UK Charts: Resident Evil 5 Fends off Grand Theft Auto

Resident Evil 5's defense of the number one spot in the UK sales charts has inspired a number of other titles to hold their ground this week, with the entire top four being identical to last week. Capcom’s record-breaking sequel still topped the individual and all-platform charts, despite a 52 percent drop in combined sales. The highest new entry in the individual platforms chart is Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars at number five, with Chart-Track indicating the well-reviewed title sold around half that of the launch week of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories on PSP. Whether the game will mirror other major Nintendo format releases and perform better in its second week remains to be seen. The other major new entry of the week is THQ’s WWE Legends of Wrestlemania, with the PlayStation 3 version debuting at number eight with 51 percent of sales and the Xbox 360 version at number nine with 49 percent. Also of note in the top 10 this week is the effect that Mother’s Day (celebrated on the Fourth Sunday in Lent in the UK) has had on software sales, with a number of older Nintendo DS titles moving rapidly up the chart. Thanks to a retailer promotion with the turquoise DS Lite Starter Pack Brain Training (aka Brain Age) moved up 10 places to number six with a 117 percent increase in sales. Ubisoft’s Puzzler Collection was up 13 places to number 10, with More Brain Training (aka Brain Age 2) also a new entry at number 27. The highest new entry outside the top 10 is Scrabble: 2009 Edition on Nintendo DS from Ubisoft at number 23. New at number 29 is MadWorld, a weaker initial performance than The House of the Dead: Overkill - Sega’s last mature-rated title for the Wii. The final new entry of the week is the PlayStation 2 version of karaoke game SingStar: Queen at number 33, with the PS3 version not charting in the top 40. In the separate all-platform chart, which combines all SKUs of a game into a single chart position, the top three is still headed by Resident Evil, followed by Wii Fit and Professor Layton And The Curious Village. Overall, in the top 40 chart by individual platforms, there are 12 titles on the Nintendo DS, 10 on the Xbox 260, nine on the Wii, seven on the PlayStation 3, one each on the PC and PlayStation 2 and none on the PSP.

Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2009 ELSPA Ltd