New Layton DS Starts Slower Than Expected in Japan

The fourth Professor Layton game for DS has not started quite as strong as some expected. The Professor Layton games have become the biggest home-grown series for Japanese developer Level-5, with the first three puzzle adventures all nearing the million sales mark individually. Clearly this has led to great expectations for each new entry and the fourth game has just hit the streets of Japan to what is still strong sales, but a rather more muted start than some may have presumed.

Some early Famitsu first day sale numbers have been released by Japanese blogger 'sinobi' and currently Layton Kyouju to Majin no Fue (roughly translated into English as 'Professor Layton and the Spectre's Flute') is ahead of the pack, with Hudson's Monopoly-style board-game for Wii is the second quickest selling game of the week, ahead of the latest 'bullet-hell' shooter from developer Cave on Xbox 360. Check out all the first day sales below:

First Day Sales (26th November, 2009)
Layton Kyouju to Majin no Fue (NDS) - 140,000
Momotarou Dentetsu 2010 (Wii) - 23,000
Mushihimesama Futari Ver 1.5 (360) - 13,000
La Pucelle: Ragnarok (PSP) - 5,800
Higurashi Daybreak Portable: Mega Edition (PSP) - 4,700
Naruto Shippuuden: Ryujinki (Wii) - 4,400
Puyo Puyo 7 (PSP) - 3,600
Strike Witches (NDS) - 3,500
Cooking Mama 3 (NDS) - 2,000
Puyo Puyo 7 (Wii) - 2,000
Karaoke Joysound Wii DX (Wii) - 1,600

Can Layton turn things around and come out flying by the end of the sales week like with previous entries, or has Level-5 started milking the series too much? Check out the full Media Create update later in the week!