Japanese launch sales for the Wii are in as the DS is finally toppled from its perch in the week ending December 3rd.

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

DS domination is granted a reprieve...at least for one week. The Wii is smoking out of the gate with a superior attach rate compared to the PS3 signaling that a greater number of Japanese are buying the system to actually play games on it (as opposed to flipping the console for a quick buck on ebay). The console held the greatest share of the top 10, followed by its dual-screened portable precursor, the DS. While a PS2 game (in the form of the latest iteration of Namco's Tales of... RPGs) took the number one slot, it was followed in succession by three Wii titles (led, perhaps surprisingly, by the utterly family-friendly Wii Sports). The newest Zelda in fact came in as only the console's third best-selling launch title, losing to My First Wii (my literal translation of the game's Japanese title, also known as Wii Play), a mini-game pack that includes an extra wii controller. This contrasted dramatically with US launch sales which showed Twilight Princess selling roughly 4 copies to every 5 consoles.

The DS, while denied top 10 domination, nevertheless saw continued strong sales from recent releases such as Jump Ultimate Stars and Sega's Love and Berry DS. Additionally, six more DS titles placed from 11-20 on the charts. RPG lovers should also note that Square's seminal Final Fantasy VI also made its GBA debut to healthy sales of over 130k units.

The launch of the Wii marked the first time in a long time that the DS Lite did not dominate all other hardware sales. While reports indicated hefty lines and thick throngs of people interested in the system, for the most part the launch went down smoothly and successfully. It will be interesting to watch if the Wii can continue to hold off Japan's favorite portable through the holidays. Shipments will continue to be limited as Nintendo stretches its supply chains thin to satisfy the burgeoning now-worldwide demand. Particularly with Japan entering into a busy shopping period, it is likely that desire for the new-generation system will shoot upward only to result in waves of disappointed potential buyers. The Big N's manufacturing facilities will have their work cut out for them in the coming months.

The weekly software numbers follow:

The week's console numbers follow: