ELSPA Rates UK Christmas Hopefuls

Members of British trade association ELSPA (Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association) have teamed with Ladbrokes, the UK’s largest bookmaker, to create the betting odds for this year’s Christmas number one. Betting on Christmas chart-toppers has long been a tradition in the United Kingdom, with the pop music single charts a traditional source of significant betting and speculation. The video game-related list, repeated in full below, is an odd mixture of the obvious and the extremely unlikely, with Call of Duty: Finest Hour and GoldenEye: Rogue Agent becoming joint favorites at 4/1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Need for Speed: Underground 2 are both at 7/1 with Halo 2 at 8/1. Although the list features not a single GameCube title, and puts Half-Life 2 at just 16/1, it includes such unlikely suggestions as Fight Club at 33/1 and Miami Vice at 50/1. Ladbrokes’ odds last year did prove to be an accurate guide to the eventual winner, though, with 3/1 joint favorite Medal of Honor: Rising Sun taking the coveted position ahead of Need for Speed: Underground and The Simpsons: Hit & Run. The full odds for 2004's Christmas number 1 are reprinted below. 4/1 - Call of Duty: Finest Hour 4/1 - GoldenEye: Rogue Agent 7/1 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 7/1 - Need For Speed: Underground 2 8/1 - Halo 2 10/1 - FIFA 2005 10/1 - Burnout 3: Takedown 10/1 - The Getaway: Black Monday 12/1 - Tony Hawk's Underground 2 16/1 - Half-Life 2 20/1 - Pro Evolution Soccer 4 20/1 - WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 25/1 - Singstar Party 25/1 - Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within 33/1 - Star Wars: Battlefront 33/1 - Lord of the Rings: The Third Age 33/1 - The Urbz 33/1 - Mortal Kombat: Deception 33/1 - Fight Club 50/1 - Miami Vice 50/1 - Football Manager 2005 50/1 - Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events 50/1 - Ratchet and Clank 3