Why the sudden surge for Mario Kart Wii? Media Create explores.

Media Create's weekly hardware sales chart has gotten pretty boring in the lead up to Golden Week. This week's figures are barely distinguishable from last week's.

Once again, PSP and PS3 lead the way. Once again, PS3 just barely beat Wii. And once again, PSP and DS are pretty much neck and neck if you add up their various versions.

Here's the full chart covering April 19 through April 25:

• 1. PSP: 28,758 (28,635)
• 2. PS3: 25,629 (25,590)
• 3. Wii: 23,691 (24,344)
• 4. DSi LL: 16,676 (17,146)
• 5. DSi: 10,640 (11,240)
• 6. DS Lite: 2,789 (2,869)
• 7. Xbox 360: 2,214 (2,442)
• 8. PSP go: 1,544 (1,915)
• 9. PS2: 1,490 (1,531)

Media Create's ranking page was also updated, as always, with a full top 50, allowing us to see what newcomers failed to crack the top 30.

Debuting low on the charts over the week were:

• 34. Pachislot Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Matsuri (Alchemist, PS2)
• 37. Momotaro Dentetsu 16 Minna no Osusume Selection (Hudson, Wii)
• 38. Harajuku Detective Academy Steel Wood (Idea Factory, PSP)
• 40. Disgaea Infinite (Nippon Ichi Software, PSP)
• 42. Canvas 3 (GN Software, PSP)
• 45. Realrode Portable (Kadokawa Shoten, PSP)

Media Create also provided some analysis of the software sales. Were you wondering why Mario Kart Wii suddenly made it back into the top 10? Last week, the game placed 15. This week, it placed 8, with double the sales of last week. The site suggests two reasons for the newfound success.

First, it's possible that people who purchased the Wii for New Super Mario Bros. Wii at the end of the year are picking up Mario Kart Wii as their second title.

The other possibility is a new commercial campaign Nintendo has started up for the game. The campaign shows popular idols playing Mario Kart. You can see the spots at Nintendo's Mario Kart Wii commercial site.