Column: 'Saling The World: Bullying the Planetarium'

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 October 19th, 2006, features double agents, planetarium curators, and schoolyard bullies competing for top sales. 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: Xbox 360 North America: 1. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Ubisoft), 2. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports), 3. Dead Rising (Capcom), 4. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 5. Saints Row (THQ). Japan: 1. Dead Rising (Capcom), 2. Project Sylpheed (Square Enix), 3. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Ubisoft), 4. Table Tennis (Rockstar), 5. Tomb Raider Legend (Spike). UK: 1. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Ubisoft), 2. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 3. Dead Rising (Capcom), 4. Top Spin 2 (2K Sports), 5. Saints Row (THQ). Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent manages to outsell all competition in the first week of its release in the United States and Europe, topping even established hits like Dead Rising and LEGO Star Wars II. Next week's U.S. release of Phantasy Star Universe could soon put Double Agent's first-place standing in jeopardy, however. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Bully (Rockstar), 2. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 3. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports), 5. Justice League Heroes (Warner Bros. IE). Japan: 1. Dragon Ball Z Sparking! NEO (Bandai), 2. God of War (Capcom), 3. Captain Tsubasa (Bandai), 4. Xenosaga Episode III Premium DVD (Namco), 5. Minna no Tennis (SCEJ). UK: 1. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 2. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 3. Scarface: The World is Yours (Vivendi), 4. Cars (THQ), 5. Kingdom Hearts 2 (Square Enix). Rockstar Games' Bully is the big news in PS2 sales this week, shooting to the top of the charts almost immediately following its release in the United States. Justice League Heroes also provides strong sales in the days following its debut, though the title currently seems to be performing better on the Xbox, where fewer new releases compete for sales. PC North America: 1. The Sims 2: Pets (EA Games), 2. Microsoft Flight Simulator X (Microsoft), 3. Nancy Drew: The Creature of Kapu Cave (Atari), 4. Battlefield 2142 (EA Games), 5. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade (THQ). Japan: 1. Battlefield 2142 (EA Games), 2. Guild Wars: Nightfall (NC Soft), 3. Phantasy Star Universe (Sega), 4. Final Fantasy XI All-in-One Pack 2006 (Square Enix), 5. Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht Urhgan (Square Enix). UK: 1. Football Manager 2007 (Sega), 2. The Sims 2: Pets (EA Games), 3. Battlefield 2142 (EA Games), 4. Microsoft Flight Simulator X (Microsoft), 5. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade (THQ). Interestingly, the ever-popular World of Warcraft is nowhere to be seen in this week's PC charts, which are dominated by big-name new releases like The Sims 2: Pets, Battlefield 2142, and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade in the UK and the United States. Also worth noting is that the two regions' charts are almost identical this week, with the only significant differences being Football Manager 2007's taking of the top spot in Europe, while the newest Nancy Drew release places third in the U.S. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Brain Age (Nintendo), 2. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 3. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team (Nintendo), 4. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 5. Nintendogs: Lab & Friends (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Pocket Monsters Diamond (Nintendo), 2. Pocket Monsters Pearl (Nintendo), 3. Oide yo Dobutsu no Mori (Nintendo), 4. Gekitou! Custom Robo (Nintendo), 5. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo). UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 3. Animal Crossing Wild World (Nintendo), 4. Nintendogs: Lab & Friends (Nintendo), 5. Big Brain Academy (Nintendo). One can only assume that last week's dropoff of Pocket Monsters sales in Japan was due to a temporary shortage, as both Pocket Monsters Diamond and Pocket Monsters Pearl surge back into first and second place in the region's DS software sales this week. Not even the recent release of Gekitou! Custom Robo can begin to duplicate the success of either title, both of which have seen some of Japan's biggest sales numbers throughout the month of October. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 2. Daxter (SCEA), 3. Family Guy (2K Games), 4. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 5. The Godfather: Mob Wars (EA Games). Japan: 1. Planetarium Curator Ohira Takayuki Kanshuu: Home Star Portable (Sega), 2. Gundam Battle Royale (Bandai), 3. Kiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki FC (Nihon Falcom), 4. SD Gundam G Generation Portable (Bandai), 5. Chronicle of Dungeon Maker (Taito). UK: 1. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 2. Tekken: Dark Resurrection (SCEE), 3. Gangs of London (SCEE), 4. Cars (THQ), 5. SpongeBob SquarePants: The Yellow Avenger (THQ). Sega's Planetarium Curator Ohira Takayuki Kanshuu: Home Star Portable snares the top PSP spot in Japan this week, jumping over two top-selling Gundam titles in the process. Family Guy also makes a strong impression in PSP sales in the U.S. this week, curiously performing better than any of its simultaneously released console ports. Game Boy Advance North America: 1. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team (Nintendo), 2. Cars (THQ), 3. Pokémon Emerald Version (Nintendo), 4. Super Mario Advance (Nintendo), 5. Pokémon Leaf Green Version (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Final Fantasy V Advance (Square Enix), 2. Rhythm Tengoku (Nintendo), 3. Pocket Monsters Emerald (Nintendo), 4. Famicom Mini: Zelda no Densetsu (Nintendo), 5. Final Fantasy IV Advance (Nintendo). UK: 1. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 2. Cars (THQ), 3. Pokémon Emerald Version (Nintendo), 4. Bratz: Rock Angelz (THQ), 5. FIFA 07 (EA Sports). Final Fantasy V Advance continues to dominate GBA sales in Japan this week, and will likely continue to do so for many weeks to come, considering the lack of competing titles on the horizon. Elsewhere, Pokémon takes three of the top five spots in the United States, while THQ's Cars climbs back up the charts in both the U.S. and the UK. Xbox North America: 1. Justice League Heroes (Warner Bros. IE), 2. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 3. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 4. Destroy All Humans! 2 (THQ), 5. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports). Japan: 1. Halo 2 (Microsoft), 2. Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (Tecmo), 3. Halo (Microsoft), 4. Conker: Live & Reloaded (Microsoft), 5. Fable (Microsoft). UK: 1. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 2. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 3. Scarface: The World is Yours (Vivendi), 4. LEGO Star Wars (Eidos), 5. Destroy All Humans! 2 (THQ). Xbox owners hunger for what few new releases remain for their console of choice, leading Justice League Heroes and Destroy All Humans! 2 to move big numbers in their first week of release in the United States. Destroy All Humans! 2 also sees moderate success in Europe, though LEGO Star Wars II's place atop the region's sales chart remains unchallenged. GameCube North America: 1. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 2. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (Nintendo), 3. LEGO Star Wars (Eidos), 4. Super Mario Sunshine (Nintendo), 5. Super Smash Bros. Melee (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Metroid Prime 2: Dark Echoes (Nintendo), 2. Pokémon XD: Yami no Kaze Dark Lugia (Nintendo), 3. Dairantou Smash Brothers DX (Nintendo), 4. Pokémon Box: Ruby & Sapphire (Nintendo), 5. Bokujou Monogatari: Shiawase no Uta for World (Marvelous). UK: 1. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 2. Super Smash Bros. Melee (Nintendo), 3. Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness (Nintendo), 4. LEGO Star Wars (Eidos), 5. Cars (THQ). Right about now would be a good time to sell your GameCube if you're planning to upgrade to a Wii in November. With few upcoming ports and almost no original titles to look forward to, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and the Game Boy Player accessory are practically the only reasons for future Wii owners to own a GameCube. Of course, now could also be the time for bargain-minded gamers to go on the hunt for discounted GameCube classics, which should soon be available in plenty.