Saling The World: BioShock Rocks First Week On Shelves In U.S., UK

Author: by Danny

Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five sellers for every available platform in the United States, Japan, and Europe, providing an important update of sales patterns worldwide. This week's charts, with data taken from August 23rd, 2007, feature a leading debut for BioShock in both the United States and in Europe, while previous sales leader Madden NFL 08 fights to keep up. Data for "Saling The World" comes courtesy of the public sales information on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Amazon.co.jp, with sales split out for each platform and territory, and pre-orders disregarded. This results in a true sense of what games are selling worldwide on the real-time updated service, as follows: Nintendo Wii North America: 1. Wii Play (Nintendo), 2. Brunswick Pro Bowling (Crave), 3. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (Nintendo), 4. Mario Strikers Charged (Nintendo), 5. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo), 2. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 3. Hajimete no Wii (Nintendo), 4. Kidou Senshi Gundam: MS Sensen 0079 (Bandai), 5. Forever Blue (Nintendo). UK: 1. Big Brain Academy for Wii (Nintendo), 2. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo), 3. Wii Play (Nintendo), 4. Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Nintendo), 5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (EA Games). After debuting at second place on the U.S. Nintendo Wii chart last week, Madden NFL 08 falls sharply in popularity in the week thereafter, replaced by the just-released Brunswick Pro Bowling and a discounted Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree. Big Brain Academy for Wii also sees a banner week in the UK, where it takes first place in sales after a similarly sharp discount of 35 percent. Xbox 360 North America: 1. BioShock (2K Games), 2. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 3. Gears of War (Microsoft), 4. Shadowrun (Microsoft), 5. Guitar Hero II Bundle (RedOctane). Japan: 1. Trusty Bell: Chopin no Yume (Namco), 2. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Spike), 3. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Ubisoft), 4. The IdolM@ster (Namco), 5. Dead Rising -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Capcom). UK: 1. BioShock -- Limited Edition (2K Games), 2. BioShock (2K Games), 3. Blue Dragon (Microsoft), 4. Gears of War (Microsoft), 5. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2K Games). Universal critical praise and popular demand have lead BioShock to outpace the week-old Madden NFL 08 in weekly sales numbers and become this week's single best-selling title across all platforms in the United States. This initially seemed unlikely, given that the Xbox 360 version of Madden NFL 08 remains the most sought-after port of the game, and that Madden releases tend to top sales charts for several weeks following their initial releases. Meanwhile, Shadowrun makes a reappearance in this week's U.S. results after an absence of several months thanks to a recent Amazon "Deal of the Day" discount in price, while Trusty Bell takes top honors in Japan after a price drop of 50 percent. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 2. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Ubisoft), 3. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA), 4. Ninja Gaiden Sigma (Tecmo), 5. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft). Japan: 1. Minna no Golf 5 (SCEI), 2. Boku no Natsuyasumi 3 (SCEI), 3. Call of Duty 3 (Spike), 4. Resistance: Jinrui Botsuraku no Hi (SCEI), 5. FolksSoul: Ushinawareta Denshou (SCEI). UK: 1. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEE), 2. MotorStorm (SCEE), 3. Formula One Championship Edition (SCEE), 4. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Ubisoft), 5. Ridge Racer 7 (SCEE). Madden NFL 08 remains entrenched at the top of the PlayStation 3 weekly sales charts, even in the face of strong competition from the just-debuted PS3 port of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2. Little chart activity can be seen otherwise, however, with popular titles like Ninja Gaiden Sigma and Resistance: Fall of Man predictably continuing to lead the way in the U.S. and UK. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 2. Guitar Hero II Bundle (Activision), 3. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 (Atlus), 4. Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s (Activision), 5. God of War II (SCEA). Japan: 1. Sengoku Musou 2 Mushouden (Koei), 2. Metal Gear 20th Anniversary: Metal Gear Solid Collection (Konami), 3. Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System (Square Enix), 4. J.League Winning Eleven 2007 Club Championship (Konami), 5. Tales of Fandom Vol. 2 -- Luke Version (Namco). UK: 1. SingStar '90s (SCEE), 2. Transformers: The Game (Activision), 3. Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix), 4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (EA Games), 5. SingStar Pop Hits (SCEE). Madden NFL 08 outperforms all competing software on the PlayStation 2 as well, and still ranks as one of the most popular versions of the game in its second week of release. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 showcases impressive chart staying power after a second-place debut last week, meanwhile, with the Guitar Hero II Bundle barely nudging it down to third place. In Japan, Sengoku Musou 2 Mushouden (likely to receive a future U.S. release as Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends) debuts to PS2 software sales leadership, though competition from strong sellers like Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System and the Metal Gear Solid Collection could leave its future reign in jeopardy. PC North America: 1. BioShock (2K Games), 2. Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword (2K Games), 3. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard), 4. World of Warcraft (Blizzard), 5. The Sims 2 Deluxe (EA Games). Japan: 1. Fushigi no Dungeon: Furai no Shiren Gaiden: Onna Kenshi Asuka Kenzan! For Windows (ChunSoft), 2. Heart no Kuni no Alice: Wonderful Wonder World (QuinRose), 3. Little Busters! (KEY), 4. Monster Hunter Frontier (Capcom), 5. Sim People: Expansion Collection 3 (EA Games). UK: 1. BioShock -- Limited Edition (2K Games), 2. BioShock (2K Games), 3. World of Warcraft (Blizzard), 4. Football Manager 2007 (Sega), 5. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard). Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword rises back up to best World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade in sales this week in the United States, but BioShock proves to be the biggest seller overall. While the Xbox 360 version is the more popular of the two in the U.S., BioShock on PC nevertheless manages to make a strong overall sales impression that few PC titles manage to achieve. Interestingly, though, the PC port outsells both the regular and limited Xbox 360 editions in Europe, where BioShock's PC version emerges as the week's biggest-selling software title on any platform. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day (Nintendo), 2. Brain Age (Nintendo), 3. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 4. Big Brain Academy (Nintendo), 5. Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (Natsume). Japan: 1. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (Square Enix), 2. Gyakuten Saiban 3 -- Best Price! (Capcom), 3. Hayate no Gotoku! Boku ga Romeo de Romeo ga Boku de (Konami), 4. Facening de Hyoujou Yutaka ni Inshou Up: Otona no DS Kao Training (Nintendo), 5. Ganbaru Watashi no Kakei Diary (Nintendo). UK: 1. More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima (Nintendo), 2. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 3. Pokemon Diamond (Nintendo), 4. Cooking Mama (505 Games), 5. Pokemon Pearl (Nintendo). With no Pokemon in charted sight for the first time in months, Nintendo's Brain Age 2 finds many willing adopters at Amazon in its first week of release. While the standalone version of Brain Age 2 reigns above all other DS software in sales this week, a bundled version that includes a special edition Nintendo DS console proves to be even more popular, and could end up becoming the biggest-selling version of the Nintendo DS hardware for weeks to come. Japan, meanwhile, sees a major chart shakeup this week, with the triple threat of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates, Gyakuten Saiban 3 (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations), and Hayate no Gotoku! Boku ga Romeo de Romeo ga Boku de stealing the spotlight from previous leaders Facening de Hyoujou Yutaka ni Inshou Up: Otona no DS Kao Training and Ganbaru Watashi no Kakei Diary. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Final Fantasy II Anniversary Edition (Square Enix), 2. Jeanne D'Arc (SCEA), 3. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 4. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 5. Tekken: Dark Resurrection (Namco Bandai). Japan: 1. Dragoneer's Aria: Ryuu ga Nemuru made (Nippon Ichi), 2. Lumines -- PSP the Best (Bandai), 3. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 4. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom), 5. Maplus: Portable Navi (Edia). UK: 1. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 2. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports), 3. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 4. Sega Mega Drive Collection (Sega), 5. World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions 2007 Edition (Activision). An Amazon-sponsored "Deal of the Day" promotion drives Final Fantasy II Anniversary Edition into the top PSP sales spot this week. Now that the day-long promotion has ended, however, interest is expected to drop sharply in favor of more popular titles like Madden NFL 08. The recently released Jeanne D'Arc also forges a strong finish this week, as strategy RPG fans seem eager to snap up the Level 5-developed title.