Gears Of War 3, Mortal Kombat, Uncharted 3 Lead In Purchase Intent In U.S., UK

Ipsos OTX MediaCT revealed to Gamasutra on Friday new results for its latest weekly-tracked Gameplan Insights gamer survey that measures purchase intent for core titles. Epic Games' and Microsoft's Gears of War 3 for Xbox 360 led purchase intent in the month of March in the U.S. and UK, the firm said. The anticipated third-person shooter, due in September, also led purchase intent charts in both the territories last month. While the top game stayed the same over the past four weeks, there was plenty of movement elsewhere on the charts. In the U.S., the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Warner and NetherRealms' April release Mortal Kombat fell in the number two and three spots, respectively. From four weeks ago, the PS3 version of the fighter dropped from two to three, as the Xbox 360 version rose from six to two. Nick Williams, director of Gaming Insights at Ipsos OTX MediaCT explained, "Mortal Kombat continues to impress in the U.S. market. ... Despite the strong purchase intent for Mortal Kombat, it ranks a bit lower in the 'Recession Proof Index' which is based on gamers 'top three choice.'" "This suggests that some gamers might be unsure of what to expect from the new Mortal Kombat, and we will be closely monitoring all metrics leading up to the launch in April." In the UK, Sony and Naughty Dog's November 2011 action game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception jumped from number seven in February to number two this month. Warner and Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham City rose from six to three in the region. Williams said, "While Gears of War 3 firmly retains its spot at the top of the U.S. and UK March tracking charts, there are a number of upcoming releases that are looking to close the gap. Most notably, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception surged from seventh to second in the UK and 12th to eighth in the U.S. following the release of new footage from Naughty Dog's highly anticipated sequel." While console titles dominated U.S. charts, two PC games made the list, with one making the top five. "One of the more interesting developments in the March tracking charts is the standout performance of Diablo III in the U.S.," said Williams. "Despite an unknown release date, it ranks fifth in the U.S. in the 'Purchase Intent' index and first in the Recession Proof Index." "While it would be easy to think that the traditional PC market is shrinking due to the popularity of free online games, this data suggests that there is still a large and vocal market eagerly awaiting high quality full-priced PC games," Williams continued. "Star Wars: The Old Republic is another example of a PC game that performs well in the Recession Proof Index." He added, "As expected, there are some noteworthy differences between the U.S. and UK markets. It appears that the British gaming audience is less sensitive to the Tiger Woods controversy or perhaps they are just bigger golf enthusiasts. In any case, the Xbox 360 version ranks 18th in the UK and 54th in the US. Other titles with large desrepencies between the U.S. and UK ranking include Forza Motorsport 4, WWW All Stars, Max Payne 3, Shogun II: Total War and Virtua Tennis 4." Ipsos, which is holding a Gameplan Insights webinar next week, provided Gamasutra with the charts below for U.S. and UK purchase intent: