Sony PS3 jumps to top of sales charts

Sony may be going through difficult times when viewed from a wider perspective, but at least it got some cheer this week when it emerged that its PlayStation 3 has leapt to the top of the sales charts.

Admittedly, the charts in question are the Japanese hardware rankings, but Sony knows its machines need to do well at home before shining elsewhere.

DS going strong

The last week of February saw the PS3 sell 36,513 units, which was double what it managed the previous week. Nintendo's DSi and the Sony PSP came in close behind on 35,827 and 35,588 respectively, with the Xbox 360 far behind on 11,795.

Nintendo's plain-vanilla DS Lite handheld sold 11,774 units, meaning the DS platform was really the most popular one, but we get the feeling that Sony will take a win however it all adds up.

Yakuza surge

The high PS3 numbers were due to the release of the third instalment in the Yakuza series of games, so it's likely there will be a return to normality when the hardcore fans have all snapped up the title.

Incidentally, the Yakuza line of games isn't known in Japan by that name – instead, it goes by "Ryu Ga Gotoku", which means "Like a Dragon" in Japanese. Don't say we never educate our readers.