Charts: GHII Sells Big; Japan Celebrates FF Anniversary

Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five sellers for every available platform in the United States, Japan, and Europe, providing an important update of sales patterns worldwide. This week's charts, with data taken from April 19th, 2007, showcase a demand for Guitar Hero II that far exceeds supply, and document Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition's meteoric rise to the top of PSP software sales in Japan. Data for "Saling The World" comes courtesy of the public sales information on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Amazon.co.jp, with sales split out for each platform and territory, and pre-orders disregarded. This results in a true sense of what games are selling worldwide on the real-time updated service, as follows: Nintendo Wii North America: 1. Super Paper Mario (Nintendo), 2. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 3. Wii Play (Nintendo), 4. Need for Speed Carbon (EA Games), 5. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports). Japan: 1. Super Paper Mario (Nintendo), 2. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 3. Hajimete no Wii (Nintendo), 4. Mezase!! Tsuri Master (Hudson), 5. Zelda no Densetsu: Twilight Princess (Nintendo). UK: 1. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. Excite Truck (Nintendo), 4. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Nintendo), 5. Rayman Raving Rabbids (Ubisoft). Super Paper Mario once again tops Wii sales in the United States for the second week in a row, and recently debuted in Japan to take the top spot there as well. Japan also sees a large number of pre-orders for titles like Dragon Quest Sword: Kamen no Joou to Kagami no Tou and Biohazard 4 (Resident Evil 4) this week, months in advance of their scheduled release dates. If this level of demand can be maintained, both games have the potential to become future top sellers upon release. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Guitar Hero II Bundle (RedOctane), 2. Gears of War (Microsoft), 3. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Ubisoft), 4. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft), 5. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2K Games). Japan: 1. Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 (Tecmo), 2. The IdolM@ster (Namco), 3. Chikyuu Boueigun 3 (D3 Publisher), 4. Riot Act (Microsoft), 5. Final Fantasy XI All-in-One Pack 2006 (Square Enix). UK: 1. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (Capcom), 2. Call of Duty 3 (Activision), 3. Guitar Hero II Bundle (RedOctane), 4. Gears of War (Microsoft), 5. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Ubisoft). Guitar Hero II's popularity is its own worst enemy this week, as Amazon is currently sold out of bundled versions in the United States. Copies are still available for purchase through affiliated third-party sellers, though prices at these outlets currently run at a minimum of $115.99, with other opportunistic sellers charging prices as high as $149.49. While American gamers are facing steep price hikes, however, this week's charts indicate that Europe and Japan are currently enjoying Dead or Alive Xtreme 2, Lost Planet, and Call of Duty 3, all of which have seen a jump in sales following significant discounts of more than 50% at Amazon. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda), 2. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA), 3. MotorStorm (SCEA), 4. Virtua Tennis 3 (Sega), 5. Formula One Championship Edition (SCEA). Japan: 1. Gundam Musou (Bandai), 2. Ridge Racer 7 (Namco), 3. Formula One Championship Edition (SCEI), 4. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 4 (Konami), 5. Winning Post 7: Maximum 2007 (Koei). UK: 1. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEE), 2. Formula One Championship Edition (SCEE), 3. MotorStorm (SCEE), 4. F.E.A.R. (Sierra), 5. Call of Duty 3 (Activision). F.E.A.R. manages to rack up impressive sales numbers in its first few days of release in the UK, as heavy-hitters like Oblivion and Resistance continue to generate big sales in the United States. In Japan, meanwhile, Pro Yakyuu Spirits 4 slips a few places down the chart, despite placing first in PS3 software sales in its debut week. It remains to be seen whether future weeks will see the title rise back up to the top. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Guitar Hero II Bundle (RedOctane), 2. God of War II (SCEA), 3. God of War (SCEA), 4. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 5. Phantasy Star Universe (Sega). Japan: 1. Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] Extra Edition (Kadokawa Shoten), 2. Persona 3: Fes (Atlus), 3. Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] (Kadokawa Shoten), 4. Ouran Koukou Host Bu (Idea Factory), 5. Grim Grimoire (Nippon Ichi). UK: 1. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 2. Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix), 3. EyeToy Play Sports Bundle (SCEE), 4. Canis Canem Edit (Rockstar), 5. Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (Konami). In the wake of the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II becoming difficult to find, sales for the previously available PS2 version have spiked, with the bundled PS2 version of Guitar Hero II dethroning God of War II from the top of the PS2 sales charts for the first time since the latter title's release. LEGO Star Wars II and Phantasy Star Universe also make strong return showings this week due to recent price drops, with Universe currently retailing at a surprisingly low blowout price point of $9.99. Japan, on the other hand, sees its greatest sales in recent releases like Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] and Persona 3: Fes, both of which effectively displace former chart-toppers Grim Grimoire, Musou Orochi, and Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ in the process. PC North America: 1. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard), 2. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (EA Games), 3. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 4. The Sims 2: Seasons (EA Games), 5. The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles (2K Games). Japan: 1. Shinkyouku Soukai Polyphonica -- 1 & 2 Box Edition (Ocelot), 2. Medieval II: Total War (Sega), 3. Heart no Kuni no Alice - Wonderful Wonder World (QuinRose), 4. Hoshi no Oujo (Mirai), 5. The Sims 2 Seasons! Data Set (EA Games). UK: 1. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (EA Games), 2. Football Manager 2007 (Sega), 3. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard), 4. The Sims 2: Seasons (EA Games), 5. The Sims 2: Celebration! Stuff (EA Games). A small price drop puts The Burning Crusade back on top in the United States, while The Lord Of The Rings: Shadows Of Angmar and its special edition lead PC software preorders in the U.S. and Europe in the week prior to their release. Given its popularity in preorders, Shadows of Angmar shows great potential for leading PC software sales for weeks to come, though Command & Conquer 3 and The Sims 2's various expansion packs could prove to be formidable opponents. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Elite Beat Agents (Nintendo), 2. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 3. Brain Age (Nintendo), 4. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 5. Big Brain Academy (Nintendo). Japan: 1. TOEIC Test DS Training (IE Institute), 2. Nodame Cantabile (Bandai), 3. Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Capcom), 4. Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Motto Eigo Duke (Nintendo), 5. Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Gyakuten -- Best Price (Capcom). UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo), 3. Pokemon Ranger (Nintendo), 4. Nintendogs: Lab & Friends (Nintendo), 5. Cooking Mama (505 GameStreet). Anticipation has become feverish for next week's dual release of Pokemon Diamond Version and Pokemon Pearl Version, as both titles currently pull in the greatest number of preorders among all titles and platforms this week. In the meantime, Elite Beat Agents has managed to become the week's best-selling DS title in the United States, thanks to a day-long reduction in price as part of Amazon's "Deal of the Day" promotion. Equally unexpected is Puzzle Quest's absence from the charts, though this is likely due to a shortage of stock, as Amazon reports that the best-selling title will be "in stock soon." PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 2. Daxter (SCEA), 3. Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror (SCEA), 4. 300: March to Glory (Eidos), 5. Valhalla Knights (Xseed Games). Japan: 1. Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition (Square Enix), 2. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom), 3. Princess Crown -- Atlus Best Collection (Atlus), 4. Eiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki FC (Nihon Falcom), 5. Tales of Destiny 2 (Namco). UK: 1. Sega Mega Drive Collection (Sega), 2. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports), 3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 4. Mind Quiz (Ubisoft), 5. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar). Monster Hunter Portable 2nd's months-long reign atop the PSP best-sellers charts in Japan comes to an end this week, coinciding with the release of Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition, an upgraded port of the original Final Fantasy. Preorder numbers already indicate a healthy amount of interest for its upcoming sequel, a remake of Final Fantasy II, which will be released in Japan in June. Both games will be released in North America later this year, where they are expected to meet with similar success.