This week's top rental charts from U.S. game rental company GameFly, representing the most requested games for the week ending August 27, highlight both to-be-released and already released games in a unique demand-specific chart.
BioShock, released just last week, remains the top requested game overall for the fourth straight week, followed by Midway's upcoming action adventure
Stranglehold and the Xbox 360 exclusive RPG
Blue Dragon. Interestingly, Nintendo's forthcoming Wii exclusive
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, which ranked fourth overall over the last two weeks and represents the chart's lone Wii title, fell slightly to take the list's fifth position.
What follows is a break down of the top titles requested by GameFly subscribers across each of the major platforms:
Xbox 360
1.
BioShock (Take Two), 2.
Stranglehold (Midway), 3.
Blue Dragon (Microsoft), 4.
Medal of Honor: Airborne (EA), 5.
Two Worlds (South Peak).
Take Two's
BioShock again ranked as the top requested Xbox 360 title this week, followed by Midway's movie inspired
Stranglehold and the anime-heavy
Blue Dragon. Another RPG, South Peak's
Two Worlds, rounded out the chart from the fifth position for the second week in a row.
Nintendo Wii
1.
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Nintendo), 2.
Mario Strikers Charged (Nintendo), 3.
Carnival Games (Globalstar), 4.
Brunswick Pro Bowling (Crave), 5.
Mario Party 8 (Nintendo).
Once again, Nintendo's
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption topped allother Wii requests for the week, followed once more by the recently released
Mario Strikers Charged. Globalstar's mini-game collection
Carnival Games climbed up a single spot to take the week's third position, while
Mario Party 8 emerged once again in the chart's fifth and final spot.
PlayStation 3
1.
Lair (Sony), 2.
Warhawk (Sony), 3.
Heavenly Sword (Sony), 4.
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Ubisoft), 5.
DiRT (Codemasters).
Sony's
Lair held onto the top spot among PS3 game requests this week, followed by other Sony heavyweights
Warhawk and
Heavenly Sword.
DiRT, after shipping in June for the Xbox 360, is set to arrive for the PS3 in September, and the off road racing title rounded out the week's PS3 request list in fifth.
PlayStation 2
1.
Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2 (Namco), 2.
Stuntman: Ignition (THQ), 3.
Persona 3 (Atlus), 4.
Madden NFL 08 (EA), 5.
God of War II (Sony).
No new titles on the PS2 chart this week, just a lot of movement, as Namco's
Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2 moved in to become the top requested PS2 release for the week, while EA's
Madden NFL 08 fell dramatically to take the list's fourth place position. Atlus' niche RPG
Persona 3, after having been slightly delayed last month, remained a popular title among GameFly subscribers as well.
Xbox
1.
Halo 2 (Microsoft), 2.
Madden NFL 08 (EA), 3.
Ninja Gaiden Black (Tecmo), 4.
Knights of the Old Republic II (LucasArts), 5.
Halo (Microsoft).
The top five requests for the original Xbox were topped by Microsoft's
Halo 2, while the original title, now almost six years old, emerged as the chart's fifth most requested title, no doubt echoing anticipation for
Halo 3, shipping in September.
GameCube
1.
Super Smash Bros. Melee (Nintendo), 2.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 3.
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Nintendo), 4.
Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2 (D3P), 5.
Mario Party 7 (Nintendo).
With its sequel coming to the Wii later this year, it's not surprising to see
Super Smash Bros. Melee take top honors for the GameCube this week, knocking the popular
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess into second place. Likewise,
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, the prequel to this week's sequel for the Wii, ranked as the third most requested title for the GameCube this week.
Nintendo DS
1.
Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (Natsume), 2.
Brain Age 2 (Nintendo), 3.
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo), 4.
High School Musical: Makin' the Cut (Disney), 5.
Heroes of Mana (Square Enix).
Natsume's
Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon managed to climb to the top of the DS chart this week. No small task, as the sim had to overcome not only the recently released
Brain Age 2, but also the forthcoming
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. It remains to be seen how long the game can hold off these two powerhouses, however.
Game Boy Advance
1.
Pokemon: Emerald (Nintendo), 2.
Pokemon:Fire Red (Nintendo), 3.
Pokemon: Sapphire (Nintendo), 4.
Pokemon: Leaf Green (Nintendo), 5.
Pokemon: Ruby (Nintendo).
The Game Boy Advance chart, still dominated by
Pokemon titles, remained unchanged from last week, with
Pokemon: Emerald still on top as the most requested title for the platform. How long will
Pokemon games control the portable's chart? After weeks on end, it's anyone's guess.
PlayStation Portable
1.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes (Namco), 2.
Jeanne D'Arc (Sony), 3.
Monster Hunter Freedom 2 (Capcom), 4.
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Ubisoft), 5.
Dragoneer's Aria (Koei).
Sony's
Jeanne D'Arc fell slightly from last week to take second place among PSP requests, yielding its crown to Namco's
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes. Aso new this week is Capcom's
Monster Hunter Freedom 2, which has proven to be extremely popular in Japan and is expected to ship this week in North America.