Konami's Metal Gear Solid 4 is making its presence felt in the land of the rising sun. According to Famitsu, the latest adventure with Solid Snake sold through 476,334 copies in its first few days on the market in Japan. The anticipated software also gave the PS3 hardware a much needed boost, bringing PS3 sales up from a lowly 9,169 units for the week ended June 1 to 77,208 units for the most recent week.

MGS4 also rose to number one on the U.K. charts, according to Chart-Track, but the game was still 14,000 units short of the opening weekend figure recorded by Metal Gear Solid 2 on PS2 in 2002. MGS4 is now the second fastest-selling PS3 title in the U.K. after Grand Theft Auto IV.

Despite this, however, the game doesn't appear to have helped PS3 hardware in the region. Chart-Track director Dorian Bloch told GI.biz, "There's not a lot to say about it – it had minimal impact really. Units were up by seven percent."

We likely won't have an indicator of MGS4's success in the U.S. until The NPD Group releases its June sales data next month (unless Konami issues a press release).

Thanks to Joystiq for the tip.