MCV media partner Enterbrain has released full year Japanese market figures for 2007 – showing a 25 per cent year-on-year leap in the hardware market, while overall software sales have dropped by one per cent compared to 2006.

Japan’s total hardware and software market amounted to a whopping 687.66 billion Yen (£3.2bn) in 2007. Hardware sales topped 327.41bn Yen (£1.5bn), while game software stood at 360.25bn Yen (£1.7bn) in 2007.

DS topped the Japanese hardware charts by some distance, having sold 7.1 million units, while fellow Nintendo console Wii came in second, shifting 3.6m in 2007. PSP was boosted significantly by the release of Monster Hunter Portable 2 and racked up 3m in hardware unit sales, followed by PS3 (1.2m) and Xbox 360 (258,000).

Wii killer app Wii Sports was the top selling game of the year in Japan, having sold 1.9m units in 2007. Coming in second was Capcom’s Monster Hunter Portable 2 (1.489m units sold), while Wii Play (1.487m), Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (1.25m) and Mario Party DS (1.23m) completed the top five sellers.

JAPAN 2007: ENTERBRAIN’S FIGURES IN FULL:

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Total market value 2007: 687.66bn Yen (£3.2bn)
- Up 9.9 per cent compared to 2006

Total hardware sales: 327.41bn Yen (£1.5bn)
- Up 25 per cent compared to 2006

Total software sales: 360.25 bn Yen (£1.7bn)
- Down one per cent compared to 2006

2007 HARDWARE SALES IN UNITS:

Nintendo DS: 7,143,702 (Lifetime sales: 21,105,472)

PSP: 3,022,659 (Lifetime sales: 7,535,313)

Wii: 3,629,361 (Lifetime sales: 4,618,479)

PlayStation 3: 1,206,347 (Lifetime sales: 1,673,063)

Xbox 360: 257,841 (Lifetime sales: 548,308)

SOFTWARE SALES TOP FIVE IN UNIT SALES:

Wii Sports (Nintendo): 1,911,520

Monster Hunter Portable 2 (Capcom): 1,489,898

Wii Play (Nintendo): 1,487,484

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (Nintendo): 1,256,516

Mario Party DS (Nintendo): 1,232,644