Gamasutra's
weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five real-time Amazon.com charts for every available platform in the United States, Japan, and Europe, providing an important update of sales patterns worldwide.
This week's charts, with data taken from June 12th, 2008, find
Metal Gear Solid 4 leading worldwide PS3 software sales, while
Lego Indiana Jones continues to do brisk multiplatform business in its second week of release. 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. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo), 3. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 4. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 5. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts).
Japan: 1. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 2. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 3. Fushigi no Dungeon - Fuurai no Shiren 3: Karakuri Yashiki no Nemuri Hime (Sega), 4. Family Trainer (Bandai), 5. Wii Sports (Nintendo).
UK: 1. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 4. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl rejoins the sales fray this week in the United States after a brief absence, finishing at second place in Wii software sales following a promotional discount in price at Amazon. Both
Smash Bros. and
Wii Fit manage to beat out the debuting
Metal Gear Solid 4 as this week's best-selling multiplatform titles in North America, though
Wii Fit remains in short supply.
Mario Kart Wii suffers a sales hit this week from a similar lack of stock at Amazon, while
Guitar Hero III climbs up past
Lego Indiana Jones to fourth place. In Japan, last week's debuting chart-topper
Fuurai no Shiren 3 falls to third place in its second week of release, while
Lego Indiana Jones maintains its lead in Europe.
Xbox 360
North America: 1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 2. Ninja Gaiden II (Tecmo), 3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 4. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 5. Rock Band Special Edition (EA Games).
Japan: 1. Ninja Gaiden II (Tecmo), 2. The Orange Box (EA Games), 3. BioShock (Spike), 4. Turok (Touchstone), 5. DarkSector (D3 Publisher).
UK: 1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 2. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 3. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 4. Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution (2K Games), 5. Rock Band (EA Games).
Grand Theft Auto IV retakes the top spot in this week's North American Xbox 360 software sales, pushing last week's debuting (and recently discounted)
Ninja Gaiden II to second place.
Lego Indiana Jones moves up a place to take fourth, as
Rock Band hangs on at the tail end of the top five.
Japanese sales see
Ninja Gaiden II taking the lead for the second week in a row, as
BioShock, Turok, and
DarkSector climb back into chart range.
Ninja Gaiden II is conspicuously absent from the UK's top sellers, meanwhile, as its previous spot in the region's chart has since been filled by the just-released
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution.
PlayStation 3
North America: 1. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami), 2. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 3. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (SCEA), 4. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision).
Japan: 1. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots -- Special Edition (Konami), 2. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami), 3. Senjou no Valkyria (Sega), 4. Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit (Bandai), 5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision).
UK: 1. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami), 2. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 3. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 4. Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution (2K Games), 5. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (SCEE).
Metal Gear Solid 4 debuts as this week's top PlayStation 3 seller worldwide. The title leads sales across all platforms in Japan and Europe, though its initial U.S. sales are outpaced by big weekly numbers for
Wii Fit and
Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
North American PS3 sales remain consistent otherwise, with
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue overtaking
Lego Indiana Jones in the latter title's second week of release. Japan finds last week's leader
Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit topped by a resurgence of interest in
Senjou no Valkyria, as
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution makes a strong showing in its UK debut week.
PlayStation 2
North America: 1. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 2. Rock Band Special Edition (EA Games), 3. Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection (Konami), 4. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 5. God of War II (SCEA).
Japan: 1. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater -- PlayStation 2 the Best (Konami), 2. D.C. II P.S.: Da Capo II Plus Situation (Kadokawa Shoten), 3. Edel Blume -- Limited Edition (Idea Factory), 4. Mana Khemia 2: Ochita Gakuen to Renkinjutsushi Tachi (Gust), 5. Lucky * Star: Ryouou Gakuen Outousai -- DX Pack (Kadokawa Shoten).
UK: 1. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 2. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 4. Guitar Hero (Red Octane), 5. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami).
The PlayStation 2 port of
Lego Indiana Jones remains in high demand in North America and the UK, topping both regions' charts for the second week in a row.
Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection sees a slight chart increase in the United States, meanwhile, as a result of a recent discount in price at Amazon.
This week's release of
Metal Gear Solid 4 spurs newfound interest in
Metal Gear Solid 3 in Japan, as
Da Capo II Plus Situation and a discounted limited edition of
Edel Blume follow at second and third place.
PC
North America: 1. Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (Eidos), 2. The Orange Box (EA Games), 3. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 4. Hoyle Card Games 2008 (Encore), 5. Hoyle Puzzle & Board Games 2008 (Encore).
Japan: 1. Clannad: Full Voice (Key), 2. Final Fantasy XI: Vana'diel Collection (Square Enix), 3. Tenkatouitsu V (System Soft Alpha), 4. SimCity 4 Deluxe (EA Games), 5. Crysis (EA Games).
UK: 1. Microsoft Flight Simulator X Deluxe Edition (Microsoft), 2. Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (Eidos), 3. Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Acceleration Expansion Pack (Microsoft), 4. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 5. Football Manager 2008 (Sega).
This week shows a surge of interest in the soon-to-be-released
Spore Creature Creator, which currently leads U.S. PC presales. Demand for
Creature Creator is so strong that its weekly preorder numbers rival the sales numbers of this week's chart champion
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, though
Conan ultimately comes out ahead as the region's top overall seller.
North America's chart also shows
The Orange Box climbing up to second place, as
Mass Effect tumbles out of the top five in favor of a pair of Hoyle-licensed card games.
Nintendo DS
North America: 1. Brain Age (Nintendo), 2. Brain Age 2 (Nintendo), 3. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 4. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 5. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo).
Japan: 1. Nanatsuiro * Drops: Touch de Hajimaru Hatsukoi Monogatari -- Limited Edition (Media Works), 2. Motto Toeic Test DS Training (IE Institute), 3. Hisshou Pachinko*Pachi-Slot Kouryaku Series DS Vol. 2: CR Shinseiki Evangelion - Shito, Futatabi (D3 Publisher), 4. DS Bimoji Training (Nintendo), 5. DS Yamamura Misa Suspense: Maiko Kogiku - Kisha Katherine - Sougiya Isa Akashi - Koto ni Maru Hana Sanrin: Kyoto Satujin Jinken File (Tecmo).
UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 3. 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo), 4. More Brain Training (Nintendo), 5. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo).
Lego Indiana Jones' rule atop North America's Nintendo DS sales chart proved to be short-lived, as
Brain Age and its sequel have since pushed last week's debuting sales champion to third place. The title continues to hold its own against mainstays like
New Super Mario Bros. and
Mario Kart DS, however, and it could remain in the regional top five for some time to come.
Elsewhere, newcomer
Nanatsuiro * Drops: Touch de Hajimaru Hatsukoi Monogatari takes top honors in this week's DS sales in Japan, while the just-released
Motto Toeic Test DS Training takes second.
PlayStation Portable
North America: 1. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 2. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 3. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA), 4. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 5. Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (SCEA).
Japan: 1. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom), 2. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu Portable 3 (Konami), 3. Clannad (Prototype), 4. Valhalla Knights 2 (Marvelous), 5. Ikuze! Gen-San: Yuuyake Daiku Monogatari (Irem).
UK: 1. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 2. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 3. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEE), 4. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 5. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories -- Platinum (Rockstar).
After finding its initial sales trumped by
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII last week,
Lego Indiana Jones tops this week's North American PSP sales results.
God of War: Chains of Olympus and
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories follow close behind, while
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters rejoins the chart at fifth place.
Lego Indiana Jones also enjoys a first-place sales finish in the UK this week, while
Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G and
Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu Portable 3 maintain a significant sales lead in Japan.
