IGN Releases GamerMetrics List for 2005 Holidays

IGN Entertainment, owner of the IGN.com and GameSpy.com consumer websites, released its GamerMetric lists for the holiday season. The list gauges reader interest in games according to surveys conducted through its websites on which games its audience wanted most, as well as user activity on the above websites as well as TeamXbox.com and Fileplanet.com. Overall, across all platforms surveyed, which includes PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox, Xbox 360, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and PC, the #1 most wanted game was Madden NFL 06, which may end up as the top-selling game of the year in the absence of a new Grand Theft Auto for PS2. Electronic Arts has second and third place sewn up as well, with Need for Speed: Most Wanted and NBA Live 06. A pair of Xbox 360 games rounds out the top 5: Call of Duty 2 (also available for PC) is #4, and Perfect Dark Zero is the #5 most wanted game. On PlayStation 2, the surprise #1 on gamers' wish lists is Shadow of the Colossus, which, while a great game, leads one to wonder about the methodology of the list-making. After that #2 is Dragon Ball Z: Budokai: Tenkaichi, followed by Resident Evil 4 at #3 and WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006 at #4. Soul Calibur III, the first PS2-exclusive entry in the series, comes in at #5. Ninja Gaiden Black topped the Xbox lists at #1, above Far Cry: Instincts at #2. The rest of the Xbox list is a cavalcade of multiplatform titles: Star Wars Battlefront II put in an appearance at #3, while Burnout Revenge and X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse finished out the list at #4 and #5. On Xbox 360, Call of Duty 2 came out on top, with Perfect Dark Zero close behind in second place. #3 was Project Gotham Racing 3, #4 was Kameo: Elements of Power, and fifth on the list was Madden NFL 06. Resident Evil 4 shows up again topping the GameCube most wanted list, above strategy games Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Battalion Wars. WWE Day of Reckoning 2 comes in fourth on the GC list, with Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix finishing at #5. Pokémon Emerald is #1 on the Game Boy Advance, with Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap at #2 and Final Fantasy IV at #3. Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones caught #4 on the GBA lists, with Gunstar Super Heroes taking #5. The #1 most-wanted game for Nintendo DS was Mario Kart DS, followed by Nintendogs -- presumably all three versions accounted for in one chart entry. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow got third place, Animal Crossing: Wild World took fourth, and Advance Wars: Dual Strike came in fifth. On the PlayStation Portable, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories was a not-unexpected #1 on gamers' wish lists; almost as desirable were WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006 at #2 and Burnout Legends at #3. Madden NFL 06 placed a mere fourth, just ahead of Star Wars Battlefront II at #5. Finally, the PC list was headed up by Civilization IV, followed by F.E.A.R. and Call of Duty 2. Age of Empires III and Battlefield 2 round out the list, composed entirely of strategy games and first-person shooters -- a sign that the PC games market may really have become as constrictive as it's widely believed to be.