UK Sales Chart, Week Ending December 17th

The official UK Christmas number one has been announced as Electronic Arts’ Need For Speed: Most Wanted. This is the second year in a row in which the franchise has been the number one Christmas title in the UK (it also reached number one in 2003, but not until the week ending December 27th), although its victory in the end was by a narrow margin. As expected, the top ten has changed very little from the previous week, with the release of The Chronicles of Narnia and King Kong movies only occurring in the last few dates covered by the Christmas chart. This does make it quite possible that King Kong could possibly take over the top spot next week, although it will still be denied the official title of Christmas number one. The only new entry in the top forty is Crazy Frog Racer, based on the popular ringtone character The Annoying Thing. Despite a negative critical response, the title’s strong entry suggests it may have become a serious Christmas contender if released slightly earlier. In the end, the only real movement of note is the sudden appearance of True Crime: New York City at number nine in the charts, following drastic price cutting by many online and High Street stores for both it and Call of Duty 2: Big Red One to just £19.99 ($35). Indeed, King Kong has also seen its price slashed to £24.99 ($44) or lower this week, suggesting that the success of some games in the top ten has come at a considerable price. The suggested retail price of new home console titles in the UK is £39.99 ($71), with new titles generally selling at a discount of £5 to £10 in most large stores. New Xbox 360 games are supposed to retail at £44.99 ($79), creating an unusually large price range for new titles that is causing considerable consternation amongst UK retailers.

Official UK Leisure Software Charts (c) ELSPA compiled by Chart-Track