to do with the new release of Ninety Nine Nights II, which currently sits at #17 in the Japanese Software Chart.