Saling The World: Persona 4 Heads American PS2 Software Sales

Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five real-time Amazon.com sellers 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 January 15th, 2009, find Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 leading PlayStation 2 sales in North America for the second week running, while Megami Ibunroku: Devil Survivor and DS Uranai Seikatsu head Nintendo DS 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. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 3. Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party (Ubisoft), 4. Rayman Raving Rabbids (Ubisoft), 5. Wii Play (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Taiko no Tatsujin Wii (Namco), 2. Wii de Asobu: Mario Tennis GC (Nintendo), 3. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 4. Shape Boxing Wii de Enjoy Diet! (Rocket Company), 5. Wii Sports (Nintendo). UK: 1. Wii Play (Nintendo), 2. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 3. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 4. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 5. Carnival: Fun Fair Games (2K Games). A promotional deal that pairs Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party with a free copy of the original Rayman Raving Rabbids puts both titles in this week's top five Wii sellers at Amazon. Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii remain at the top, while last week's top five contender My Fitness Coach drops to sixth place. In Japan, Taiko no Tatsujin Wii maintains its lead, while Wii de Asobu: Mario Tennis GC trails at second place. Wii Fit takes third, as Shape Boxing and Wii Sports follow at fourth and fifth. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision), 2. Gears of War 2 (Microsoft), 3. Left 4 Dead (EA Games), 4. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 5. Fable II (Microsoft). Japan: 1. Race Driver: GRID (Codemasters), 2. Fallout 3 (Bethesda), 3. Tales of Vesperia (Namco), 4. The Last Remnant (Square Enix), 5. Gears of War -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Microsoft). UK: 1. FIFA 09 (EA Sports), 2. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision), 3. The Lord of the Rings: Conquest (EA Games), 4. Gears of War 2 (Microsoft), 5. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar). This week's top three Xbox 360 sellers in North America remain unchanged from last week's results, though the guitar peripheral-bundled Guitar Hero III makes a surprise return to the charts at fourth place, thanks to a recent drop in price at Amazon. Fable II also comes back this week at fifth place, while The Lord of the Rings: Conquest debuts at sixth. Race Driver: GRID is off to a great start in its first week of release in Japan, topping overall software sales for the platform. Fallout 3 drops to second place in regional sales, while a greatly discounted The Last Remnant returns at fourth place. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. LittleBigPlanet (SCEA), 2. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision), 3. Eternal Sonata (Bandai Namco), 4. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 5. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami), 5. Resistance 2 (SCEA). Japan: 1. Naruto: Narultimate Storm (Bandai), 2. Gundam Musou 2 (Bandai), 3. Race Driver: GRID (Codemasters), 4. Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! -- PlayStation 3 The Best (Sega), 5. Shirokishi Monogatari: Inishie no Kodou (SCEI). UK: 1. LittleBigPlanet (SCEE), 2. Fallout 3 (Bethesda), 3. Midnight Club: Los Angeles (2K Games), 4. Far Cry 2 (Ubisoft), 5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -- Game of the Year Edition (Activision). Preorder demand builds for the upcoming Killzone 2, as the title ranks behind LittleBigPlanet and Call of Duty: World at War as this week's top-ordered PS3 game at Amazon. Eternal Sonata finds a sales boost after a recent discount, as Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4 hang on at fourth and fifth place in North American weekly sales numbers. Naruto: Narultimate Storm takes top honors in Japan in its first week of release, leaving last week's sales champion Gundam Musou 2 at second place. Race Driver: GRID finishes third, while Shirokishi Monogatari falls to fifth place. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (Atlus), 2. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES -- Special Edition (Atlus), 3. Rock Band Special Edition (MTV Games), 4. Katamari Damacy (Bandai Namco), 5. Madden NFL 09 (EA Sports). Japan: 1. Gundam Musou 2 (Bandai), 2. Hokuouki (Idea Factory), 3. Fate/Unlimited Codes -- SP-BOX (Capcom), 4. Persona 4 (Atlus), 5. Fate/Unlimited Codes (Capcom). UK: 1. SingStar: ABBA (SCEE), 2. FIFA 09 (EA Sports), 3. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 4. SingStar Party (SCEE), 5. Need for Speed: Undercover (EA Games). Persona 4 remains the PlayStation 2's top seller in North America for the second week running, fending off chart competition from Rock Band and an Amazon-exclusive artbook and soundtrack-bundled version of Persona 3: FES. Katamari Damacy returns at fourth place this week following a long chart absence, as Madden NFL 09 closes out the U.S. top five. PC North America: 1. World of Goo (Brighter Minds), 2. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (Blizzard), 3. Fallout 3 (Bethesda), 4. Left 4 Dead (EA Games), 5. Hoyle Card Games 2009 (Encore). Japan: 1. Monster Hunter Frontier Online Season 4.0 Premium Package (E Frontier), 2. Left 4 Dead (Zoo), 3. Final Fantasy XI: The Vana'diel Collection (Square Enix), 4. Grand Theft Auto IV (Cyber Front), 5. Ragnarok Online 6th Anniversary Package (E Frontier). UK: 1. Football Manager 2009 (Sega), 2. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (EA Games), 3. Left 4 Dead (EA Games), 4. Fallout 3 (Bethesda), 5. Far Cry 2 (Ubisoft). The 2D Boy-developed World of Goo takes top honors in PC platform sales in North America this week, beating out formidable names like World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King and Fallout 3. Left 4 Dead maintains a strong chart presence, meanwhile, as Hoyle Card Games 2009 bumps Spore out of the regional top five. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 2. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 3. Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force (Disney), 4. Brain Age (Nintendo), 5. Brain Age 2 (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Megami Ibunroku: Devil Survivor (Atlus), 2. DS Uranai Seikatsu (Nintendo), 3. Wagamama Fashion: Girls Mode (Nintendo), 4. Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo), 5. KORG DS-10 (AQ Interactive). UK: 1. More Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. Professor Layton and the Curious Village (Nintendo), 3. 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo), 4. Puzzler Collection (Ubisoft), 5. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo). Both titles in Nintendo's Brain Age series return to the North American Nintendo DS sales charts this week, but come up short against Club Penguin's enduring sales performance. Mario Kart DS and New Super Mario Bros. lead the pack once again, while recent hits like Personal Trainer: Cooking and Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir drop out of the top five. Atlus' Megami Ibunroku: Devil Survivor leads Japanese Nintendo DS sales in its first week of release, meanwhile, as Nintendo's recently released DS Uranai Seikatsu takes second. Wagamama Fashion and Rhythm Tengoku Gold still hold on to their chart positions from last week, as KORG DS-10 mounts a chart comeback at fifth place. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow (SCEA), 2. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA), 3. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 4. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 5. Patapon (SCEA). Japan: 1. Dissidia: Final Fantasy (Square Enix), 2. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G -- PSP the Best (Capcom), 3. Eiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki Set (Nihon Falcom), 4. Musou Orochi: Maou Sairin (Koei), 5. Maplus: Portable Navi 2 (Edia). UK: 1. FIFA 09 (EA Sports), 2. LocoRoco 2 (SCEE), 3. Lego Batman (Warner Bros.), 3. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (Konami), 4. Football Manager Handheld 2009 (Sega), 5. Need for Speed: Undercover (EA Games). Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow returns to head the PSP sales charts in the United States following a drop in price to $10 at Amazon. Most of last week's biggest sellers remain in the top five this week, however, with God of War: Chains of Olympus, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, and Crisis Core faring the best out of the lot.