Saling The World: Professor Layton Outsells New Pokemon Title in U.S.

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 March 26th, 2009, find Professor Layton and the Curious Village taking a surprise victory over Pokemon Platinum in its North American debut week, while Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna Portable and Rittai Picross lead multiplatform sales 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. My Fitness Coach (Ubisoft), 3. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 4. Wii Play (Nintendo), 5. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts). Japan: 1. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Wii de Asobu: Pikmin 2 (Nintendo), 3. Suzumiya Haruhi no Heiretsu -- Chou SOS Danhiro Collection (Sega), 4. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 5. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu NEXT (Konami). UK: 1. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. My Fitness Coach (Ubisoft), 4. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 5. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo). Demand for Wii Fit and My Fitness Coach remains fever-pitched at Amazon, where both games finish this week as North America's two biggest-selling software titles across all platforms. Upcoming titles like Gold's Gym Cardio Workout and EA Sports Active also see a preorder sales boost in this week's results. Japanese sales numbers find Wii de Asobu: Pikmin 2 trailing behind Wii Fit, as Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu NEXT falls to fifth place in its second week of release. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Crackdown (Microsoft), 2. Resident Evil 5 (Capcom), 3. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision), 4. Halo Wars (Microsoft), 5. Halo 3 (Microsoft). Japan: 1. 007: Nagusame no Houshuu (Square Enix), 2. BioHazard 5 -- Deluxe Edition (Capcom), 3. The Idolmaster: Twins -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Namco), 4. Tales of Vesperia (Namco), 5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision). UK: 1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 2. FIFA 09 (EA Sports), 3. Left 4 Dead (EA Games), 4. Fable II (Microsoft), 5. Resident Evil 5 (Capcom). An Amazon-sponsored "Deal of the Day" price drop places Crackdown at the top of this week's Xbox 360 sales rankings in the United States. Resident Evil 5 trails at a close second, as Call of Duty: World at War and Halo Wars follow at third and fourth place. In Japan, the Square Enix-published 007: Nagusame no Houshuu (James Bond: Quantum of Solace) pushes BioHazard 5 out of the regional top spot. The Idolmaster: Twins is still going strong after spending multiple weeks in the top five, though the recent hit Chaos;Head Noah has dropped out of chart range after finishing third last week. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Resident Evil 5 (Capcom), 2. Killzone 2 (SCEA), 3. LittleBigPlanet (SCEA), 4. MLB 09: The Show (SCEA), 5. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision). Japan: 1. BioHazard 5 (Capcom), 2. Demon's Souls (SCEI), 3. Musou Orochi Z (Koei), 4. Ryu ga Gotoku 3 (Sega), 5. Senjou no Valkyria -- PlayStation 3 the Best (Sega). UK: 1. LittleBigPlanet (SCEE), 2. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 3. Killzone 2 (SCEE), 4. FIFA 09 (EA Sports), 5. WWE Legends of Wrestlemania (THQ). Resident Evil 5 and Killzone 2 remain the PlayStation 3's top sellers in Amazon's North American charts, while LittleBigPlanet moves up a place in the wake of its multiple wins at this year's Game Developers Choice Awards. Demon's Souls overtakes Musou Orochi Z in weekly Japanese sales, meanwhile, as LittleBigPlanet finishes up as the week's top seller in the UK. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Samurai Shodown Anthology (SNK Playmore), 2. Ultimate Ninja 4: Naruto Shippuden (Namco Bandai), 3. Rock Band Special Edition (EA Games), 4. God of War (SCEA), 5. Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories (Square Enix). Japan: 1. Amagami (Enterbrain), 2. Vitamin Z -- Special Edition (D3 Publisher), 3. Vitamin Z (D3 Publisher), 4. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2009 (Konami), 5. Triggerheart Excelica Enhanced -- Nendroid Super Set (Alchemist). UK: 1. SingStar: Queen (SCEE), 2. SingStar: ABBA (SCEE), 3. FIFA 09 (EA Sports), 4. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (Square Enix), 5. Ben 10: Alien Force (D3 Publisher). SNK Playmore enters the North American PlayStation 2 charts for the second time this month with the recently released 2D fighter compilation Samurai Shodown Anthology. Namco Bandai's Ultimate Ninja 4 debuts at second place, meanwhile, as a discounted Rock Band returns at third. PC North America: 1. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (Blizzard), 2. Empire: Total War (Sega), 3. World of Warcraft Battle Chest (Blizzard), 4. The Sims 2: Double Deluxe (EA Games), 5. The Last Remnant (Square Enix). Japan: 1. Lineage Episode 1: Toki no Igami (E Frontier), 2. Grand Theft Auto IV (Cyber Front), 3. Civilization IV: Colonization (Cyber Front), 4. Final Fantasy XI: The Vana'diel Collection (Square Enix), 5. Lineage II: 2nd Throne Ultimate (E Frontier). UK: 1. Empire: Total War (Sega), 2. Football Manager 2009 (Sega), 3. Empire: Total War -- Special Forces Edition (Sega), 4. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II (THQ), 5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -- Game of the Year Edition (Activision). World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King returns to the top spot in North American PC software sales this week, beating out last week's champion title Empire: Total War. Square Enix's PC port of the console RPG The Last Remnant also sees strong sales in its U.S. debut week, finishing just behind The Sims 2: Double Deluxe in regional results. Empire: Total War remains on top in the UK, meanwhile, as Lineage Episode 1: Toki no Igami and Grand Theft Auto IV lead in Japan. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Professor Layton and the Curious Village (Nintendo), 2. Pokemon Platinum (Nintendo), 3. My Word Coach (Ubisoft), 4. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 5. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (Rockstar). Japan: 1. Rittai Picross (Nintendo), 2. Mario & Luigi RPG 3 (Nintendo), 3. Super Robot Taisen K -- Special Edition (Bandai), 4. Gakken Hangul Sanmai DS (Gakken), 5. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator: World Championship 2009 (Konami). UK: 1. Professor Layton and the Curious Village (Nintendo), 2. Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force (Disney), 3. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (Rockstar), 4. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 5. 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo). Nintendo's recent Professor Layton-focused advertising campaign has proven so successful that the year-old title has surpassed the weekly sales numbers of a brand new Pokemon title. Despite high levels of prerelease buildup, Pokemon Platinum only manages to take second place in this week's Nintendo DS sales numbers in North America. Professor Layton remains the platform's biggest seller in the UK as well, where it continues to outsell Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on a weekly basis. Rittai Picross retakes the top spot in Japan, meanwhile, as Mario & Luigi RPG 3 climbs up past former chart leader Super Robot Taisen K. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Resistance: Retribution (SCEA), 2. MLB 09: The Show (SCEA), 3. Sega Genesis Collection (Sega), 4. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 5. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA). Japan: 1. Kidou Senshi Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna Portable (Bandai), 2. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G -- PSP the Best (Capcom), 3. Ever17: The Out of Infinity -- Premium Edition (Cyber Front), 4. Hayate no Gotoku! Nightmare Paradise -- Special Edition (Konami), 5. Makai Senki Disgaea 2 Portable (Nippon Ichi). UK: 1. FIFA 09 (EA Sports), 2. Resistance: Retribution (SCEE), 3. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 (EA Sports), 4. Lego Batman (Warner Bros.), 5. Ben 10: Alien Force (D3 Publisher). Resistance: Retribution takes top honors in PSP sales for the second week in a row in the United States. MLB 09: The Show follows at second place, while Sega Genesis Collection moves up to take third. FIFA 09 maintains strong sales in the UK, while in Japan, Kidou Senshi Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna Portable reaches the top of the charts in its first week of release.