Column: 'Saling The World: Dead Sparking'

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 5th, 2006, includes the risen dead, rampant Pokémon, and sparking NEOs. 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. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 2. Dead Rising (Capcom), 3. Saints Row (THQ), 4. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 5. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (UbiSoft). Japan: 1. Dead Rising (Capcom), 2. Tenchu Senran (From Software), 3. Project Sylpheed (Square Enix), 4. Tomb Raider Legend (Spike), 5. Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht Urhgan (Square Enix). UK: 1. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 2. Just Cause (Eidos), 3. Dead Rising (Capcom), 4. Saints Row (THQ), 5. Table Tennis (Rockstar). Despite taking the #1 Xbox 360 sales spot in the week following its debut, NBA Live 07 disappears from the top 5 in the United States this week, possibly due to a recent rash of negative consumer reaction. EA's other big sports title, Madden NFL 07, continues to perform well, however. In Japan, the recently-released Tenchu Senran and Tomb Raider Legend compete aggressively for big sales numbers, but neither is able to topple the reigning champ Dead Rising, which continues to sell well in all regions. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 2. Star Trek Encounters (Bethesda), 3. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 4. Okami (Capcom), 5. FIFA 07 (EA Sports). Japan: 1. Dragon Ball Z Sparking! NEO (Bandai), 2. God of War (Capcom), 3. Kuryuu Youma Gakuenki re:charge (Atlus), 4. Minna no Tennis (SCEJ), 5. .hack//G.U. Vol.2 Kimi Omou Koe (Bandai). UK: 1. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 2. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 3. Kingdom Hearts 2 (Square Enix), 4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports), 5. Kingdom Hearts (Square Enix). Dragon Ball Z Sparking! NEO easily overtakes all competition in this week's Japanese PS2 sales, though the re-released and discounted God of War is also moving big numbers. Europe, meanwhile, sees newfound popularity in Kingdom Hearts and its just-released sequel, with the series side-story Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories for the Game Boy Advance experiencing a boost in sales as well. PC North America: 1. World of Warcraft (Blizzard), 2. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 3. Warcraft III Battle Chest (Blizzard), 4. The Sims 2: Glamour Life Stuff (EA Games), 5. Company of Heroes (THQ). Japan: 1. Phantasy Star Universe (Sega), 2. The Sims 2 Plus (EA Games), 3. Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht Urhgan (Square Enix), 4. Arabians Lost: The Engagement on Desert (QuinRose), 5. Final Fantasy XI: All in One Pack 2006 (Square Enix). UK: 1. Company of Heroes (THQ), 2. The Sims 2: Glamour Life Stuff (EA Games), 3. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 4. Broken Sword: The Angel of Death (THQ), 5. The Sims 2 (EA Games). Little has changed on the PC front this week, with The Sims 2, World of Warcraft, and Company of Heroes performing well in the United States and the UK, while Japanese gamers continue to invest heavily in MMORPGs like Phantasy Star Universe and Final Fantasy XI. Both the U.S. and Europe appear to be greatly anticipating the soon to be released expansion pack The Sims 2: Pets, which currently ranks high in preorders in both regions. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team (Nintendo), 2. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 3. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (Konami), 4. Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis (Nintendo), 5. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Pocket Monsters Diamond (Nintendo), 2. Pocket Monsters Pearl (Nintendo), 3. Zaidanhoujin Nippon Kanji Nouryoku Kentei Kounin: KanKen DS (Rocket Company), 4. Oide yo Doubutsu no Mori (Nintendo), 5. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo). UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 3. 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo), 4. Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo), 5. Big Brain Academy (Nintendo). Pocket Monsters Diamond and Pearl remain Japan's biggest sellers this week, both on the DS and across all platforms. The titles have sold more than 1.5 million combined copies so far, and have been confirmed to be the fastest-selling DS games ever to be released in the region. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, likewise, remains the #1 seller in the U.S. this week. By this point, one can assume that the title has seen the best sales of any of ChunSoft's Fushigi no Dungeon games that have been published in America. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 2. Tekken: Dark Resurrection (Bandai Namco Games), 3. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 4. Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (Square Enix), 5. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar). Japan: 1. Gundam Battle Royale (Bandai), 2. Kiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki FC (Nihon Falcom), 3. Chronicle of Dungeon Maker (Taito), 4. Ridge Racers 2 (Namco), 5. Boxer's Road 2: The Real (Ertain). UK: 1. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 2. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 3. Tekken: Dark Resurrection (Bandai Namco Games), 4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports), 5. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts). Like its anime-licensed brother Dragon Ball Z Sparking! NEO on the PS2, Gundam Battle Royale makes a strong showing in the week following its release, taking the #1 spot in Japan's best-selling PSP games for the week. In the United States, the months-old Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth manages to surpass proven seller Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, though this newfound popularity will likely wane once sales for its PS2 sequel begin to decline. Game Boy Advance North America: 1. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team (Nintendo), 2. Pokémon Emerald Version (Nintendo), 3. Pokémon Leaf Green Version (Nintendo), 4. Pokémon FireRed Version (Nintendo), 5. Pokémon Ruby Version (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Rhythm Tengoku (Nintendo), 2. Pocket Monsters Emerald (Nintendo), 3. Final Fantasy IV Advance (Square Enix), 4. Pocket Monsters FireRed (Nintendo), 5. Mother 3 (Nintendo). UK: 1. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 2. Cars (THQ), 3. Pokémon Emerald Version (Nintendo), 4. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (Square Enix), 5. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (Buena Vista Games). Yes, that is most definitely a whole lot of Pokémon you see up there. The United States' list is completely dominated by Pokémon this week, while a few of the series' more popular entries also continue to remain on Japan's list. The acclaimed RPG Mother 3 also makes a return to the top 5 in Japan this week -- a surprising achievement, considering that the title debuted in April of this year. Xbox North America: 1. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 2. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 3. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 4. LEGO Star Wars (Eidos), 5. Halo 2 (Microsoft). Japan: 1. Halo (Microsoft), 2. Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (Tecmo), 3. Jockey's Road (Microsoft), 4. Halo 2 (Microsoft), 5. Fable (Microsoft). UK: 1. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 2. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 3. Just Cause (Eidos), 4. Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood (UbiSoft), 5. LEGO Star Wars (Eidos). Though FIFA 07 was just recently released in the United States, it could not yet top the sales of established hits like LEGO Star Wars II and Madden NFL 07. FIFA 07 performs slightly better in Europe, though LEGO Star Wars II's popularity proves to be its undoing in this region as well. GameCube North America: 1. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 2. LEGO Star Wars (Eidos), 3. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 4. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 5. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Dairantou Smash Brothers DX (Nintendo), 2. Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus (Sega), 3. Fire Emblem: Souen no Kiseki (Nintendo), 4. Bokujou Monogatari: Shiawase no Uta for World (Marvelous), 5. Pikmin 2 (Nintendo). UK: 1. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 2. LEGO Star Wars (Eidos), 3. Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness (Nintendo), 4. Resident Evil 2 (Capcom), 5. Mario Party 7 (Nintendo). FIFA 07 faces much the same story on the GameCube as the Xbox this week, though it manages to retain its previously established top spot in Europe. Meanwhile, a host of familiar names are featured in Japan's list, though most of them are prone to float in and out of the top 5 seemingly at random at this stage in the GameCube's lifespan.