Japanese Software Chart: Modern Warfare 3 Blows Away One Piece

It's a win for Infinity Ward this week in the Japanese Video Game Chart, as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has breezed to the top spot with over 180,000 units sold on PS3. That's no small victory - its closest competition was a new One Piece fighting game by Namco Bandai, which came second at 116,062 units.

It's rare for a Western publisher to gain such attention in the Japanese market, but hardly surprising for the Call of Duty series. The blockbuster war shooter has been lovingly localised by Square Enix over the last couple of years, offering subbed and dubbed editions of the game to cater for Asian players. Black Ops debuted at #1 last year with PS3 units reaching 128,922.

This chart-topping version of Modern Warfare 3 is of the subtitled variety, with the dubbed edition coming mid-December. While the PS3 version debuted at #1, the Xbox 360 version hit #7 with 30,467 units sold.

Big-name Japanese titles were pushed to the side following the wake of Modern Warfare 3, with One Piece Gigant Battle! 2 coming second and Level Five's Studio Ghibli adventure Ni no Kuni reaching third place. Last week's #1, Super Mario 3D Land, tumbles to fourth. THQ comes representing the West siiiide some more with Saints Row the Third landing in fifth.

1 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Square Enix (PS3) – 180,372 / NEW
2 One Piece Gigant Battle! 2 – Namco Bandai (DS) – 116,062 / NEW
3 Ni no Kuni – Level 5 (PS3) – 67,032 / NEW
4 Super Mario 3D Land – Nintendo (3DS) – 62,318
5 Saints Row the Third – THQ (PS3) – 36,222 / NEW
6 Final Fantasy Type-0 – Square Enix (PSP) – 30,543
7 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Square Enix (360) – 30,467 / NEW
8 Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Extend – SEGA (PSP) – 30,042
9 Sengoku Basara 3 Utage – Capcom (PS3) – 25,771
10 Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 – Capcom (PS3) – 22,436 / NEW