Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five sellers for every available platform, according to real-time Amazon.com data, in the United States, Japan, and Europe, providing an important update on sales patterns worldwide.
This week's charts, with data taken from September 25th, 2008, find
Lego Batman making a strong multiplatform sales impression in its first week of North American release, while
Super Robot Taisen Z and
Disaster: Day of Crisis lead cross-platform results 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. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 2. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 3. Lego Batman (Warner Bros.), 4. Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (Crave), 5. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts).
Japan: 1. Disaster: Day of Crisis (Nintendo), 2. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 3. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 4. One Piece Unlimited Cruise: Episode 1 - Nami ni Yureru Hihou (Bandai), 5. Wii Sports (Nintendo).
UK: 1. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts), 2. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 3. Wii Play (Nintendo), 4. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 5. Carnival Fun Fair Games (2K Games).
Lego Batman debuts as this week's third-best selling Wii software title in North America, edging out competition from
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and a recently discounted
Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection.
Japan sees a chart shakeup with this week's release of
Disaster: Day of Crisis, which trumps the long-standing sales champion
Wii Fit as this week's best-selling Wii title.
One Piece Unlimited Cruise: Episode 1 appears to be slowly slipping out of the region's top five, while
Mario Kart Wii and
Wii Sports remain consistent sellers.
Xbox 360
North America: 1. Rock Band 2 (MTV Games), 2. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts), 3. Lego Batman (Warner Bros.), 4. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 5. Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (Ubisoft).
Japan: 1. Janline (Recom), 2. Tales of Vesperia (Namco), 3. Infinite Undiscovery -- Limited Edition (Square Enix), 4. Dead Rising -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Capcom), 5. Infinite Undiscovery (Square Enix).
UK: 1. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts), 2. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -- Game of the Year Edition (Activision), 4. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision).
After taking a first-place sales victory in its premiere week,
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is knocked out of North America's top spot this week by
Rock Band 2. Lego Batman and
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway achieve fast-selling debuts, meanwhile, as chart mainstays
Madden NFL 09 and
Grand Theft Auto IV see a rare absence from this week's top five.
The debuting mahjong sim
Janline surpasses
Tales of Vesperia as this week's best-selling Xbox 360 title in Japan, meanwhile, as
Dead Rising and two editions of
Infinite Undiscovery round out the regional top five.
PlayStation 3
North America: 1. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts), 2. Lego Batman (Warner Bros.), 3. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami), 4. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 5. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA).
Japan: 1. Aquanaut's Holiday (SCEI), 2. Cross Edge (Compile Heart), 3. Afrika (SCEI), 4. Trusty Bell: Chopin no Yume (Namco), 5. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots -- Special Edition (Konami).
UK: 1. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts), 2. Play TV (SCEA), 3. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 4. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami), 5. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (SCEA).
Lego Batman sees a successful debut on the PlayStation 3 in the United States this week, earning sales that surpass the weekly numbers of
Metal Gear Solid 4 and
Grand Theft Auto IV. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed still leads overall regional sales, while
Resistance: Fall of Man hangs on at fifth place.
Afrika's long reign as the PlayStation 3's top seller in Japan comes to an end this week, meanwhile, with the Artdink-developed
Aquanaut's Holiday leading platform sales in its first week of release. The multi-franchise crossover RPG
Cross Edge also finds fast sales in its debut week, while
Trusty Bell and
Metal Gear Solid 4 finish at fourth and fifth in this week's results.
PlayStation 2
North America: 1. Lego Batman (Warner Bros.), 2. Madden NFL 09 (EA Sports), 3. Rock Band Special Edition (EA Games), 4. Yakuza 2 (Sega), 5. SingStar Pop Vol. 2 (SCEA).
Japan: 1. Super Robot Taisen Z (Banpresto), 2. Kinnikuman Muscle Grand Prix Max 2 Tokumori (Bandai), 3. Hokuouki -- Limited Edition (Idea Factory), 4. Hokuouki (Idea Factory), 5. Persona 4 (Atlus).
UK: 1. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts), 2. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 4. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar), 5. Gran Turismo 4 (SCEE).
Lego Batman makes a big chart impression on the PlayStation 2, ranking as the second-best-selling port of the title in its North American debut week. The Wii version of
Lego Batman manages the biggest first-week sales numbers out of all available ports, while the Xbox 360 edition ranks third.
Super Robot Taisen Z and
Kinnikuman Muscle Grand Prix Max 2 Tokumori premiere as the week's top PS2 sellers in Japan, while in Europe, preorder numbers rise for the upcoming releases of
FIFA 09 and
Pro Evolution Soccer 2009.
PC
North America: 1. Spore (EA Games), 2. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (EA Games), 3. Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization (2K Games), 4. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning -- Collector's Edition (EA Games), 5. Crysis: Warhead (EA Games).
Japan: 1. Crysis: Warhead (EA Games), 2. Zwei II -- Limited Edition (Nihon Falcom), 3. The Sims 2: Apartment Life! Data Set (EA Games), 4. Ragnarok Online Beginner's Package 2008 (E Frontier), 5. Monster Hunter Frontier Online Season 3.0 Premium (E-Frontier).
UK: 1. Spore (EA Games), 2. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (EA Games), 3. Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Deluxe Edition (Microsoft), 4. Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization (2K Games), 5. Crysis: Warhead (EA Games).
Spore retakes the top PC sales position in North America this week, overtaking last week's sales champion
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.
Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization finishes at third place in regional sales in its first week on store shelves, meanwhile, as the recently released
Crysis: Warhead takes top honors in Japan.
Nintendo DS
North America: 1. Guitar Hero: On Tour (Activision), 2. Kirby Super Star Ultra (Nintendo), 3. Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir (Nintendo), 4. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 5. Lego Batman (Warner Bros.).
Japan: 1. Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo), 2. World Destruction: Michibi Kareshi Ishi (Sega), 3. Pocket Monsters Platinum (Nintendo), 4. Kumatanchi (Dimple), 5. KORG DS-10 (AQ Interactive).
UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 3. Scrabble Interactive: 2007 Edition (Ubisoft), 4. More Brain Training (Nintendo), 5. Guitar Hero: On Tour (Activision).
A discounted
Guitar Hero: On Tour tops North American Nintendo DS sales this week, followed closely by Nintendo's debuting
Kirby Super Star Ultra. Last week's sales leader
Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir drops to third place in this week's results, while
Lego Batman premieres at fifth.
Rhythm Tengoku Gold is back on top in Japan as demand for
Pocket Monsters Platinum cools, while Sega's
World Destruction manages a second-place debut.
PlayStation Portable
North America: 1. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts), 2. Lego Batman (Warner Bros.), 3. Madden NFL 09 (EA Sports), 4. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA), 5. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix).
Japan: 1. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom), 2. Mana-Khemia: Gakuen no Renkinjutsu Shitachi Portable Plus -- Limited Edition (Gust), 3. Katekyoo Hitman Reborn! Battle Arena (Marvelous), 4. Samurai Dou Portable (Spike), 5. Neo Angelique Special -- Premium Box (Koei).
UK: 1. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 2. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts), 3. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 4. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 5. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA).
North American PSP sales are headed by
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for the second week in a row, though
Lego Batman provides ample chart competition in its first week of release.
Madden NFL 09 follows at third place, while the previous multi-week sales champion
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII drops to fifth in regional numbers.
Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G again takes the lead in Japan after last week's chart-topping debut of
Katekyoo Hitman Reborn! Battle Arena, while an upgraded version of Gust's PS2-born RPG
Mana-Khemia finishes at second place.
