Australia Sales Chart, Week Ending January 29

It's a dull time for Australian retail, which typically doesn't get as many releases as the rest of the world -- Australian gamers are used to having to wait months on end for certain titles to arrive, if they ever make it Down Under at all. That effect is seen most glaringly during periods like the current post-Christmas doldrums, where no new Australian releases are able to penetrate the top ten, and the only action is older games roaming up and down the charts. For instance, this week sees "new" entries for Age of Empires III and World of Warcraft, both of which have been seen on the charts before but are only now selling enough copies again to have some visibility, charts-wise. Their presence makes for a relatively strong PC game presence on the Australin charts, which are typically dominated by PS2 games -- the only other examples are Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories at #4 on PSP, and the Xbox version of Need for Speed Most Wanted, on its way out as it falls to #10 this week. The rest of the chart, particularly the upper reaches, is firmly entrenched at this point, and will remain so until some more games with presence are released in the territory. Until then, Need for Speed Most Wanted on PS2 will be #1 every week, Buzz: The Music Quiz Bundle and EyeToy: Play 3 will have guaranteed spots somewhere on the chart, and Ricky Ponting International Cricket 05 will never die.

Official Australia Interactive Games Charts (c) GfK Group