Man, was I surprised when I gazed upon this week's Media Create Japanese sales charts. Well, surprised on the software side - the hardware space is always a bore. When Pokemon Diamond/Pearl was first released nearly a month ago, I seriously thought nothing could stand a candle to it in sales for a long time. Well, I was proved wrong within one week. That's not to say the games aren't selling - they still are, and at a blistering rate (two more weeks and the titles will break three million sales combined). But the Japanese market loves new things, so chart fluctuations are normal when new games are released.

One such new game, General Knowledge Training DS (another one of those non-game games for the DS) overtook the number one spot. Tales of the Tempest, the newest addition to the Tales RPG series, is sandwiched between Diamond and Pearl for the third spot. The third new title on the chart, Aquaplus's PS2 RPG Utawareru Mono Chiriyuku Mono e-no Komori Uta, takes the fifth spot. Two new Bandai Namco games, Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception (for the PSP) and Jojo no Kimyou na Bouken: Phantom Blood (for the PS2) debut at number six and seven, respectively. KanKen DS clings on to the eighth spot, New Super Mario Bros. arrives at number nine, and the last new game this week, Yakuza PS2 The Best (a "Greatest Hits" version of Yakuza) manages to capture the tenth and final spot.

If you still need navigation on the mundane hardware charts, here it is: The DS Lite again sells big, this time selling 158,681 units. The PSP actually outpaced the PS2 this week (a first in quite some time), selling 25,908 units compared to the PS2's 21,832 units. The GBA SP sold 1,858 units, and 1,565 Xbox 360s were sold. The Game Boy Micro sold 1,351 units, while the GameCube sold 644 units and the DS Phat sold 114 units. The Game Boy Advance sold 15 units, while seven Xboxes were sold. I've run out of jokes to talk about the Xbox, but that may because IT'S DOING SO WELL!!

For the neat, clean, and modest charts, check them out below:

Top Ten Software Sales

1. General Knowledge Training DS (Nintendo, DS) - 189,700
2. Pokemon Diamond (Nintendo, DS) - 127,011
3. Tales of the Tempest (Bandai Namco, DS) - 88,137
4. Pokemon Pearl (Nintendo, DS) - 85,530
5. Utawareru Mono Chiriyuku Mono e-no Komori Uta (Aquaplus, PS2) - 82,343
6. Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception (Bandai Namco, PSP) - 60,584
7. Jojo no Kimyou na Bouken: Phantom Blood (Bandai Namco, PS2) - 34,070
8. Zaidan Houjin Nippon Kanji Nouryoku Kentei Kyoukai Kounin: KanKen DS (Rocket Company, DS) - 31,108
9. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo, DS) - 30,885
10. Yakuza PS2 The Best (Sega, PS2) - 29,854

Hardware Sales for October 23 - October 29

DS Lite - 158,681 units
PSP - 25,908 units
PS2 - 21,832 units
GBA SP - 1,858 units
Xbox 360 - 1,565 units
Game Boy Micro - 1,351 units
GameCube - 644 units
DS Phat - 114 units
Game Boy Advance - 15 units
Xbox - 7 units