Saling The World: U.S. Remains Rock, Guitar-less

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 November 29th, 2007, show a holiday-fueled demand for Rock Band and Guitar Hero III that remains unsupplied in North America, while Layton Kyouju to Akuma no Hako takes over sales charts in Japan. 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. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 4. Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party (Konami), 5. Game Party (Midway). Japan: 1. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo), 2. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 3. Mario & Sonic at Bejing Olympics (Sega), 4. Hajimete no Wii (Nintendo), 5. Swing Golf Pangya 2nd Shot! (Tecmo). UK: 1. Big Brain Academy for Wii (Nintendo), 2. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 3. Carnival Funfair Games (2K Games), 4. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo), 5. FIFA 08 (EA Sports). Super Mario Galaxy continues to lead cross-platform software sales in the United States for the third week in a row, and shows no sign of slowing throughout the holiday season. Further supply shortages for Guitar Hero III push titles like Wii Play and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games up the chart, meanwhile, as Midway's just-released Game Party finds fast popularity among budget-minded Wii owners. In Japan, Wii Fit is all but certain to dominate Wii software sales upon its release on December 1st, though in the meantime, Super Mario Galaxy takes a shaky lead over its competitors after slipping from the top in the weeks prior. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 3. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 4. Halo 3: Legendary Edition (Microsoft), 5. Mass Effect (Microsoft). Japan: 1. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 2. Dead Rising / Gears of War -- Xbox 360 Platinum Double Pack (Capcom / Microsoft), 3. The Idol M@ster -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Namco), 4. Guilty Gear 2: Overture (Arc System Works), 5. Ace Combat 6: Kaihou e no Senka (Namco). UK: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 3. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 4. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 5. Mass Effect (Microsoft). Call of Duty 4 and Assassin's Creed find themselves back on top of this week's U.S. sales results, while the Legendary Edition of Halo 3 mounts a chart comeback thanks to a brief but steep drop in price at Amazon. This week's likely sales leaders Guitar Hero III and Rock Band are nowhere to be found, meanwhile, as Amazon's supply of both titles has been entirely exhausted. Third-party sellers have increased their asking prices dramatically in response, with Rock Band commanding costs that range from a low of $275.99 up to an astronomical $2,499.99. The bundled version of Guitar Hero III can be had for just under the $200 mark. It's unknown whether Amazon will receive additional units of either title to sell at MSRP in future weeks, or if these aftermarket prices will continue to skyrocket as the holidays approach. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 3. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (SCEA), 4. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (SCEA), 5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision). Japan: 1. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2008 (Konami), 2. Shin Sangoku Musou 5 (Koei), 3. Ratchet & Clank Future (SCEI), 4. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Spike), 5. Tony Hawk's Project 8 (Spike). UK: 1. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 2. Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction (SCEE), 3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 4. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 5. FIFA 08 (EA Sports). The guitar-bundled version of Guitar Hero III remains an easy find for the PlayStation 3, despite its rarity on other platforms. Amazon still lists both Rock Band and Guitar Hero III for the PlayStation 3 at MSRP, though Rock Band is currently on backorder, and is not scheduled to ship for another three or four weeks. Call of Duty 4 and Assassin's Creed lead North American PS3 sales in the meantime, as Uncharted: Drake's Fortune finds strong sales support as well. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Activision), 2. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 4. Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s (Activision), 5. Ben 10: Protector of Earth (D3 Publisher). Japan: 1. SD Gundam G Generation Spirits (Bandai), 2. Sengoku Basara 2: Heroes (Capcom), 3. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2008 (Konami), 4. Final Fantasy XI: Altana no Kamihei (Square Enix), 5. Zero no Tsukaima: Muma ga Tsumugu Yokaze no Gensoukyoku (Marvelous). UK: 1. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 2. The Simpsons Game (EA Games), 3. High School Musical: Sing It! (Disney), 4. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 5. High School Musical: Sing It! Microphone Bundle (Disney). Though supplies remained steady in previous weeks, both the standalone and bundled versions of Guitar Hero III for the PlayStation 2 are backordered at Amazon. Amazon reports that additional copies of the game itself will become available again soon, though no restock date is listed for the bundle. This year's other Guitar Hero release, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, is also due for a restock soon, as its popularity has surged in the wake of Guitar Hero III's release. PC North America: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. The Orange Box (EA Games), 3. Crysis (EA Games), 4. The Sims 2: Teen Style Stuff (EA Games), 5. The Sims 2: Bon Voyage (EA Games). Japan: 1. Final Fantasy XI: Altana no Kamihei (Square Enix), 2. Crysis (EA Games), 3. Hatsune Miku (Cripton Future Media), 4. Demon Parasite: Akuma no Youna Tenshi no Kanojo (Ocelot), 5. Heart no Kuni no Alice: Wonderful Wonder World (QuinRose). UK: 1. Football Manager 2008 (Sega), 2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 3. Crysis (EA Games), 4. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 5. The Sims 2: Bon Voyage (EA Games). Call of Duty 4 keeps its position at the top of North American PC sales this week, while The Orange Box creeps up past Crysis to take second place. The new Final Fantasy XI expansion pack Altana no Kamihei cleans up in Japan, in the meantime, as Crysis and Demon Parasite place high in their Japanese debut week. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Brain Age 2 (Nintendo), 2. Brain Age (Nintendo), 3. Mario Party DS (Nintendo), 4. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo), 5. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Layton Kyouju to Akuma no Hako (Nintendo), 2. Dragon Quest IV: Michibikareshi Monotachi (Square Enix), 3. Mario Party DS (Nintendo), 4. Layton Kyouju to Fushigi na Machi (Nintendo), 5. Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters: World Championship 2008 (Konami). UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima (Nintendo), 3. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 4. Cooking Mama (505 Games), 5. High School Musical: Makin' the Cut (Disney). As Brain Age and its sequel continue to top DS software sales in the United States and Europe, Amazon notes big sales for the newly available Crimson & Black and Metallic Rose editions of the Nintendo DS hardware in North America. Both versions individually eclipse sales of all available software (with the exception of Super Mario Galaxy) across all platforms in the United States, and both are expected to be among this holiday's most popular gifts. Mario Party DS continues to do exceptionally well in the U.S. and Japan, meanwhile, as newcomers Layton Kyouju to Akuma no Hako and Dragon Quest IV: Michibikareshi Monotachi shake up Japan's chart soon after their debut. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (Konami), 2. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 3. Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron (LucasArts), 4. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (Square Enix), 5. Daxter (SCEA). Japan: 1. Makai Senki Disgaea Portable: Tsuushin Taisen Hajime Mashita (Nippon Ichi), 2. Gundam Battle Chronicle (Bandai), 3. Air (Prototype), 4. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 5. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom). UK: 1. The Simpsons Game (EA Games), 2. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 4. Football Manager Handheld 2008 (Sega), 5. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (Square Enix). Amazon's "Deal of the Day" promotion takes Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles back to the top of weekly U.S. PSP sales, as PSP owners are eager to purchase the acclaimed title at a temporary sale price of $19.99. Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron finds itself among the week's top sellers after a brief absence, meanwhile, as popular holiday picks like Daxter and The Simpsons Game replace recent hits like Silent Hill: Origins.