Saling The World: Call of Duty 4 Tops West, Mario Party DS Leads in Japan

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 November 8th, 2007, see Call of Duty 4 cleaning up across multiple platforms in both the U.S. and Europe, while the just-released Mario Party DS outpaces Super Mario Galaxy in weekly sales in Japan. Data for "Saling The World" comes courtesy of the real-time 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. Wii Play (Nintendo), 2. Carnival Games (Global Star), 3. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 4. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts), 5. Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party (Konami). Japan: 1. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo), 2. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 3. Ghost Squad (Sega), 4. Dragon Quest Swords: Kamen no Joou to Kagami no Tou (Square Enix), 5. Hajimete no Wii (Nintendo). UK: 1. Big Brain Academy for Wii (Nintendo), 2. The Simpsons Game (EA Games), 3. Carnival Funfair Games (2K Games), 4. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo), 5. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Nintendo). Demand for the recently released Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock has outstripped Amazon's supply to such a degree that the title is nowhere to be seen among this week's top five sellers in the United States. Amazon has not received new copies for sale since Guitar Hero III's initial release, and third-party aftermarket prices continue to rise as a result. In the meantime, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games and LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga make a solid sales debut at third and fourth place in their first week of U.S. release, while The Simpsons Game continues to creep up the charts in the UK. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 3. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 4. The Orange Box (EA Games), 5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Activision). Japan: 1. Ace Combat 6: Kaihou e no Senka (Namco), 2. The Idol M@ster -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Namco), 3. Just Cause: Viva Revolution (EA Games), 4. Chikyuu Boueigun 3 -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (D3 Publisher), 5. Dead Rising / Gears of War -- Xbox 360 Platinum Double Pack (Capcom / Microsoft). UK: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 3. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -- Special Edition (Activision), 5. The Orange Box (EA Games). This week sees a major chart reshuffling for the Xbox 360 in the United States, as Amazon's supply remains nonexistent for the extremely popular but uncharted guitar-bundled version of Guitar Hero III. The Xbox 360 port of Call of Duty 4 emerges as this week's single best-selling title across all platforms in North America, outperforming both the popular PlayStation 3 and PC versions by a decent margin. Meanwhile, Madden NFL 08 makes a return to the top five after an absence of several weeks, thanks to a recent discount in price at Amazon to $39.99. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (SCEA), 3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 4. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts), 5. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA). Japan: 1. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Ubisoft), 2. Minna no Golf 5 (SCEI), 3. The Eye of Judgment: Biolith Rebellion (SCEI), 4. Imabikisou (Spike), 5. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Spike). UK: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction (SCEE), 3. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 4. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 5. Sega Rally (Sega). Call of Duty 4 trumps former sales leader Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction in weekly sales in its first few days on North American store shelves, though competition between both titles is likely to be neck-and-neck over the holiday season. Curiously, the PlayStation 3 version of the Guitar Hero III bundle has remained in steady supply over the last week, whereas ports for most other consoles quickly sold out soon after its release. Amazon reports that the PS3 version has recently been bumped to "In stock soon" status, however, and may soon also become a difficult find. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Activision), 3. Guitar Hero II Bundle (Activision), 4. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 5. The Simpsons Game (EA Games). Japan: 1. Clannad (Interchannel), 2. Ar tonelico II: Sekai ni Hibiku Shoujo Tachi no Souzoushi (Banpresto), 3. God of War -- Best Price (Capcom), 4. Kuri no Okurimono (Takuyo), 5. Volleyball World Cup: Venus Evolution (Spike). UK: 1. The Simpsons Game (EA Games), 2. WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008 (THQ), 3. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 4. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 5. The Sims 2: Castaway (EA Games). The PlayStation 2 has become the platform of choice for gamers in search of a Guitar Hero III fix, as both standalone and bundled PS2 versions seem to be in no danger of selling out at Amazon. Amazon has additionally cut the price of the bundled version by $10, giving customers further incentive to choose the PS2 version over its short-supplied next-gen counterparts. Gamers in the UK, on the other hand, turn their attention to The Simpsons Game and WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008, making for a sudden change in sales results in comparison to the largely SingStar-dominated charts of recent weeks. PC North America: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. The Sims 2: Teen Style Stuff (EA Games), 3. The Orange Box (EA Games), 4. Nancy Drew: Legend of the Crystal Skull (Her Interactive), 5. Hellgate: London (EA Games). Japan: 1. Hatsune Miku (Cripton Future Media), 2. Lineage II: First Throne (NC Japan), 3. Little Busters! (KEY), 4. Clannad (KEY), 5. Phantasy Star Universe: Illuminus no Yabou (Sega). UK: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Football Manager 2008 (Sega), 3. The Sims 2: Bon Voyage (EA Games), 4. The Witcher (Atari), 5. Gears of War (Microsoft). Call of Duty 4 and The Sims 2: Teen Style Stuff debut to take over the top two PC sales spots in the United States, with Teen Style Stuff being additionally bolstered by a 20% discount in price at Amazon. Demand for last week's leaders Hellgate: London and The Witcher falls sharply this week, however, as Nancy Drew: Legend of the Crystal Skull rises back up the chart to take fourth place. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Brain Age 2 (Nintendo), 2. Brain Age (Nintendo), 3. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 4. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo), 5. Flash Focus (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Mario Party DS (Nintendo), 2. DS Nishimura Kyotaro Suspense Shin Tantei Series: Kyoto Atami Zekkai no Kotou - Satsui no Wana (Tecmo), 3. DS Bungaku Zenshuu (Nintendo), 4. Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Motto Eigo Duke (Nintendo), 5. Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Fuuketsu no Grimoire (Square Enix). UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. High School Musical: Makin' the Cut (Disney), 3. More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima (Nintendo), 4. Cooking Mama (505 Games), 5. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo). After consistently remaining a top seller since its release last month, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass suddenly falls to fourth place in North American weekly DS sales. In Japan, meanwhile, Mario Party DS debuts to such high demand that it beats out Super Mario Galaxy as this week's best-selling game across all platforms. These results are likely to change next week, however, given Galaxy's widespread appeal and strong potential chart staying power. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Silent Hill: Origins (Konami), 2. Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (Konami), 3. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 4. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (Square Enix), 5. The Simpsons Game (EA Games). Japan: 1. Akumajou Dracula X Chronicle (Konami), 2. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 2. Gundam Battle Chronicle (Bandai), 4. Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters GX: Tag Force 2 (Konami), 5. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom). UK: 1. The Simpsons Game (EA Games), 2. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 4. WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008 (THQ), 5. Ben 10: Protector of Earth (D3 Publisher). Silent Hill: Origins makes a surprise grab for the top PSP sales spot in its first week of U.S. release, dropping former leader Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles to a second-place finish. Considering the strength of this demand, Silent Hill: Origins could end up being one of the PSP's best sellers for weeks to come, though The Dracula X Chronicles will not likely relinquish its place atop the chart without a fight. Akumajou Dracula X Chronicle also boasts a steady foothold in Japan, where it tops weekly PSP sales in its first week of release.