LEGO STAR WARS Honors 30 Years of The Empire Strikes Back

[16-Aug-2010] -- To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, LEGO Systems, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. summoned the force of LEGO® and STAR WARS fans and families to participate in a three-day collaborative build of an eight-foot tall,  to benefit St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. The mural was constructed by attendees of Star Wars Celebration V and a LEGO Master Builder at Orlando's Orange County Convention Center from August 13-15.

Last week's sales champ, Sengoku Basara 3, was soundly defeated by Namco's latest Tales game, which draws upon the powers of a big PSP install base and Japan's love of doe-eyed anime-style characters. How well did Tales of Phantasia do?

Well enough to outsell Wii Party! Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X moved an impressive, first place spot-winning 108,000 copies during its debut week, enough to force Wii Party to settle for second. Not bad for a PSP remake... of a remake? Honestly, I'm thoroughly confused by just how deeply the remakes go for Tales of Phantasia. Any superfans that can provide more insight?

There are a handful of other new entries on this week's chart, including the sexy-sounding StormLover, Tetris Party Premium and the "special edition" release of Assassin's Creed II.

Japan's bestselling games for the week of August 2 to 8, according to Media Create, is below.

01. Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X (PSP) - 108,000 / NEW
02. Wii Party (Wii) - 83,000 / 612,000
03. Sengoku Basara 3 (PS3) - 57,000 / 300,000
04. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva 2nd (PSP) - 36,000 / 277,000
05. Inazuma Eleven 3: Sekai e no Chousen!! Bomber / Spark (DS) - 24,000 / 752,000
06. StormLover (PSP) - 20,000 / NEW
07. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) - 17,000 / 749,000
08. Fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo Hikari to Kage no Eiyuu (DS) - 16,000 / 213,000
09. Sengoku Basara 3 (Wii) - 15,000 / 65,000
10. Battle Spirits: Digital Starter (DS) - 15,000 / NEW

More numbers and all the hardware data after the break..

What does Japan like this week? Feudal Japanese fantasy battles in the form of Sengoku Basara 3 and rhythm games starring vocaloid Hatsune Miku. Yep, shirtless samurai warriors and sexy singing robots are just what Japan needed more of.

The PlayStation 3 wins this week's software war, thanks to Capcom's Sengoku Basara 3, which moved close to a quarter million copies to Japanese gamers. (We knew the series as Devil Kings when it made its Western debut.) The Wii version of that game also charted, moving 50,000 copies. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva 2nd, the previously mentioned vocaloid-starring rhythm game from Sega, sold 241,000 copies to PSP owners.

Last week's champ, Wii Party, is still hangin' tough, crossing the half-million mark this week. A handful of new debuts, from Metal Max 3 to the latest Ys game, also appear in the top ten.

Check the full list for all the new recruits. According to Media Create, these are the bestselling games in Japan for the week of July 26 to August 1, 2010.

01. Sengoku Basara 3 (PS3) - 243,000 / NEW
02. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva 2nd (PSP) - 241,000 / NEW
03. Wii Party (Wii) - 83,000 / 529,000
04. Kamen Rider Battle: Ganbaride Card Battle Taisen (DS) - 64,000 / NEW
05. Sengoku Basara 3 (Wii) - 50,000 / NEW
06. Metal Max 3 (DS) - 47,000 / NEW
07. Inazuma Eleven 3: Sekai e no Chousen!! Bomber / Spark (DS) - 34,000 / 727,000
08. Ys vs. Sora no Kiseki: Alternative Saga (PSP) - 30,000 / NEW
09. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2010 (PSP) - 22,000 / 103,000
10. Fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo Hikari to Kage no Eiyuu (DS) - 21,000 / 197,000

More sales data, including the hardware numbers, after the break..

After taking a breather from dominating Japan's sales charts, Nintendo's Wii Party continues to party hard at the top of the list. Wii Party could be a great game, so why shouldn't it sell really well?

Well, it didn't have much strong competition this week, with PSP role-playing game Fate/Extra coming closest to threatening Wii Party's first place finish. The rest of the stuff is purely Japanese fare, with the exception of Ninety Nine Nights II. It debuted unimpressively in 17th place. Not surprising for an Xbox 360 game, but surely not good news for publisher Konami.

Games like the latest Inazuma Eleven, Fire Emblem and Super Mario Galaxy 2 continue to sell well overseas. To see how your favorite Japanese train simulator or portable game show performed, read on.

These are the bestselling games in Japan, according to Media Create, for the week of July 19 to 25.

01. Wii Party (Wii) - 99,000 / 446,000
02. Fate/Extra (PSP) - 72,000 / NEW
03. Inazuma Eleven 3: Sekai e no Chousen!! Bomber / Spark (DS) - 44,000 / 693,000
04. Fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo Hikari to Kage no Eiyuu (DS) - 39,000 / 176,000
05. Dragon Quest Monsters: Battle Road Victory (Wii) - 36,000 / 172,000
06. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2010 (PSP) - 29,000 / 81,000
07. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2010 (PS3) - 28,000 / 148,000
08. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) - 21,000 / 714,000
09. Last Ranker (PSP) - 21,000 / 81,000
10. Katekyoo Hitman Reborn! DS Flame Rumble XX - Kessen! Shin 6 Chouka (DS) - 20,000 / NEW

Much more after the break.. read on.

Last week's Japanese software champ, the brand-new Wii Party, had its first place festivities cut short this week after a strong showing from two other games, both on Nintendo's platform.

Nintendo DS remake Fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo Hikari to Kage no Eiyuu reigns supreme this week, with Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road Victory, an arcade to Wii port, coming in second. The sales figures may make it look like a tie, but according to sales tracker Media Create, the Fire Emblem re-release outsold everything else.

Konami's latest baseball game, Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2010, and Capcom's new RPG Last Ranker also managed to crack the top ten. You can see for yourself by checking the full top 30 bestselling games below.

01. Fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo Hikari to Kage no Eiyuu (DS) - 136,000 / NEW
02. Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road Victory (Wii) - 136,000 / NEW
03. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2010 (PS3) - 120,000 / NEW
04. Wii Party (Wii) - 113,000 / 348,000
05. Last Ranker (PSP) - 61,000 / NEW
06. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2010 (PSP) - 52,000 / NEW
07. Inazuma Eleven 3: Sekai e no Chousen!! Bomber / Spark (DS) - 46,000 / 649,000
08. White Knight Chronicles II (PS3) - 34,000 / 210,000
09. Bokujou Monogatari: Futago no Mura (DS) - 20,000 / 84,000
10. Momotarou Dentetsu Tag Match: Yuujou - Doryoku - Shouri no Maki! (PSP) - 19,000 / NEW

Much more data, including hardware numbers, after the break..

Nintendo's newest mini-game good time, Wii Party, makes it debut in Japan, handily defeating its competitors with a strong first week. Does the Wii have a new multi-million-seller on its hands?

With 235,000 copies of Wii Party sold in the first week, it doesn't seem unreasonable for the first-party game to be well on its way to cross the million sold mark. While Super Mario Galaxy 2 may be slowly approaching the million mark after nearly two months on the chart—it debuted with 340,000 in sales during week one—the Wii's more casual-focused games tend to fare a bit better.

Nintendo had the largest presence on NPD Group's Top 20 June U.S. video game retail charts, as Mario titles on Wii and Pokemon games on Nintendo DS proliferated the rankings, the tracking firm announced on Friday.

Nintendo had a total of eight out of 20 titles on the list, compared to other publishers like Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts and Ubisoft that had one or two titles each that made the chart.

The people who make Professor Layton games and the sharp-looking Studio Ghibli game Ni no Kuni have another hit on their hands, the latest sports-themed RPG, Inazuma Eleven 3: Sekai e no Chousen!!, Japan's bestselling game.

Both versions of Inazuma Eleven 3: Sekai e no Chousen!! for the Nintendo DS toppled last week's champ, the Xbox 360 game Monster Hunter Frontier. That previously bestselling Capcom game slips way down to 14th place on this week's chart, illustrating the staying power of Xbox 360 games. Japan would appear to prefer games like the latest taiko drumming game Taiko no Tatsujin DS: Dororon! Youkai Daikessen!! and fighting game Blazblue: Continuum Shift, two chart topping new debuts.

A smattering of other new debuts appear throughout this week's Media Create sales chart. Do your eyes and brain a favor and see what they are.

Software Chart

01. Inazuma Eleven 3: Sekai e no Chousen!! Bomber / Spark (DS) - 505,000 / NEW
02. Taiko no Tatsujin DS: Dororon! Youkai Daikessen!! (DS) - 70,000 / NEW
03. Blazblue: Continuum Shift (PS3) - 50,000 / NEW
04. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) - 35,000 / 648,000
05. Digimon Story: Lost Evolution (DS) - 34,000 / NEW
06. Love Plus+ (DS) - 22,000 / 106,000
07. Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 3rd Story (DS) - 20,000 / 72,000
08. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010: Aoki Samurai no Chousen (PS3) - 19,000 / 160,000
09. Egokoro Kyoushitsu DS (DS) - 19,000 / 60,000
10. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010: Aoki Samurai no Chousen (PSP) - 16,000 / 101,000

More numbers as well as hardware details after the break..

In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States.

Independence Day is the national day of the United States.

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Nintendo's sales juggernauts sit atop the video gaming world for another month.

The NPD Group has released its sales number for the month of May (5/2/2010 - 5/29/2010), and Nintendo leads the charts once again.

The Nintendo DS led hardware sales for the month, moving 383,700 units.  The Wii wasn't far behind at 334,800 units sold.  For comparision, the PlayStation 3 (154,500) and Xbox 360 (194,600) combined sold 349,100 units for the period.  In other words, Nintendo is still handily outselling every competitor in the United States in both the console and portable arenas.

NPD US Video Game System Sales - May 2010

383.7K - Nintendo DS   
334.8K - Wii
194.6K - Xbox 360
154.5K - PlayStation 3 
059.4K - PSP           

Read more after the break..