Saling The World: GT5 Prologue, Kingdom Under Fire Top Charts 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 December 13th, 2007, feature strong introductory sales for Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure No Meikyuu, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, and Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom in Japan, as holiday shortages hit numerous popular titles in the United States. 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. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. Carnival Games (Global Star), 4. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision). Japan: 1. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure No Meikyuu (Square Enix), 3. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 4. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo), 5. NiGHTS: Hoshi Furu Yoru no Monogatari (Sega). UK: 1. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. High School Musical: Sing It! Bundle (Disney), 4. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo), 5. The Simpsons Game (EA Games). Sales for Super Mario Galaxy and Wii Play remain steady in the days prior to Christmas, while Carnival Games has surged back up the North American charts as a popular holiday gift. Amazon has exhausted its supply of Carnival Games in the last week, however, leading aftermarket prices to extend far beyond the title's initial MSRP of $29.99. A possible restock could bring prices back down soon, though no restock appears to be in sight for Guitar Hero III, which third-party sellers continue to list at Amazon for prices in excess of $200. In Japan, Wii Fit sees new competition from the just-released dungeon crawler Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure No Meikyuu, while Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games surges to the top in the UK. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Rock Band (EA Games), 3. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 4. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 5. Mass Effect (Microsoft). Japan: 1. Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom (Microsoft), 2. Lost Odyssey (Microsoft), 3. Dead Rising / Gears of War -- Xbox 360 Platinum Double Pack (Capcom / Microsoft), 4. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 5. The Idol M@ster -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Namco). UK: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 3. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 4. Mass Effect (Microsoft), 5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision). A brief resupply of Rock Band brings the title back to this week's North American Xbox 360 sales chart, but Amazon's supply has already been entirely sold out, leaving potential buyers at the mercy of third-party markups of $100 or more. Chart mainstays like Call of Duty 4 and Assassin's Creed continue to sell well, meanwhile, as Halo 3 and Mass Effect trail close behind. Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom debuts to a first-place finish in Japan, meanwhile, and could remain at the top for weeks to come, as the series has enjoyed Japanese success in the past on the original Xbox. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 2. Rock Band (EA Games), 3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 4. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 5. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (SCEA). Japan: 1. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (SCEI), 2. Uncharted: El Dorado no Hihou (SCEI), 3. Shin Sangoku Musou 5 (Koei), 4. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2008 (Konami), 5. Ratchet & Clank Future (SCEI). UK: 1. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 2. Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction (SCEE), 3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 4. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (SCEE), 5. Need for Speed ProStreet (EA Games). Gran Turismo 5 Prologue debuts to a resounding first-place sales finish in its first week on Japanese store shelves, with gamers eager to get a first glimpse at the newest edition of the popular driving simulation series. In North America, meanwhile, Amazon lists the PlayStation 3 versions of Rock Band and Guitar Hero III as available and ready to ship, despite the fact that the titles face supply shortages on other platforms. Rock Band is listed as being immediately available, while the Guitar Hero III accessory bundle requires a wait of two days prior to shipping. These supplies may not last long, however, and aftermarket prices could continue to fluctuate in the coming days. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 3. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 4. Guitar Hero II Bundle (Activision), 5. Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2 Bundle (Konami). Japan: 1. SD Gundam G Generation Spirits (Bandai), 2. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2008 (Konami), 3. Sengoku Basara 2: Heroes (Capcom), 4. Clannad (Interchannel), 5. Ryuu ga Gotoko 2 -- PlayStation 2 the Best (Sega). UK: 1. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 2. The Simpsons Game (EA Games), 3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 4. Need for Speed ProStreet (EA Games), 5. High School Musical: Sing It! (Disney). Music games take over this week's PlayStation 2 bestsellers chart in the United States, with the regular and bundled editions of Guitar Hero III sitting in the top two positions. Strangely, both versions remain in stock and ready to ship, while the bundled edition of last year's Guitar Hero II has become difficult to find in just the past week, and is now commanding high markup prices. At the tail end of the chart, Konami's latest Dance Dance Revolution release, SuperNOVA 2, makes a chart appearance for the first time since its release in September, as a result of a holiday-fueled demand for rhythm titles. PC North America: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. The Orange Box (EA Games), 3. Crazy Machines: The Wacky Contraptions Game (Viva Media), 4. Crysis (EA Games), 5. The Sims 2: Bon Voyage (EA Games). Japan: 1. Sukatto Golf Pangya! Yokubari Kit (e frontier), 2. Ragnarok Online 5th Anniversary Package (e frontier), 3. Final Fantasy XI: Altana no Kamihei (Square Enix), 4. Crysis (EA Games), 5. Hatsune Miku (Cripton Future Media). UK: 1. The Orange Box (EA Games), 2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 3. Football Manager 2008 (Sega), 4. Crysis (EA Games), 5. The Sims 2: Bon Voyage (EA Games). As consoles and portables see various holiday-related chart shakeups, PC software sales remain fairly consistent from week to week. Crazy Machines' intrusion into North America's chart last week has gone unchallenged, while Call of Duty 4 and The Orange Box remain the region's best sellers. Sukatto Golf Pangya! Yokubari Kit takes top honors in its debut week in Japan, meanwhile, with Ragnarok Online 5th Anniversary Package falling to second place in weekly sales. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Brain Age 2 (Nintendo), 2. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo), 3. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 4. Flash Focus (Nintendo), 5. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Dragon Quest IV: Michibikareshi Monotachi (Square Enix), 2. Mario Party DS (Nintendo), 3. Layton Kyouju to Akuma no Hako -- Special Edition (Level 5), 4. Ookiku Furikabutte: Honto no Ace ni Nareru kamo (Marvelous), 5. Taiko no Tatsujin DS: Touch de Dokodon! (Namco). UK: 1. More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima (Nintendo), 2. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 3. Big Brain Academy (Nintendo), 4. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo), 5. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo). The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass suddenly overtakes its competitors after charting at fourth place in U.S. sales last week, topping out at a second-place finish. New Super Mario Bros. also climbs a chart spot, while Flash Focus makes its highest chart showing yet. This reshuffling can be attributed to recent shortages of the original Brain Age and Mario Party DS at Amazon. Brain Age is expected to be back in stock just prior to Christmas, while Mario Party DS currently suffers the kind of inflated aftermarket prices usually reserved for high-dollar console titles like Guitar Hero III and Rock Band. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 2. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (Square Enix), 3. Daxter (SCEA), 4. Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (Konami), 5. Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron (LucasArts). Japan: 1. Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida. (SCEI), 2. Minna no Golf Portable 2 (SCEI), 3. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom), 4. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 5. Makai Senki Disgaea Portable: Tsuushin Taisen Hajime Mashita (Nippon Ichi). UK: 1. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 2. Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (SCEE), 3. Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron (LucasArts), 4. Football Manager Handheld 2008 (Sega), 5. The Sims 2: Castaway (EA Games). Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions sees a resurgence in popularity this week in the United States, thanks to a recent drop in price at Amazon to $29.99. Daxter also finds a minor chart boost, as Madden NFL 08 once again tops overall weekly sales. Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida. and Minna no Golf Portable 2 stay on top in Japan, meanwhile, and are likely to remain strong chart contenders throughout the rest of December.