Battlestations Victory For Eidos In UK Charts

Despite considerable delays and disruptive format changes, the long-awaited release of Battlestations: Midway has proven a success for Eidos Interactive in Europe, with the joint PC and Xbox 360 title debuting at number one in the UK sales charts. The game is the only new entry in the top ten, although locally produced TV tie-in Little Britain, based on the popular BBC comedy series, has moved up twelve places to number two. In so doing, it has become the most popular title produced solely for the British market in several years, and could potentially prove the catalyst for other similar titles in a market which usually supports titles aimed purely at an international audience. The second highest new entry in the top forty is American cartoon license Avatar: The Legend of Aang (aka Avatar: The Last Airbender) from THQ, which enters at number thirteen. The only other new entry in the charts is the critically acclaimed Okami at number seventeen. Despite winning several awards on its American release Capcom has elected not to widely advertise the product or ship it in substantial numbers – leading to low stock in many stores. As such, the game seems likely to suffer a similar fate to other niche titles such as Namco’s We Love Katamari and Sony’s ICO, which despite strong press campaigns, proved difficult to obtain for those customers attracted by the positive reviews.

Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2007. ELSPA Ltd