UK Sales Chart, Week Ending July 9th

After four weeks on the chart, THQ’s heavily delayed racing title Juiced, originally to be published by Acclaim, has finally made it to the top of the UK sales charts. Although its success has been helped by a generally slow period for sales and new releases, the game’s performance appears to justify the money and time THQ spent in acquiring it. Juiced’s success has been greatly aided by strong print and television advertising – something that has been denied to Sony’s God of War, which enters at a disappointing number five. The peculiar lack of advertising for the product has once again resurrected online chatter of a mysterious feud between Sony Computer Entertainment America and Europe, given the sometime apparent lack of co-ordination between the two divisions. Meanwhile, Madagascar’s leap of six places up the chart suggests a rosy future for the title in weeks to come, since the movie is still not due to open in the UK for another week. After God of War, the next highest entry is the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack at number thirteen, but with no other significant new releases due for much of the next two months, subsequent new entries are likely to be scarce.

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