The PlayStation 3 has flown to the top of the Japanese hardware chart this week following the launch of the new slim model at a lower price, outselling the second most popular console - the DS - by more than double.

Sales leaped to 151,783 in just five days - up massively on the previous week when, in anticipation of the new hardware the console managed just 1040 sales.

For most of Sony's rivals however, sales were down on the previous week. The DS was the only platform that saw a slight increase, selling 68,728 units this week - up two per cent on the week prior.

PlayStation Portable sales dropped from 26,081 to 22,184 - making it the third most popular console - and Nintendo Wii sales dropped from 25,038 to 21,557.

The Xbox 360 saw just a slight drop, of six per cent, to 6827. The Elite price cut, which would be expected to elevate results, went into effect in Japan on September 5.

Sales of the PlayStation 2, which have recently topped those of the PlayStation 3 in Japan, were well below those of its successor, with 3001 sales, down just slightly in the previous week.

The full Media Create Japanese hardware chart for the week September 1-7 is as follows:

01 PlayStation 3 - 151,783
02 Nintendo DS - 68,728
03 PlayStation Portable - 22,184
04 Nintendo Wii - 21,557
05 Xbox 360 - 6827
06 PlayStation 2 - 3001
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