GameFly Rental Chart Highlights: Week Ending January 9

This week's GameFly video game rental charts for North America, specifically relating to games rented via the games-by-mail service for the week ending January 9th, show popularity over multiple game formats. It is the 00s, and apparently there is time for Xbox 360: an uncommon number of the entries on the all-platform chart are games for Microsoft's new system, given the relatively small install base the system has compared to longer-lived systems. Dead or Alive 4 tops the list, and Condemned: Criminal Origins comes in second place; other 360 showings in the top 10 are Call of Duty 2 at #4, Perfect Dark Zero at #7, and Need for Speed: Most Wanted at #9. Amidst the 360 frenzy, the PS2 version of Resident Evil 4 defends its makeshift turf at #3. Resident Evil 4 does better for itself on the PlayStation 2 charts, where it sits at #1 atop a resurging Shadow of the Colossus, scaling the ranks to #2, and Star Wars Battlefront at #3. On the regular Xbox, the multiplatform Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones is doing particularly well on Microsoft's machine at #1, followed by the Xbox port of Half-Life 2 at #2 and Star Wars Battlefront II, again taking third place. On the Xbox 360-specific list, Dead or Alive 4 matches its peak performance to come out on top; Condemned: Criminal Origins is a natural second place following its same performance on the all-format list, and Call of Duty 2 evades ze Germans to scramble safely to #3. Not much has changed on the GameCube-specific charts, and it's not likely to until another major GC release like Chibi-Robo comes out: Mario Party 7 has taken over the #1 spot from Super Mario Strikers, which downshifts to econd place on the GC charts. Prince of Persia's brief moment in the spotlight has ended, and Sega's edgy, in-your-face, Shadow the Hedgehog has returned to #3, guns blazing. On Game Boy Advance, Final Fantasy IV is still the portable game to beat, but the titles directly below it have changed: #2 is Mario Tennis: Power Tour from Camelot, and #3 is Ubisoft's Dogz, proving that a me-too game can still have success if released on the right platform. For the Nintendo DS, the same three games in the same order continue to reign: Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time at #1, Mario Kart DS, at #2, and Animal Crossing: Wild World at #3. Next week should see a shakeup, though, as Electroplankton's scarce retail presence and lack of a save feature make it uniquely suited for rental success. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is still holding its own at #1 on the PSP list amidst bizarre rumors of a PS2 port for the game, followed by Prince of Persia: Revelations at #2 and SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo at #3.