So, uh ... we all bought Professor Layton and the Curious Village, right? If not, trust -- you are really missing out. But that's not the point of today's morning chitchat. No, instead we'd like to ask a burning question: where the hell are the other two Layton games? We hoped to see them announced at E3, but it didn't happen. Think the second one will be announced before the end of the year?

The DS dropped to third in last week's hardware sales, as the PSP inched its way to first. (In case you haven't been keeping track, Wii sales have been above those of the DS for quite some time, but the PSP and DS keep flip-flopping for the week's best selling portable.)

Hardware:

• PSP: 73,706
  
• Wii: 64,535
  
• Nintendo DS: 51,922
  
• PlayStation 3: 13,520
  
• PlayStation 2: 10,986
  
• Xbox 360: 2,282

In the software chart, though, Nintendo's portable dominated once again. There were fourteen DS games to hit the top thirty last week, three of which made the top ten. Most of note is the new release Soma Bringer, a game that many of us outside of Japan have been coveting. It debuted in fourth, and was the top seller for the dual-screened handheld last week.

Meanwhile, Professor Layton 2 and Animal Crossing slipped back into the top thirty, while Harvest Moon and Etrian Odyssey II managed to remain in the top ten. Check after the break to see a whole lot of DS games in boldface.

The DS reclaimed second place for hardware, managing to inch past the PSP on this week's chart. A bunch of new releases helped the handheld's sales, as fifteen of the top thirty games last week were DS titles.

Hardware:

• Wii: 78,583
• Nintendo DS: 62,362
  
• PSP: 59,645
  
• PlayStation 3: 17,637
• PlayStation 2: 11,266
• Xbox 360: 2,198

The top contender for the dual-screened portable last week was the Japanese dating sim, Tokimeki Memorial: Girl's Side 2nd Season, which beat everything except Smash Bros. and Wii Fit. Meanwhile, After-School Boy and Doraemon Baseball were knocked out of the top thirty, but remained in the top fifty (along with Rune Factory 2). Overall, though, it was a great software week for the DS. If you want to see why, check out the numbers after the break.

It's a sad day for the DS in Japan. As Media Create's hardware figures from last week were released, we found out that not only the Wii topped the DS (like the week before), but also the PSP managed to overtake the dual-screened handheld.

Hardware:

• Wii: 94,473
• PSP: 72,528
• Nintendo DS: 67,472
• PlayStation 3: 41,796
• PlayStation 2: 12,115
• Xbox 360: 6,060

According to Media Create, the DS only had one game in the top ten (Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games). That's not surprising, since there were many new releases on other systems, but it's far from the DS dominance that we're used to. Still, it was nice to see some low-key games like After-School Boy, Taiko Drum Master, and Doraemon Baseball getting love in Japan.

Check after the break to see the full list of software rankings from last week.

The big news with last week's sales numbers is not that the DS managed to top 300,000 again, but that the New Super Mario Bros. broke five million in Japan. Not only that, but the game took the sixteenth spot in today's Famistu chart.

Also showing legs is Mario Kart DS, which sold 68,000 copies to take the number eight spot. While it's no surprise that Mario Kart does well week after week (after week), we didn't expect it to make the top ten. We're also happy to see some new DS blood enter the ring, with Rune Factory 2 selling 56,000 in its debut.

The rise in sales from the previous week was most likely due to the New Years holiday, which is a popular shopping period in Japan. These numbers are almost certainly not sustainable, though, so we should see a big difference next week. Of course, we fully expect that the DS will end up on top, as always, with a smattering of its games in the top ten.

Check after the break to see the numbers, with NSMB sales tacked on for good measure.