Bookmaker Gives Odds On UK Christmas Number 1

Irish online bookmaker Paddy Power has released a short list of titles which it believes stand a chance of being the Christmas number one in the UK, together with current odds. The actual Christmas number one will be the game which tops the chart for the week ending December 23rd, as announced by ELSPA (Entertainment and Leisure software Publishers Association). For the last two years in a row this has been the latest entry in the Need for Speed franchise, with the latest iteration also receiving the most favorable odds this year. Since UK charts include all SKUs of a game in a single chart position it is difficult for a format exclusive to reach the number one spot at this time of year, with the best odds being for the Xbox 360’s Gears of War at 10/1. The short list of chart hopefuls are as follows: Need For Speed Carbon (EA) - 8/13 FIFA 07 (EA) - 4/1 Gears of War (Microsoft) - 10/1 Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft) - 10/1 Eragon (Vivendi) - 10/1 Tony Hawk's Project 8 (Activision) - 14/1 Superman Returns (EA) - 16/1 WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 (THQ) - 16/1 Call of Duty 3 (Activision) - 20/1 Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (Konami) - 20/1 The Sims 2 Pets (EA) - 20/1 Guitar Hero II (Activision) - 25/1 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar) - 33/1 The Legend of Zelda: Twlight Princess (Nintendo) - 33/1 Bratz: Forever Diamondz (THQ) - 80/1 Happy Feet (Midway) - 80/1 Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Party Edition (Eidos) - 250/1 Mike Rawlinson, managing director, ELSPA commented: “Christmas 2006 looks like another great year for video games and we are all excited about which of the fantastic games being released this Christmas will make it to No1. There are lots of strong competitors as always and it is impossible to tell if the favorite will make it or be pipped to the post last minute. There is a great selection of games that will appeal to various age groups and styles of gameplay to battle it out.”