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 December 6th, 2007, show predictable shortages of
Rock Band and
Guitar Hero III in North America, and major shakeups in Japan coinciding with the release of
Wii Fit,
No More Heroes, and
Lost Odyssey. 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 Mario Galaxy (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 4. Guitar Hero III Bundle (Activision), 5. High School Musical: Sing It! Bundle (Disney).
Japan: 1. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. No More Heroes (Marvelous), 3. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo), 4. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 5. Mario & Sonic at Bejing Olympics (Sega).
UK: 1. Big Brain Academy for Wii (Nintendo), 2. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts), 3. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 4. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo), 5. Carnival Funfair Games (2K Games).
Demand for popular recent releases like
Super Mario Galaxy and
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games remains high in North America this week, while peripheral-bundled versions of
Guitar Hero III and
High School Musical: Sing It! climb the charts as the holidays approach. Amazon has since sold out of its most recent shipment of
Guitar Hero III for the Wii, however, and minimum aftermarket prices now double the game's original MSRP. Japan, on the other hand, sees new Wii chart leadership in the recently released
Wii Fit and
No More Heroes, with
Wii Fit emerging as the region's best-selling game across all platforms in its debut week.
Xbox 360
North America: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 3. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 4. Mass Effect (Microsoft), 5. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports).
Japan: 1. Lost Odyssey (Microsoft), 2. Virtua Fighter 5: Live Arena (Sega), 3. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 4. Dead Rising / Gears of War -- Xbox 360 Platinum Double Pack (Capcom / Microsoft), 5. The Idol
[email protected] -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Namco).
UK: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 3. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 4. Need for Speed ProStreet (EA Games), 5. The Simpsons Game (EA Games).
This week's top-selling North American Xbox 360 titles come as little surprise, and stand poised to remain at the top throughout December.
Mass Effect slowly creeps up to fourth place this week, however, as
Madden NFL 08 mounts a moderate sales comeback. In Japan, meanwhile,
Lost Odyssey debuts as the week's second-best selling game behind
Wii Fit. If its post-release popularity holds out,
Lost Odyssey could be on its way to becoming as big of a Japanese success for the Xbox 360 as
Blue Dragon.
PlayStation 3
North America: 1. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 3. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (SCEA), 4. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (SCEA), 5. Rock Band (Activision).
Japan: 1. Uncharted: El Dorado no Hihou (SCEI), 2. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2008 (Konami), 3. Shin Sangoku Musou 5 (Koei), 4. Ratchet & Clank Future (SCEI), 5. Heavenly Sword (SCEI).
UK: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 3. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (SCEE), 4. Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction (SCEE), 5. Need for Speed ProStreet (EA Games).
Though the title comes up just short of a first-place finish on the Xbox 360,
Assassin's Creed tops this week's PlayStation 3 bestsellers list. Meanwhile, strong presales for an upcoming shipment of
Rock Band result in the title taking fifth in this week's results, even though Amazon notes that this new stock may not arrive until 2008. In other regions,
Uncharted: El Dorado no Hihou debuts to top PS3 sales in Japan, as
Call of Duty 4 and
Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 continue to do brisk business in the UK.
PlayStation 2
North America: 1. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Activision), 2. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 4. Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s (Activision), 5. Ben 10: Protector of Earth (D3 Publisher).
Japan: 1. SD Gundam G Generation Spirits (Bandai), 2. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2008 (Konami), 3. Sengoku Basara 2: Heroes (Capcom), 4. Ryuu ga Gotoko 2 -- PlayStation 2 the Best (Sega), 5. Clannad (Interchannel).
UK: 1. The Simpsons Game (EA Games), 2. Need for Speed ProStreet (EA Games), 3. High School Musical: Sing It! (Disney), 4. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 5. The Sims 2: Castaway (EA Games).
As the title remains nearly impossible to find on other platforms, gamers in search of a
Rock Band fix turn their attention to the title's upcoming PlayStation 2 release. The PS2 port of
Rock Band ranks high in preorder numbers this week at Amazon, and seems likely to become just as much of a rarity on the PlayStation 2 as it is now on other platforms.
PC
North America: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. The Orange Box (EA Games), 3. Crazy Machines: The Wacky Contraptions Game (Viva Media), 4. Crysis (EA Games), 4. The Sims 2: Bon Voyage (EA Games), 5. The Sims 2: Teen Style Stuff (EA Games).
Japan: 1. Ragnarok Online 5th Anniversary Package (E Frontier), 2. Final Fantasy XI: Altana no Kamihei (Square Enix), 3. Civilization IV Deluxe Pack (Cyber Front), 4. Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword (Cyber Front), 5. Crysis (EA Games).
UK: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Crysis (EA Games), 3. Football Manager 2008 (Sega), 4. The Orange Box (EA Games), 5. The Sims 2: Seasons (EA Games).
While
Call of Duty 4 and
The Orange Box continue to lead North American PC software sales, the budget-priced puzzle title
Crazy Machines sees a chart comeback after an absence of several months. The two most recent expansions for
The Sims 2 see a chart boost, likely due to a rush of sales from holiday shoppers.
Nintendo DS
North America: 1. Brain Age 2 (Nintendo), 2. Brain Age (Nintendo), 3. Mario Party DS (Nintendo), 4. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo), 5. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo).
Japan: 1. Dragon Quest IV: Michibikareshi Monotachi (Square Enix), 2. Layton Kyouju to Akuma no Hako -- Special Edition (Level 5), 3. Mario Party DS (Nintendo), 4. Layton Kyouju to Akuma no Hako (Level 5), 5. Layton Kyouju to Fushigi na Machi (Level 5).
UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 3. Big Brain Academy (Nintendo), 4. Cooking Mama (505 Games), 5. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo).
This week's North American DS sales results mirror last week's, and the familiar combination of
Brain Age and Nintendo's flagship titles
Mario Party DS,
Phantom Hourglass, and
New Super Mario Bros. should remain with little change for weeks to come. Japan's chart sees more activity, as
Dragon Quest IV is back on top once again after being bested last week by
Layton Kyouju to Akuma no Hako, which now falls to second place.
PlayStation Portable
North America: 1. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 2. Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (Konami), 3. Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron (LucasArts), 4. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 5. Daxter (SCEA).
Japan: 1. Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida. (SCEI), 2. Minna no Golf Portable 2 (SCEI), 3. Makai Senki Disgaea Portable: Tsuushin Taisen Hajime Mashita (Nippon Ichi), 4. Gundam Battle Chronicle (Bandai), 5. Silent Hill Zero (Konami).
UK: 1. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 2. Ben 10: Protector of Earth (D3 Publisher), 3. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 4. Football Manager Handheld 2008 (Sega), 5. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (Square Enix).
Last week's Amazon-sponsored promotional discount for
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles appears to have resulted in a permanent drop in price, and the title finishes strong in sales this week as well.
Madden NFL 08 emerges as the week's sales champion, meanwhile, and
Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron and
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories appear likely to become popular holiday gifts as well. Elsewhere, Japan's usual PSP chart lineup sees new competition in the just-released
Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida. and
Minna no Golf Portable 2, while
Silent Hill Zero also makes an impressive debut.
