Saling The World: A New Beginning

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 January 4th, 2007, feature Wii scarcity, rhythm game dominance on PS2, and brain training in plenty. 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: Nintendo Wii North America: 1. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 2. Rayman Raving Rabbids (Ubisoft), 3. Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Atlus), 4. Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (Sega), 5. Call of Duty 3 (Activision). Japan: 1. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 2. Hajimete no Wii (Nintendo), 3. Zelda no Densetsu: Tasogare no Himegimi (Nintendo), 4. Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! NEO (Bandai), 5. Odoru Made in Wario (Nintendo). UK: 1. Red Steel (Ubisoft), 2. Call of Duty 3 (Activision), 3. Need for Speed: Carbon (EA Games), 4. Rayman Raving Rabbids (Ubisoft), 5. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Activision). Former chart-toppers The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Wii Play are conspicuously absent from this week's list of best-selling Wii titles in the UK, though it's certainly not for lack of demand. Twilight Princess is in such short supply that neither Amazon nor affiliated third-party sellers currently have any copies for sale, and the sold-out Wii Play's aftermarket prices now extend well beyond MSRP. In the United States, meanwhile, preorders for the anticipated WarioWare: Smooth Moves are picking up steam, while first-party Wii accessories remain difficult to find. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Gears of War (Microsoft), 2. Call of Duty 3 (Activision), 3. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2K Games), 4. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 5. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft). Japan: 1. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (Capcom), 2. Chikyuu Boueigun 3 (D3 Publisher), 3. Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 (Tecmo), 4. Call of Duty 2 (Konami), 5. Oneechanbara vorteX (D3 Publisher). UK: 1. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft), 2. Gears of War (Microsoft), 3. Table Tennis (Rockstar), 4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports), 5. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2K Games). The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion continues to see strong sales in the weeks after Christmas in both the U.S. and in Europe, though this newfound demand is likely temporary. In a surprising turn, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas manages to top the popular Gears of War in weekly sales for the first time this week in the UK. Vegas will face a difficult challenge in keeping the top spot in the coming weeks, however. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA), 2. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Activision), 3. Call of Duty 3 (Activision), 4. Ridge Racer 7 (Namco Bandai), 5. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports). Japan: 1. Ridge Racer 7 (Namco), 2. Resistance: Jinrui Botsuraku no Hi (SCEI), 3. Armored Core 4 (From Software), 4. Kidou Senshi Gundam: Target in Sight (Bandai), 5. MotorStorm (SCEI). With no new significant releases due for either region until the end of January, PS3 software sales in the United States and Japan will likely see little change in the next few weeks. In the meantime, sales will continue to be driven by established hits like Resistance: Fall of Man and Ridge Racer 7. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Guitar Hero II (RedOctane), 2. Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol (Konami), 3. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 4. Guitar Hero (RedOctane), 5. Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix). Japan: 1. Yoake Yori Ruriiro na: Brighter than Dawning Blue (ARIA), 2. Okami (Capcom), 3. Tennis no Oji-Sama: DokiDoki Survival - Sanroku no Mystic (Konami), 4. Utawarerumono (Aqua Plus), 5. Ryu ga Gotoku 2 (Sega). UK: 1. Canis Canem Edit (Rockstar), 2. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 3. SingStar (SCEE), 4. Cricket 07 (EA Sports), 5. Guitar Hero II (RedOctane). Recent discounts in price have led to a surge in popularity for many of this week's best-selling PS2 games in Europe. Canis Canem Edit in particular benefits greatly from its reduction in price to £14.97, as the resulting sales are strong enough to place it in the top five most popular software titles across all platforms at Amazon.co.uk. Elsewhere, Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol sees a strong debut in the United States, outselling popular titles like Madden NFL 07 and Final Fantasy XII in its first week of release. PC North America: 1. Age of Empires: Collector's Edition (ValuSoft), 2. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 3. The Sims 2: Pets (EA Games), 4. World of Warcraft (Blizzard), 5. Age of Empires III (Microsoft). Japan: 1. Heart no Kuni no Alice ~Wonderful Wonder World~ (QuinRose), 2. Sukatto Golf Pangya (Frontier Groove), 3. Age of Empires II Gold Edition (Microsoft), 4. Final Fantasy XI All-In-One Pack 2006 (Square Enix), 5. Battlefield 2142 (EA Games). UK: 1. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 2. World of Warcraft (Blizzard), 3. Football Manager 2007 (Sega), 4. Battlefield 2142 (EA Games), 5. The Sims 2: Pets (EA Games). The budget-priced Age of Empires: Collector's Edition leads PC software sales in the United States this week, while the more recent Age of Empires III and Age of Empires II Gold Edition also remain popular choices in the U.S. and Japan. Preorders for the World of Warcraft expansion pack The Burning Crusade are also surging in the weeks leading up to its release later this month, hinting at a probable chart-topping debut in both regions. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Brain Age (Nintendo), 2. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 3. Final Fantasy III (Square Enix), 4. Kirby Squeak Squad (Nintendo), 5. Big Brain Academy (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (Square Enix), 2. Zaidan Houjin Nippon Kanji Nouryoku Kentei Kyoukai Koushiki Soft: 200 Mannin no KanKen: Tokoton Kanji Nou (IE Institute), 3. Nippon Joushikiryoku Kenteikau Kanshuu: Imasara Jin ni wa Kikienai - Otona no Joushikiryoku Training DS (Nintendo), 4. Heisei Kyouiku Iinkai DS (Namco), 5. Nounai Aesthe: IQ Suppli DS (Spike). UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. Nintendogs: Lab & Friends (Nintendo), 3. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 4. 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo), 5. Nintendogs: Chihuahua & Friends (Nintendo). The brain-training genre has become a worldwide phenomenon, with Nintendo's Brain Age topping DS sales in the United States and Europe, while Japan's list is dominated by a selection of similar titles. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker remains at the top of Japan's chart for the time being, though upcoming DS releases like San Goku Shi Taisen DS and Sekaiju no Meikyuu could pose a threat in the next few weeks. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 2. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (Konami), 3. Star Wars Battlefront II (LucasArts), 4. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 5. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar). Japan: 1. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (Konami), 2. Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology (Namco), 3. Monster Hunter Portable (Capcom), 4. Maplus: Portable Navi (Edia), 5. Taiko no Tatsujin Portable 2 (Namco). UK: 1. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 2. Medal of Honor: Heroes (EA Games), 3. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports), 5. Worms: Open Warfare (THQ). Madden NFL 07 and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops battle for the top position on the United States' PSP sales chart, and though Madden won out this week, next week could bring Portable Ops back into first place. The Grand Theft Auto series also continues to see big sales, though Vice City Stories still lags behind Liberty City Stories in the U.S., despite its success in Europe.