Forget what you’ve heard: Japanese gamers DO like western games.  This week saw the very belated release of Grand Theft Auto IV in Japan, and just as it did in North America and Europe, it debuted at #1.  The only real difference between its first week in Asia and its first week in North America is the console.  North America saw the Xbox 360 version at the top of the charts, while in Japan the PS3 version is king.  The 360 version did manage to crack the top 10, selling around 35,000 copies, which is pretty impressive considering the 360 accounts for only 13% of all Japanese consoles.

With new titles accounting for seven of the top ten games, permanent fixtures on the list like Wii Fit are nowhere to be found.  LittleBigPlanet, which also released this week, did relatively well, finishing third with 52,000 copies sold, but didn’t perform as well as Sony had hoped.

Here's the full Japanese top ten list for the week ending November 2.

01. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) - 133,000
02. Valkyrie Profile: Toga o Seoumono (DS) - 80,000
03. LittleBigPlanet (PS3) - 52,000
04. Pokémon Platinum (DS) - 47,000
05. Wagamama Fashion Girls Mode (DS) - 40,000
06. Rhythm Tengoku Gold (DS) - 39,000
07. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Spec III (X360) - 35,000
08. Grand Theft Auto IV (X360) - 34,000
09. Aruite Wakaru: Seikatsu Rhythm DS (DS) - 26,000
10. Cid to Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure no Meikyuu + (DS) - 26,000

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