Saling The World: Dragon Quest V Tops Multiplatform Charts in Japan

Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five real-time Amazon.com 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 July 17th, 2008, find EA's NCAA Football 09 leading sales on the Xbox 360 in North America, while a remade Dragon Quest V for the Nintendo DS leads cross-platform sales in Japan. 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. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Rock Band Special Edition (EA Games), 3. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 4. Wii Play (Nintendo), 5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 2. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 3. Boom Blox (EA Games), 4. Tales of Symphonia: Ratatosk no Kishi (Namco), 5. Family Trainer (Bandai). UK: 1. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo), 4. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 5. Big Beach Sports (THQ). A sudden aftermarket price hike drops Mario Kart Wii to third place in this week's North American Nintendo Wii sales results. Demand for the widely sold-out title is still high, but wanes slightly this week as Amazon-affiliated third-party sellers raise their prices in excess of $80. EA's discounted Rock Band bundle climbs up to second place in the meantime, while Wii Play and Super Smash Bros. Brawl hold the same U.S. chart positions as last week. In Japan, a localized Boom Blox debuts at third place, as Bandai's exercise mat-bundled Family Trainer takes fifth. Xbox 360 North America: 1. NCAA Football 09 (EA Sports), 2. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 3. Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution (2K Games), 4. Call of Duty 3 -- Platinum Hits (Activision), 5. Halo 3 (Microsoft). Japan: 1. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Bethesda), 2. Battlefield: Bad Company (EA Games), 3. The Idolm@ster -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Namco), 4. Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit (Bandai), 5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -- Map Download Special Limited Edition (Activision). UK: 1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 2. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 3. Battlefield: Bad Company (EA Games), 4. Top Spin 3 (2K Sports), 5. Unreal Tournament 3 (Midway). NCAA Football 09 tops software sales on the Xbox 360 in its debut week in the United States. The Xbox 360 version of the title proves to be the most popular of multiple available ports in its first week of release, with the PlayStation 3 edition finishing at a close second. Grand Theft Auto IV climbs back up to second place in this week's U.S. results, following a chart drop last week in the wake of the release of Civilization Revolution, which now places third. Among first-person shooters, Halo 3 and the price-dropped Call of Duty 3 surpass the weekly popularity of recent releases like Unreal Tournament 3 and Battlefield: Bad Company, both of which finish just outside the North American top five. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami), 2. NCAA Football 09 (EA Sports), 3. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 4. Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution (2K Games), 5. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (SCEA). Japan: 1. Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi -- Limited Edition (Aqua Plus), 2. Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit (Bandai), 3. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots -- Special Edition (Konami), 4. Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi (Aqua Plus), 5. Metal Gear Online (Konami). UK: 1. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami), 2. Buzz! Quiz TV with Buzzers (SCEE), 3. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 4. Top Spin 3 (2K Games), 5. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (SCEA). Metal Gear Solid 4 once again tops PlayStation 3 software sales in North America, fending off a strong chart debut from this week's release of NCAA Football 09. Last week's fast-selling Civilization Revolution drops to fourth place, meanwhile, as Gran Turismo 5 Prologue rounds out the regional chart at fifth. Japanese sales find both the regular and limited editions of Aqua Plus' debuting Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi achieving top sales in the title's first week of release, as Metal Gear Online makes an early appearance despite supply shortages at Amazon.co.jp. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Arcana Heart (Atlus), 2. Rock Band Special Edition (EA Games), 3. Rock Band Track Pack: Vol. 1 (EA Games), 4. NCAA Football 09 (EA Sports), 5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision). Japan: 1. Persona 4 (Atlus), 2. Hisshou Pachinko*Pachi-Slot Kouryaku Series DS Vol. 12: CR Shinseiki Evangelion - Shito, Futatabi (D3 Publisher), 3. Harukanaru Jikuu no Kade 4 (Koei), 4. Sengoku Basara X (Capcom), 5. Persona 3: FES -- Standalone Version (Atlus). UK: 1. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 2. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 4. Kung Fu Panda (Activision), 5. Wall-E (THQ). Atlus heads North America's PlayStation 2 charts for the second week in a row, with this week's results topped by a discounted Arcana Heart. The just-released compilation Rock Band Track Pack: Vol. 1 makes a big first-week impression at third place, and drives up demand for the instrument-bundled Rock Band Special Edition as a result. Atlus maintains its lead in Japan as well, where Persona 4 continues to outsell all competing PS2 titles in its second week of release. Sales for the expanded Persona 3: FES also see a jump this week, while Capcom's 2D fighter Sengoku Basara X returns from a short absence to finish at fourth place. PC North America: 1. Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice (Her Interactive), 2. Diablo Battle Chest (Blizzard), 3. The Orange Box (EA Games), 4. SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition (EA Games), 5. Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword (2K Games). Japan: 1. Monster Hunter Frontier Online Season 3.0 Premium (E-Frontier), 2. Ragnarok Online Summer Package 2008 (E-Frontier), 3. Lineage: The Cross Rancor (E-Frontier), 4. Sukatto Golf Pangya: Yokubari Kit (E Frontier), 5. Final Fantasy XI: Vana'diel Collection (Square Enix). UK: 1. Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Complete (2K Games), 2. Football Manager 2008 (Sega), 3. The Sims 2: IKEA Home Stuff (EA Games), 4. Mass Effect (EA Games), 5. World of Warcraft (Blizzard). Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice spends its second week atop Amazon's North American PC sales chart, followed closely by Blizzard's compilation Diablo Battle Chest. SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition makes a return to the U.S. top five with a fourth-place finish, while in Europe, Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Complete leads the PC pack after a recent sales resurgence. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Guitar Hero: On Tour (Activision), 2. The World Ends with You (Square Enix), 3. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 4. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 5. Brain Age 2 (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Dragon Quest V: Tenkuu No Hanayome (Square Enix), 2. Daigasso! Band Brothers DX (Nintendo), 3. DS Bimoji Training (Nintendo), 4. Derby Stallion DS (Enterbrain), 5. Gakken Chuugokugo Sanmai DS (Gakken). UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 3. My Health Coach (Ubisoft), 4. Scrabble Interactive: 2007 Edition (Ubisoft), 5. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo). As Guitar Hero: On Tour continues its multi-week reign in North American DS sales, Square Enix's long-absent The World Ends with You mounts a sales comeback that places it second in this week's results. Previously the victim of supply shortages and high levels of demand, The World Ends with You now boasts its full sales potential thanks to a restock and a lowered price at Amazon. This week's premiere of Dragon Quest V: Tenkuu No Hanayome sweeps Japanese sales, meanwhile, with the title debuting as the week's top software seller across all platforms. Daigasso! Band Brothers DX drops to second place, as DS Bimoji Training jumps up to take third. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (Square Enix), 2. NCAA Football 09 (EA Sports), 3. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 4. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA), 5. Patapon (SCEA). Japan: 1. Gundam Battle Universe (Bandai), 2. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom), 3. God of War: Rakujitsu no Hisoukyoku (Capcom), 4. Ken to Mahou to Gakuen Mono. (Acquire), 5. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu Portable 3 (Konami). UK: 1. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 2. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 3. Virtua Tennis 3 (Sega), 4. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 5. FIFA 08 (EA Sports). The recently stagnant North American PSP charts receive a shot in the arm this week with the debuting NCAA Football 09 and a discounted Final Fantasy Tactics surpassing the sales of longtime chart leaders Crisis Core and God of War: Chains of Olympus. Amazon reports that the recent rush of demand for Final Fantasy Tactics was so strong that the title has since sold out completely. In Japan, the recently released Gundam Battle Universe takes top honors in this week's PSP results, pushing long-time chart leader Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G to second place. Little changes in Europe's weekly chart, on the other hand, with Lego Indiana Jones and Crisis Core remaining on top.