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Gamasutra's latest exclusively compiled "Saling The World," covering the Amazon.com top five games for every major console and region, shows ports of the popular Spider-Man 3 hitting the top of North American and UK charts, and the 360's _Command

Danny Cowan, Blogger

May 11, 2007

7 Min Read

Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five 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 March 10th, 2007, include a look at which ports of the popular Spider-Man 3 currently exhibit the best sales performance in the U.S. and Europe. 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. Super Paper Mario (Nintendo), 2. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Nintendo), 3. Wii Play (Nintendo), 4. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 5. Spider-Man 3 (Activision). Japan: 1. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 2. Wii de Yawaraka Atama Juku (Nintendo), 3. Super Paper Mario (Nintendo), 4. Hajimete no Wii (Nintendo), 5. Zelda no Densetsu: Twilight Princess (Nintendo). UK: 1. Wii Play (Nintendo), 2. Eledees (Konami), 3. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports), 4. Red Steel (Ubisoft), 5. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Nintendo). Super Paper Mario remains at the top of the Wii sales chart in North America, while WarioWare: Smooth Moves sees a brief resurgence of interest thanks to a one-day sale price at Amazon earlier in the week. Super Paper Mario is still lagging behind the sales of titles like Wii Sports and Wii de Yawaraka Atama Juku in Japan, however, and may not see a first-place finish again in the future. Rounding out the week is Activision's Spider-Man 3, which brings up the rear at fifth place in the United States, exhibiting decent sales despite widespread rejection from critics. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Phantasy Star Universe (Sega), 2. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (EA Games), 3. Gears of War (Microsoft), 4. Guitar Hero II Bundle (RedOctane), 5. Spider-Man 3 (Activision). Japan: 1. Riot Act (Microsoft), 2. Test Drive Unlimited (Atari), 3. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft), 4. The IdolM@ster (Namco), 5. Final Fantasy XI All-in-One Pack 2006 (Square Enix). UK: 1. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (EA Games), 2. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2K Games), 3. Gears of War (Microsoft), 4. Crackdown (Microsoft), 5. Spider-Man 3 (Activision). A reduced price point of $9.99 launches Phantasy Star Universe into first place in Amazon's Xbox 360 software sales in the United States this week. The price has since been raised, however, and the interest of bargain-minded gamers is expected to quickly wane as a result. A smaller discount also places Riot Act (Crackdown) at the top of Japan's chart this week. Meanwhile, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars debuts high in its week of release in the U.S. and Europe, while Spider-Man 3 finishes at fifth place in both regions. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA), 2. Spider-Man 3 Collector's Edition (Activision), 3. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda), 4. Spider-Man 3 (Activision), 5. F.E.A.R. (Vivendi). Japan: 1. Gundam Musou (Bandai), 2. Winning Post 7: Maximum 2007 (Koei), 3. Power Smash 3 (Sega), 4. Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom (Spike), 5. Enchant Arm (From Software). UK: 1. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion with free HDMI Cable (Ubisoft), 2. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA), 3. MotorStorm (SCEA), 4. Formula One Championship Edition (SCEE), 5. Call of Duty 3 (Activision). The PlayStation 3-exclusive Collector's Edition of Spider-Man 3 fares the best among all next-gen ports of the game in its debut week, with an enticing selection of extras likely driving a large percentage of sales. The regular edition also performs well, outselling many of the PS3's most popular recent releases. In Japan, Gundam Musou remains a top seller, despite a recent announcement of an upcoming Xbox 360 port in the United States. Whether the port will be released in Japan is currently unknown, though an impact on sales for the existing PS3 version would be likely, if this turned out to be the case. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Guitar Hero II Bundle (RedOctane), 2. Spider-Man 3 (Activision), 3. God of War II (SCEA), 4. God of War (SCEA), 5. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts). Japan: 1. Persona 3: Fes (Atlus), 2. Okami -- PlayStation 2 the Best (Capcom), 3. Wrestle Kingdom 2: Pro Wrestling Sekai Taisen (Yuke's), 4. Shinkyouku Soukai Polyphonica (Prototype), 5. VitaminX (D3 Publisher). UK: 1. Spider-Man 3 (Activision), 2. Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix), 3. SingStar Pop Hits (SCEE), 4. Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party (SCEE), 5. Buzz! The Mega Quiz (SCEE). The lower-priced PlayStation 2 version of Spider-Man 3 sees the biggest sales among all console ports of the game in the United States and the UK this week, with low review scores doing little to impede its success over all other versions. Few other entries in this week's charts strike much interest, though the Yuke's-developed Wrestle Kingdom 2: Pro Wrestling Sekai Taisen is making fast sales strides in its debut week in Japan. PC North America: 1. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard), 2. World of Warcraft (Blizzard), 3. The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar (Midway), 4. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 5. The Sims 2: Seasons (EA Games). Japan: 1. The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (Tecmo), 2. Shinkyouku Soukai Polyphonica -- 1 & 2 Box Edition (Ocelot), 3. Angel Love Online -- Starter Kit (Frontier Groove), 4. Final Fantasy XI: Hajimete no Final Fantasy XI (Square Enix), 5. Hoshi no Oujo (Mirai). UK: 1. The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar (Midway), 2. Sid Meier's Civilization Chronicles (2K Games), 3. The Sims 2: Seasons (EA Games), 4. Football Manager 2007 (Sega), 5. Guild Wars: Nightfall Collector's Edition (NC Soft). World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade retake the top two PC sales spots in the United States this week, as former leader The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar falls back to third place. The title finishes first in Japan, however, after seeing surprisingly brisk sales in its first week of release. Otherwise, the majority of the region's chart is composed of the usual adventure titles and MMORPGs that have populated the list for many weeks prior. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Pokemon Diamond (Nintendo), 2. Pokemon Pearl (Nintendo), 3. Brain Age (Nintendo), 4. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 5. Mega Man ZX (Capcom). Japan: 1. TOEIC Test DS Training (IE Institute), 2. Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Motto Eigo Duke (Nintendo), 3. Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (Square Enix), 4. Touhoku Daigaku Mirai Kagaku Gijutsu Kyoudou Kenkyuu Center Kawashima Ryuuta Kyouju Kanshuu: Motto Nou wo Kitaeru Otona no DS Training (Nintendo), 5. Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Eigo Duke (Nintendo). UK: 1. Cooking Mama (505 GameStreet), 2. Nintendogs: Lab & Friends (Nintendo), 3. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 4. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 5. Final Fantasy III (Square Enix). As Pokemon continues its dominance of DS sales in the United States, a discounted Mega Man ZX creeps back up the charts, racking up impressive sales numbers shortly after being reduced in price to $16.16 at Amazon. Japan, on the other hand, reports its highest DS sales in preorder items like Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii: Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 and Dokidoki Majo Shinpan!, both of which will likely meet with an enthusiastic reception upon their release. In the meantime, however, the DS's biggest Japanese sellers continue to be brain training and edutainment software such as TOEIC Test DS Training, Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training, and Motto Nou wo Kitaeru Otona no DS Training. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 2. Daxter (SCEA), 3. Burnout Legends (EA Games), 4. Star Wars Battlefront II (LucasArts), 5. MLB 07 (SCEA). Japan: 1. Final Fantasy Tactics: Shishi Sensou (Square Enix), 2. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom), 3. Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition (Square Enix), 4. Eiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki FC (Nihon Falcom), 5. Princess Crown -- Atlus Best Collection (Atlus). UK: 1. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 2. Lumines II (Buena Vista), 3. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 4. Sega Mega Drive Collection (Sega), 5. Virtua Tennis 3 (Sega). Final Fantasy Tactics: Shishi Sensou debuts to steal the top sales spot away from longtime sales leader Monster Hunter Portable 2nd in its first week of release, and could possess enough momentum to lead sales in future weeks as well. Lumines II rockets up the chart in Europe, meanwhile, with a blowout price of £7.96 at Amazon being difficult for PSP owners to resist.

About the Author(s)

Danny Cowan

Blogger

Danny Cowan is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist for Gamasutra and its subsites. Previously, he has written reviews and feature articles for gaming publications including 1UP.com, GamePro, and Hardcore Gamer Magazine.

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