PSP Sales Surge Following Metal Gear

Nearly 1,000 people gathered at Yodobashi Camera in Yokohama for the Peace Walker launch.

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker wasn't the top selling game for the week. But it did give PSP a big surge back into a commanding lead of the hardware sales charts.

Media Create provided today hardware sales figures for the pre-Golden Week period of April 26 through May 2. PSP was the top selling platform for the period, doubling its sales form the week prior.

Most platforms saw slight boosts. Xbox 360's two-fold increase was presumably due to the release of a new Value Pack that bundles Bayonetta and Forza 3 with the system.

Here's the full Media Create chart:

• 1. PSP: 59,315 (28,758)
• 2. PS3: 32,874 (25,629)
• 3. Wii: 30,757 (23,691)
• 4. DSi LL: 25,569 (16,676)
• 5. DSi: 15,628 (10,640)
• 7. Xbox 360: 4,943 (2,214)
• 6. DS Lite: 4,068 (2,789)
• 8. PSP go: 1,890 (1,544)
• 9. PS2: 1,577 (1,490)

Media Create also provided a full top 50 at its rankings page, allowing us to see what games debuted outside the top 30 chart that can be seen on our rankings page.

Debuting low on the charts was Otome ha Onesama ni Koishiteiru (Alchemist, PSP) at 38 and Rooms (Hudson, DS) at 44. Nintendo's search-themed And-Kensaku didn't even make it into the top 50, it seems.

Media Create's sales analysis includes some notable points about the top selling games for the period.

Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2, in top this week with 624,000 units, sold 66.80% of its stock. It's off to a better start than its predecessor, which debuted in December 2006 with 594,000 units.

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, in second this week with 434,000 units, sold 56.89% of its stock. It's the fastest selling PSP Metal Gear game.

Super Street Fighter IV's PS3 version placed third with 81,000 units. This is slightly lower than initial sales for the original Street Fighter IV. However, Media Create notes that both the PS3 and 360 versions of the game sold through 80% of stock.