Harry Potter Tops Busy Week In UK Charts

Electronic Arts’ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has become the fourth movie tie-in to hit the number one spot so far this year (after TMNT, Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End), in a top forty featuring no less than seven film tie-ins – five of those in the top eleven. The increasing domination of licensed titles in the UK has seen Electronic Arts’ recorded of sixteen number ones in the first half of 2006 reduced to just five this year. Each game has seen different levels of success on opposing formats, though, with 38 percent of Harry Potter’s sales occurring on the PlayStation 2, 23 percent on the Wii, 11 percent on the Xbox 360 and 10 percent on the Nintendo DS. By comparison, 41 percent of sales for Shrek the Thrid were on the Nintendo DS, 31 percent on the PlayStation 2, 21 percent on the Wii and 8 percent on the Xbox 360. The second-placed title is also a licensed property, although the independent comic book on which The Darkness is based will be unknown to the vast majority of British consumers. Nevertheless, the Xbox 360 exclusive has earned its second place spot over multiformat movie tie-in Shrek the Third, albeit by just eleven units. Resident Evil 4 re-enters the chart at number four thanks to the release of the Wii version of the game. It just beats Nintendo’s More Brain Training (aka Brain Age 2) at number five, although the self-help title will likely remain in the charts longer than any of its other current rivals – with its predecessor still at number twelve, more than a year after its original release. With Forza Motorsport 2 dropping only as far as number six, Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six: Vegas is the second re-entry of the week at number seven thanks to the belated release of the PlayStation 3 version. There are also a number of new releases outside of the top ten, with Codemasters’ heavily promoted Xbox 360 and PC title Overlord debuting at number thirteen. Midway’s World War II first person shooter Hour of Victory enters at number twenty-three, while Ubisoft’s PC to Xbox 360 port Call of Juraez makes an entry at number twenty-six. The final new entry of the week in the top forty is Xbox 360 exclusive ninja simulator Tenchu Z at number thirty-one, with the now budget-priced WWE SmackDown Vs. Raw 2007 re-entering at number thirty-nine.

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