Handhelds Push Japanese Game Sales
Japan shows signs of pulling itself out of its funk.
The Japanese sure do like their handhelds. The latest figures show that for the year up to 10 July more than 2.5 million handhelds were sold, which helped boost sales for the first half of the year by around 4 per cent over last year's.
Both Sony and Nintendo are doing well with their portables in Japan, with the PSP, perhaps surprisingly, only slightly behind the DS. Both handhelds have sold more than a million units.
Nintendo is riding a wave of enthusiasm at the moment, with three big hits coming back-to-back-to-back. Nintendogs, Nintendo's virtual puppy simulator, led the charge and was followed soon afterwards by a series of brain-puzzle games.
The DS has done well in Europe since its launch in March. Nintendo announced in June that sales here have topped a million. Sony will hope for similar success when the PSP is launched on September 1st.
Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games
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