It was closely followed by Sony's PlayStation Portable, which sold 1.08 million units. Sony launched the device in 2004, but managed to energize first half sales with a price cut that saw the PSP reduced to ¥16,800.

Overall hardware sales fell 9 percent to ¥80 billion.

For the entire year, the game market should be buoyed by several major releases due before 2011 ends. Nintendo plans to release new versions of its "Super Mario" and "Mario Cart" games, and Sony is planning to launch the PlayStation Vita, its first new portable gaming device since the PSPgo was released in 2009.

Japan first half 2011 software sales ranking (Source: Enterbrain):

1, Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, Capcom, 968,269 copies sold