GameFly Rental Chart Highlights: Week Ending May 2nd

This week's GameFly video game rental charts for North America, specifically relating to games rented via the games-by-mail service for the week ending May 2nd, show popularity over multiple game formats. Aliens quickly subjugated the cross-platform charts, as Area 51 debuted at #1 this week. Another new addition, WWE Wrestlemania 21, comes in at #2, and Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict slips only slightly to rest at #3. Since all three games have releases on Xbox, it makes sense that the Xbox-specific chart would follow the same pattern: Area 51, then WWE and UC2. Over on the PlayStation 2 charts, God of War is still tops with PS2 renters, followed by Area 51 at #2 and the PS2-only Devil May Cry 3 at #3. The same three titles continue to dominate Nintendo's GameCube chart: Resident Evil 4 is still #1, Star Fox Assault is still #2, and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is still #3. On the Game Boy Advance, Mario Party Advance and Legend of Zelda: the Minish Cap continue at #1 and #2, but #3 is replaced this week by Pokémon Emerald, which tweaks the formula of the prior Ruby and Sapphire games. Given the high popularity of the Pokémon franchise, it's likely that the Emerald version will stay high on the charts for some time to come. Finally, a few shake-ups in the charts for the two newer handhelds: Pac-Pix goes straight to the top of the Nintendo DS charts, followed by Yoshi Touch & Go at #2 and new puzzler Polarium at #3. Gamers seem to be trying out the less well-hyped games on PSP now that the initial rush has died down: ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin' Trails is at #1, with Twisted Metal: Head On at #2 and old standby Ridge Racer at #3.