LotusCharts has released the Media Create numbers for the week of August 11th to the 17th.* PSP has dropped a mere one spot:

 

1. [NDS] Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo) 137,000 / 480,000
2. [PSP] Phantasy Star Portable (SEGA) 74,000 / 564,000
3. [NDS] Dragon Quest V (Square Enix) 74,000 /1,092,000
4. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) 47,000 /2,516,000
5. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) 36,000 /1,692,000
6. [NDS] Fire Emblem: New Shadow Dragons and (Nintendo) 35,000 / 180,000
7. [NDS] Band Brothers DX (Nintendo) 24,000 / 280,000
8. [NDS] Drum Island??? (NamcoBandai) 20,000 / 282,000
9. [PS2] Power Pros 15 (Konami) 19,000 / 161,000
10. [WII] WarioLand Shake (Nintendo) 18,000 / 76,000

 

Tales of Vesperia for 360 is actually right behind this list at #11.* Interestingly enough, it has actually caused Japan to run out of 360s.* Getting back to relevance, Phantasy Star Portable is on the verge of becoming the 5th best selling PSP title in Japan.* It's heading towards knocking off Hot Shots Golf, which is actually the only first party title in the top 5.* It would then be behind three Monster Hunter titles and Crisis Core.* There were barely any releases this past week as much of Japan was on holiday.

 

Here are the third week sales for the top three first week sellers on PSP (care of VGChartz):

 

Monster Hunter Freedom 2nd G - 221,312
Monster Hunter Freedom 2nd - 96,217
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - 61,831

 

Comparing*these kinds of numbers, it seems that while Phantasy Star Portable didn't have quite as big a launch as these titles, the sales are continuing at a steady pace.

 

As an aside, Sony has announced a new PSP revision.* Pictures of the initial three colors of this model can be found here.* It will be released later this year.* Those of you planning on picking up a PSP for Phantasy Star Portable may want to hold out until then.

LotusCharts has released the Media Create numbers for the week of August 4th to the 10th. Here we go:

 

01. [PSP] Phantasy Star Portable (SEGA) 148,000 / 490,000
02. [NDS] Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Ken (Nintendo) 145,000 / NEW
03. [NDS] Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo) 130,000 / 343,000
04. [360] Tales of Vesperia (Namco Bandai) 108,000 / NEW
05. [NDS] Dragon Quest V (Square Enix) 73,000 / 1,019,000
06. [NDS] Sangokushi Taisen Ten (SEGA) 33,000 / NEW
07. [NDS] Summon Night 2 (Namco Bandai) 30,000 / NEW
08. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) 27,000 / 2,470,000
09. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) 23,000 / 1,656,000
10. [PS3] Soul Calibur 4 (Namco Bandai) 23,000 / 97,000

 

Considering that these numbers are returned from the end of last week, it should be safe to assume that PSP has already cleared half a million copies by now. It's impressive to see PSP in its second week take on and beat two newcomers from other established RPG franchises. I have to give credit to Tales of Vesperia in particular as it probably now has the best first week sales of any 360 title in Japan. The game has been in the news a good deal recently for spiking the 360's not-so-frequent popularity again.

 

Here are the second week sales numbers (care of VGChartz) for the top three first week sellers (for the Playstation Portable):

 

Monster Hunter Freedom 2nd G - 581,102
Monster Hunter Freedom 2nd - 150,498
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - 122,144

 

The first week sales for these games can be seen in my prior post here. It will be interesting to see how much longer PSP can manage to remain in the top ten.

Mainichi, a leading Japanese newspaper, is reporting that Sega of Japan has shipped 500,000 copies of Phantasy Star Portable within the first week. According to the Pocketgamer website, this puts the game in the same league as Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (480,000 copies) and Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (880,000 copies) for first-week shipments in Japan.

Phantasy Star Portable saw incredible first day sales of 217,000 units, a sellthrough rate of over 90% of the game's initial shipment. It currently holds the top sellthrough of an initial shipment of any game this year in Japan. As a result of this amazing success, Sega quickly upped their shipments to a whopping 400,000 units.

 

Media Create has now released weekly sales data for Japan for Phantasy Star Portable's premiere week, revealing an impressive 342,000 units sold and launching PSP straight to the #1 spot on the chart. Courtesy of Kotaku, here is a sampling of the other top contenders (where you may recognize yet another Dreamcast favorite franchise):

 

01. Phantasy Star Portable (PSP) - 342,000 / NEW
02. Rhythm Heaven Gold (DS) - 213,000 / NEW
03. Dragon Quest V: Tenkuu No Hanayome (DS) 112,000 / 946,000
04. Soulcalibur IV (PS3) - 75,000 / NEW
05. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 15 (PS2) - 37,000 / 121,000
06. Soulcalibur IV (360) - 35,000 / NEW
07. Fatal Frame IV (Wii) - 33,000 / NEW
08. Wii Fit (Wii) - 32,000 / 2,442,000
09. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 23,000 / 1,633,000
10. Gundam Battle Universe (PSP) - 21,000 / 201,000

 

Let's also compare first week sales for many of the Phantasy Star titles that have come out in Japan in the past decade (care of VGChartz):

 

Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast) - 84,689
Phantasy Star Online V2 (Dreamcast) - 119,159
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (Gamecube) - 74,801
Phantasy Star Universe (Playstation 2) - 124,059
Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus (Playstation 2) - 23,665

 

It would appear that Phantasy Star Portable has sold over double what Phantasy Star Universe and Ambition of the Illuminus did in their first weeks on the Playstation 2... combined! Now lets compare Famitsu scores (care of the Famitsu Scores Archive, highest being 40 as a total of 4 scores):

 

Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast) - 37
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (Gamecube) - 35
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (Xbox) - 35
Phantasy Star Universe (Playstation 2) - 35
Phantasy Star Portable (Playstation Portable) - 33

 

From the feedback of many importers, it is clear that this handheld version is an installment worthy of the high levels of interest that it's been garnering. I'm sure it will only become better as balance tweaks and further content updates are already in the works.

 

With all the developments that I've been seeing as far as this title is concerned, it is clearly only a matter of time before Sega announces an English release of the game. Let's all hope they don't keep us waiting too much longer.

 

Update: Phantasy Star Portable now has the fourth best launch of a Playstation Portable game in Japan. Here's the other three (numbers care of VGChartz):

 

Monster Hunter Freedom 2nd G - 857,429
Monster Hunter Freedom 2nd - 741,780
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - 489,085

 

Today marks the offiical release of Phantasy Star Portable in Japan! To celebrate the occasion, several Japanese release events are being sponsored by Sega. Special merchandise such as telephone and post cards will be given away! In addiiton, the Phantasy Star Portable download site is now available. Players will now be able to import their online characters and download the new trade-in mission. The trade-in mission features several Phantasy Star Online inspired items such as the Caduceus, Inferno Bazooka, and Rocket Punch!

You can discuss this news in our Phantasy Star Portable forum. Credit goes to DarkShadowX and sodandy for bringing us news about the download mission.

Starting July 14, Phantasy Star fans will be able to download a trial (Japanese) version of the upcoming Phantasy Star Portable! By accessing the PlayStation Store from your PC or PS3, you will be able to download the demo to a Memory Stick Duo to play on your PSP.

Thanks to forum user blyr for the initial report!

Also, with the Japanese release of PSP only weeks away, we are proud to announce the opening of our PSP forum! Keep an eye on the board for the latest PSP news and information as it rolls in!

As we approach the July 31 Japanese release of Phantasy Star Portable, new information on the game continues to roll in. Here are some of the new features and changes you can expect to see.

Character import
Players will be able to import their characters from the PC/PS2 versions of Phantasy Star Universe to the PSP version. When transferred over, characters will retain their name, race, sex, voice, clothes/parts and level (though if you are over LV20, your imported character will be reduced to LV20). Data which will not carry over includes your equipment, inventory, photon arts, Guardian type and partner machine.

System changes
The weapon grinding system has been modified so that all weapons have a 100% success rate. However, the amount that a stat increases with each grind will be random.
Item drops have also been modified. With PSP, the items that drop in a mission are determined in part by the Guardian type of the party leader. Also, rare items will be distributed to all party members instead of only one player.
City navigation has received an overhaul. With this game, players will no longer have to traverse a city to move from shop to shop. Instead, a menu will be displayed which will allow players to choose a location and immediately transport there.

That's not all, of course! For more information on what to expect from Phantasy Star Portable, please see this thread.

EDIT: xBladeM6x has located a new extended trailer.

Sonic Team has released a new trailer for Phantasy Star Portable. The trailer features a recap of the Phantasy Star Universe storyline, gameplay footage, and pictures of new weapons. In addition, the box art for Phantasy Star Portable has been released. It can be seen here. Credit goes to joefro for locating the box art and JaiBlue for the trailer.