Rockstar's PS2/PSP title Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories has remained atop the UK video game sales chart for a third consecutive time, despite concerted efforts to dislodge it, previously from Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros. for DS, and now from 3D Realms’ Prey for Xbox 360 and PC. Despite being initially conceived of as a PC-only title, in the end the Xbox 360 version of Prey accounted for 77 percent of all sales in the game’s debut week in the UK, showing the importance of the next-gen console market even to traditionally PC-centric genres such as the FPS. Sales of Buena Vista Games’ Pirates of the Caribbean movie tie-in have risen 73 percent as it surges to number 3, following the opening of the movie in the UK, showcasing why license timeliness can be a massive boon. In addition, the Ubisoft-distributed PlayStation 2 and PC spin-off based on the same franchise enters at number ten. Almost all of the new entries this week are movie related, with EA’s The Lord of the Rings real-time strategy game re-entering the charts at number nine (with the new Xbox 360 version accounting for 90 percent of all sales) and THQ’s Cars license from Pixar debuting at number sixteen.

Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2006 ELSPA Ltd