Though software for the week ending October 30th lay largely in the Shadow of one new release, the DS nevertheless maintained its all around mastery of the market.

Courtesy of Media-Create, we have the most recent sales figures from Japan.

The week's hardware sales saw little fluctuation in the last week of October. The DS again rested comfortably in the top spot, and will likely remain there for the rest of the year. Besides the online-enhanced DS versions of Animal Crossing and Mario Kart (both looking fantastic) set to carry the handheld through the holidays, the "non-gamers" will be thrilled with the December release of a new Brain Training.

The week's hardware numbers:

Software saw a fairly strong week of sales with 20 new titles among the Top 100 garnering close to 50 percent of overall sales. Casting its shadow over the rest of the charts was the new PS2 game Shadow of the Colossus, from the makers of the legendary Ico. The DS itself had a strong presence in the Top 10 with 4 entries, although last week's new platformer Super Princess Peach was not among them (no. 14). Perhaps the game will fare better in the Western markets now that it has indeed been given firm release commitment for early next year.

The week also saw the somewhat surprising Gamecube entry Battalion Wars sneak into the Top 10. Unfortuneately there are not too many more major releases in the pipeline for the Cube during the Japanese holidays now that Baten Kaitos IIhas been pushed back into next year, barring any surprises. Super Mario Strikers is looking like a gem however.

The software numbers: