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 January 29th, 2009, find
Wii Fit topping the Wii charts in North America, as
Call of Duty: World at War leads sales on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
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. My Fitness Coach (Ubisoft), 4. Wii Play (Nintendo), 5. Active Life: Outdoor Challenge (Namco Bandai).
Japan: 1. Taiko no Tatsujin Wii (Namco), 2. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 3. Wii de Asobu: Mario Tennis GC (Nintendo), 4. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 5. Wii Sports (Nintendo).
UK: 1. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 3. Wii Play (Nintendo), 4. Family Ski (Namco Bandai), 5. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega).
The new year's fitness trend continues this week, with three of this week's top five Wii sellers in the U.S. promoting weight loss and healthier lifestyles.
Wii Fit leads the pack, while
My Fitness Coach and
Active Life: Outdoor Challenge remain popular choices as well.
Wii Fit also takes the lead in Japan this week, pushing
Taiko no Tatsujin Wii down to second place.
Wii de Asobu: Mario Tennis GC recovers to take third, as
Mario Kart Wii and
Wii Sports close out the region's top five.
Xbox 360
North America: 1. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision), 2. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 3. Left 4 Dead (EA Games), 4. Gears of War 2 (Microsoft), 5. Skate 2 (EA Games).
Japan: 1. Ninja Blade (From Software), 2. Tomb Raider: Underworld (Eidos), 3. Left 4 Dead (EA Games), 4. Fallout 3 (Bethesda), 5. Tales of Vesperia (Namco).
UK: 1. FIFA 09 (EA Sports), 2. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision), 3. Fallout 3 (Bethesda), 4. Gears of War 2 (Microsoft), 5. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar).
A price drop puts
Halo 3 back among the Xbox 360's top sellers in North America this week.
Left 4 Dead manages to trump
Gears of War 2 in weekly sales for the first time this year, while
Skate 2 again finishes at fifth place.
Ninja Blade and
Tomb Raider: Underworld make strong showings in their first week of Japanese release, while
Left 4 Dead drops to third in regional sales following its first-place debut last week.
PlayStation 3
North America: 1. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision), 2. LittleBigPlanet (SCEA), 3. BioShock (2K Games), 4. Burnout Paradise (EA Games), 5. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami).
Japan: 1. Fallout 3 (Bethesda), 2. Tomb Raider: Underworld (Eidos), 3. Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! -- PlayStation 3 The Best (Sega), 4. Gundam Musou 2 (Bandai), 5. Naruto: Narultimate Storm (Bandai).
UK: 1. LittleBigPlanet (SCEE), 2. Resistance 2 (SCEE), 3. FIFA 09 (EA Sports), 4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 5. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar).
As anticipation builds for the upcoming release of
Killzone 2, FPS fans turn to
Call of Duty: World at War as their current shooter of choice on the PlayStation 3.
LittleBigPlanet continues to see impressive sales from week to week, while
BioShock returns to the U.S. top five following a drop in price at Amazon.
In Japan,
Naruto: Narultimate Storm tumbles down to fifth place after maintaining consistently strong sales over the past two weeks.
Fallout 3 and
Tomb Raider: Underworld emerge as the week's top Japanese sellers overall, as the recently rereleased
Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! continues to move up the chart.
PlayStation 2
North America: 1. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (Atlus), 2. Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection (Konami), 3. Rock Band Special Edition (MTV Games), 4. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES -- Special Edition (Atlus), 5. God of War II (SCEA).
Japan: 1. Harukanaru Toki no Naka de Yumenoukihashi Special (Koei), 2. Harukanaru Toki no Naka de Yumenoukihashi Special -- Treasure Box (Koei), 3. Dance Dance Revolution X (Konami), 4. Fate/Unlimited Codes -- SP-BOX (Capcom), 5. Ryu ga Gotoku 2 -- PlayStation 2 the Best (Sega).
UK: 1. SingStar: ABBA (SCEE), 2. Tomb Raider: Underworld (Eidos), 3. Persona 3 FES (Koei), 4. FIFA 09 (EA Sports), 5. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (Konami).
Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection moves up to challenge
Persona 4 for the top spot in this week's North American PS2 rankings, but ultimately comes up short.
Rock Band Special Edition also makes an impressive chart showing this week, beating out longtime chart favorites
Persona 3: FES and
God of War II.
PC
North America: 1. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (Blizzard), 2. Left 4 Dead (EA Games), 3. Fallout 3 (Bethesda), 4. World of Goo (Brighter Minds), 5. MLB Front Office Manager (2K Sports).
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. RPG Tsukuuru VX (Enterbrain), 5. Generation Xth: Code Hazard (Experience).
UK: 1. Football Manager 2009 (Sega), 2. Left 4 Dead (EA Games), 3. Fallout 3 (Bethesda), 4. Spore (EA Games), 5. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (EA Games).
Last week's PC chart champion
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth Anthology abruptly disappears from the U.S. top five, while
Wrath of the Lich King takes its place in this week's results. The Game of the Year Edition of
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion also drops out of the top five this week, while
Left 4 Dead and
World of Goo continue to move up the charts.
Nintendo DS
North America: 1. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 2. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 3. Brain Age (Nintendo), 4. Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force (Disney), 5. Brain Age 2 (Nintendo).
Japan: 1. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (Square Enix), 2. Wagamama Fashion: Girls Mode (Nintendo), 3. Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo), 4. Megami Ibunroku: Devil Survivor (Atlus), 5. Pocket Monsters Platinum (Nintendo).
UK: 1. Professor Layton and the Curious Village (Nintendo), 2. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 3. More Brain Training (Nintendo), 4. Junior Brain Trainer (Avanquest), 5. 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo).
Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force returns to the Nintendo DS top five in North America following a sudden chart disappearance last week. The week's results are otherwise predictable, with
Mario Kart DS, New Super Mario Bros., and
Brain Age continuing to lead the pack.
In Japan,
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time finishes its first week of release at the top of the region's Nintendo DS charts, with
Wagamama Fashion: Girls Mode and
Rhythm Tengoku Gold trailing close behind.
PlayStation Portable
North America: 1. Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow (SCEA), 2. Star Ocean: Second Evolution (Square Enix), 3. Tekken: Dark Resurrection (Namco Bandai), 4. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 5. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA).
Japan: 1. Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 (Namco), 2. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2009 (Konami), 3. Dissidia: Final Fantasy (Square Enix), 4. Zill O'll Infinite Plus (Koei), 5. Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 -- Special Edition (Namco)
UK: 1. FIFA 09 (EA Sports), 2. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEE), 3. Call of Duty: Roads to Victory (Activision), 4. Lego Batman (Warner Bros.), 5. Football Manager Handheld 2009 (Sega).
Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow returns to the charts this week, finishing first in North American PSP sales and pushing last week's sales leader
Star Ocean: Second Evolution to second place.
Tekken: Dark Resurrection also makes a surprise comeback after several months' absence, as
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and
God of War: Chains of Olympus finish out the regional top five.
