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 October 23rd, 2008, find
Wii Music leading cross-console software sales in its first week of North American release, while
Fable II and
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia head sales on other platforms.
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 Music (Nintendo), 2. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 3. Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum 2009 (Majesco), 4. Wii Fit (NIntendo), 5. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts).
Japan: 1. Wii Music (Nintendo), 2. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 3. Tenchu 4 (From Software), 4. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 5. Wii Sports (Nintendo).
UK: 1. Wii Play (Nintendo), 2. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 3. Carnival: Fun Fair Games (2K Games), 4. FIFA 09 All-Play (EA Sports), 5. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo).
Wii Music debuts as this week's biggest-selling software title across all platforms in North America, narrowly edging out competition from
Fable II and
Mario Kart Wii.
Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum 2009 also makes a successful debut this week, placing third in regional platform sales and fourth among cross-console results.
Wii Music continues to lead in Japan as well, despite mounting competition from
Tenchu 4.
Mario Kart Wii moves up a place in the Japanese rankings, as
Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces and
Daikaijuu Battle: Ultra Coliseum slip out of the top five to make room for a returning
Wii Sports.
Xbox 360
North America: 1. Fable II (Microsoft), 2. Fable II: Limited Collector's Edition (Microsoft), 3. Dead Space (EA Games), 4. Far Cry 2 (Ubisoft), 5. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts).
Japan: 1. Tales of Vesperia (Namco), 2. The
[email protected] -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Namco), 3. Gears of War -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Microsoft), 4. Dead Rising -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Capcom), 5. Chikyuu Boueigun 3 (D3 Publisher).
UK: 1. Saints Row 2 (THQ), 2. FIFA 09 (EA Sports), 3. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (Konami), 4. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 5. Halo 3 (Microsoft).
Last week's top-selling debuts
Saints Row 2 and
FIFA Soccer 09 fall out of the North American top five this week as consumer favor shifts toward the just-released
Fable II and
Far Cry 2. EA's
Dead Space still holds on to a chart position after finishing first in last week's results, while
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed trails at fifth place.
Tales of Vesperia stays on top in Japan, meanwhile, as
Saints Row 2 and
FIFA 09 head 360 software sales in the UK.
PlayStation 3
North America: 1. Dead Space (EA Games), 2. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts), 3. BioShock (2K Games), 4. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 5. Far Cry 2 (Ubisoft).
Japan: 1. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots -- Special Edition (Konami), 2. Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi -- Limited Edition (Aqua Plus), 3. Aquanaut's Holiday (SCEI), 4. NBA Live 09 (EA Sports), 5. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion -- PlayStation 3 the Best (Bethesda).
UK: 1. FIFA 09 (EA Sports), 2. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (Konami), 3. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 4. BioShock (2K Games), 5. Saints Row 2 (THQ).
The PS3 port of
BioShock makes a big sales impression in its first few days on store shelves in the United States, but comes up short against recent chart favorites
Dead Space and
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. The PlayStation 3 version of
Grand Theft Auto IV still boasts chartworthy sales numbers months after its release, while the just-released
Far Cry 2 enters the top five at fifth place.
In Japan, last week's chart leader
Aquanaut's Holiday drops to third place as
Metal Gear Solid 4 and
Tears to Tiara each move up a position.
PlayStation 2
North America: 1. Lego Batman (Warner Bros.), 2. Madden NFL 09 (EA Sports), 3. Rock Band Special Edition (MTV Games), 4. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 5. Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s (Activision).
Japan: 1. Devil Summoner: Kuzunoha Raidou tai Abaddon Ou -- Plus (Atlus), 2. Devil Summoner: Kuzunoha Raidou tai Abaddon Ou (Atlus), 3. Kidou Senshi Gundam 00: Gundam Meisters (Bandai), 4. Sakura Taisen 3 -- Sega the Best (Sega), 5. Super Robot Taisen Z (Banpresto).
UK: 1. Lego Batman (Warner Bros.), 2. FIFA 09 (EA Sports), 3. SingStar: Boy Bands vs. Girl Bands (SCEE), 4. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts), 5. Ben 10: Protector of Earth (D3 Publisher).
Lego Batman again heads North America's PS2 sales results this week, as
Madden NFL 09 returns after a chart absence last week to finish second overall. Demand for
Guitar Hero also appears to be on the rise in anticipation of the upcoming release of
Guitar Hero: World Tour, meanwhile, with both
Guitar Hero III and
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s making top five finishes this week.
The
Shin Megami Tensei subseries sequel
Devil Summoner: Kuzunoha Raidou tai Abaddon Ou finishes as this week's top PS2 seller in Japan, with both its regular and Plus editions leading sales over all competing titles.
Gundam Meisters drops to third place, while a recently rereleased
Sakura Taisen 3 enters at fourth.
PC
North America: 1. Far Cry 2 (Ubisoft), 2. Spore (EA Games), 3. Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy (Her Interactive), 4. Dead Space (EA Games), 5. The Sims 2: Apartment Life (EA Games).
Japan: 1. Chaos;Head (Nitro Plus), 2. Final Fantasy XI: The Vana'diel Collection (Square Enix), 3. Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu (Bandai Namco), 4. Monster Hunter Frontier Online Season 3.0 Premium (E Frontier), 5. Crysis: Warhead (EA Games).
UK: 1. Spore (EA Games), 2. X3: Terran Conflict (Deep Silver), 3. The Sims 2: Apartment Life (EA Games), 4. Crysis: Warhead (Ubisoft), 5. Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (Ubisoft).
Far Cry 2 beats out all competition in its first week of release, surpassing
Spore and
Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy as this week's top-selling PC title in North America. The just-released PC version of
Dead Space also performs well this week, while
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning gets pushed out of the U.S. top five in favor of
The Sims 2: Apartment Life.
Nintendo DS
North America: 1. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (Konami), 2. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 3. Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir (Nintendo), 4. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 5. Kirby Super Star Ultra (Nintendo).
Japan: 1. Wagamama Fashion: Girls Mode (Nintendo), 2. Pocket Monsters Platinum (Nintendo), 3. Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo), 4. Akumajou Dracula: Ubawareta Kokuin (Konami), 5. Culdcept DS (Sega).
UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 3. Lego Batman (Warner Bros.), 4. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 5. Imagine: Teacher (Ubisoft).
Last week's North American Nintendo DS sales champion
Kirby Super Star Ultra falls to fifth place this week, as the recently released
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia moves in to take its place atop the regional sales chart.
Mario Kart DS and
Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir see boosted sales, while
New Super Mario Bros. hangs on at fourth place.
Order of Ecclesia also premieres as one of the week's top sellers in Japan (as
Akumajou Dracula: Ubawareta Kokuin), though regional results are headed by Nintendo's recently released
Wagamama Fashion: Girls Mode. Last week's chart leader
Culdcept DS drops to fifth place, meanwhile, as
Pocket Monsters Platinum pushes past
Rhythm Tengoku Gold to take second.
PlayStation Portable
North America: 1. Star Ocean: First Departure (Square Enix), 2. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 3. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts), 4. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA), 5. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar).
Japan: 1. Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida Or 2 (SCEI), 2. Macross Ace Frontier (Bandai), 3. Bleach: Soul Carnival (SCEI), 4. Ikki Tousen: Eloquent Fist -- Limited Edition (Marvelous), 5. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom).
UK: 1. FIFA 09 (EA Sports), 2. Lego Batman (Warner Bros.), 3. Sega Mega Drive Collection (Sega), 4. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 5. Sonic Rivals (Sega).
Following a recent debut, the Super Nintendo RPG remake
Star Ocean: First Departure finishes as North America's best-selling PSP title for the week. Square Enix's
Crisis Core also finishes high in this week's results, while
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, God of War: Chains of Olympus, and
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories remain big sellers as well.
Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida Or 2 and
Macross Ace Frontier remain on top in Japan for the second week running, meanwhile, as newcomer
Bleach: Soul Carnival debuts at third place.
