Nintendo platforms maintained their lead in the Japanese hardware chart during the week ended May 17, as the market saw an overall decline in sales.

Having jumped ahead of Sony’s PSP the previous week, Nintendo’s DSi held its place at the top of the hardware chart, although its lead was slimmed from 12,000 to 5,500 units.

Wii’s sales advantage over PS3 was also reduced, from 6,000 to 3,500 units, while the DS Lite, PS2 and Xbox 360 saw no change in their rankings.

Total hardware sales were down by more than a third, from 159,297 to 101,697 units, according to sales monitor Media Create.

DSi – 34,152
PSP – 28,683
Wii – 15,116
PS3 – 11,605
DS Lite – 4,888
PS2 – 4,020
Xbox 360 – 3,233

2009 Japanese sales history.