Saling The World: GT5 Prologue Leads U.S. PS3 Sales; Mario Kart Wii Tops UK Charts

Author: by Staff

Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five sellers for every available platform in the United States, Japan, and Europe according to real-time Amazon.com data, providing an important update of sales patterns worldwide. This week's charts, with data taken from April 17th, 2008, find Mario Kart Wii on top in the UK and Japan, while North American sales are headed by the just-released Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. 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. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 2. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 4. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 5. Wii Zapper with Link's Crossbow Training (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 2. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 3. Dairantou Smash Brothers X (Nintendo), 4. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 5. Hajimete no Wii Pack (Nintendo). UK: 1. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 4. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (EA Sports), 5. Wii Zapper with Link's Crossbow Training (Nintendo). As Mario Kart Wii leads for the second week running in Japan, its recent UK debut tops cross-platform European sales as well. Mario Kart Wii also remains a popular preorder item in North America, though U.S. multiplatform sales at Amazon this week are topped by the upcoming Wii Fit, which manages to outsell all competition on all platforms on preorder strength alone. These strong presale numbers are likely to continue through the weeks leading up to Wii Fit's May release, after which the title could become a difficult find, unless initial supplies are available in larger quantities than expected. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Blue Dragon (Microsoft), 3. Rock Band Special Edition (MTV Games), 4. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Ubisoft), 5. Halo 3 (Microsoft). Japan: 1. The Idolm@ster: Live for You! (Namco), 2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 3. Armored Core: For Answer (From Software), 4. The Idolm@ster -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Namco), 5. Skate (EA Games). UK: 1. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 2. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Ubisoft), 3. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision). The Xbox 360 edition of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare climbs North America's multiplatform charts this week thanks to a recent and possibly permanent price drop at Amazon. Blue Dragon also finds a new surge of interest following a sharp discount in price, though demand will quickly cool now that the resulting sales rush has completely drained Amazon's available stock. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (SCEA), 2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 3. Rock Band Special Edition (MTV Games), 4. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 5. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft). Japan: 1. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 5 (Konami), 2. Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! (Sega), 3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 4. Armored Core: For Answer (From Software), 5. Devil May Cry 4 (Capcom). UK: 1. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (SCEE), 2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 3. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 4. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Ubisoft), 5. MotorStorm (SCEE). Gran Turismo 5 Prologue makes an impressive chart debut in North America this week, ranking just behind Call of Duty 4 on the Xbox 360 in overall sales across all platforms. Prologue also continues to lead in the UK, and its popularity shows no sign of weakening anytime soon. Sales remain stagnant in a slow release week in Japan, meanwhile, though activity is expected to pick up again in the coming weeks. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. God of War II (SCEA), 2. Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection (Konami), 3. Arcana Heart (Atlus), 4. Rock Band Special Edition (MTV Games), 5. Final Fantasy X (Square Enix). Japan: 1. Musou Orochi: Maou Sairin (Koei), 2. Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch - Lost Colors (Bandai), 3. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 5 (Konami), 4. Suzumiya Haruhi no Tomadoi -- Limited Edition (Banpresto), 5. Kyuuketsu Kitan Moonties -- Limited Edition (Interchannel). UK: 1. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 2. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 3. SingStar Legends (SCEE), 4. SingStar Party (SCEE), 5. SingStar '80s (SCEE). As preorder numbers for next week's North American release of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES continue to outpace the sales of all competing PlayStation 2 software, the discounted Greatest Hits version of God of War II once again leads among all currently available titles. Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection hangs on at second place, meanwhile, as the recently released 2D fighter Arcana Heart manages yet another surprisingly strong sales week with a third-place finish. PC North America: 1. The Sims 2: Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff (EA Games), 2. World in Conflict (Sierra), 3. Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut Edition (Ubisoft), 4. Sins of a Solar Empire (Stardock), 5. World of Warcraft: Battle Chest (Blizzard). Japan: 1. Clannad Full Voice (Key), 2. Vocaloid 2 Character Vocal Series 01: Hatsune Miku (Crypton Future Media), 3. Little Busters! (KEY), 4. Final Fantasy XI: The Vana'diel Collection (Square Enix), 5. Infinity Plus (CyberFront). UK: 1. Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut Edition (Ubisoft), 2. Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath (EA Games), 3. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War -- Soulstorm (THQ), 4. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision). This week sees yet another PC chart upheaval in North America, with the recently released The Sims 2 expansion pack Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff topping weekly sales in its first week of release. World in Conflict hangs on at second place after making a sudden return last week, while Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut Edition climbs up to take third. Sins of a Solar Empire returns to the top five after a one-week absence, meanwhile, and pushes last week's sales champion, World of Warcraft: Battle Chest, down to fifth place. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Professor Layton and the Curious Village (Nintendo), 2. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 3. Brain Age 2 (Nintendo), 4. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 5. Brain Age (Nintendo). Japan: 1. DS Bimoji Training (Nintendo), 2. SimCity DS 2 (EA Games), 3. Maji de Manabu: LEC de Ukaru - DS Hishou Boki 3-Kyuu (Square Enix), 4. Bokura wa Kaseki Holder (Nintendo), 5. Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 2nd Season (Konami). UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo), 3. Solitaire DS (Deep Silver), 4. More Brain Training (Nintendo), 5. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega). With last week's DS sales leader Final Fantasy III bumped back up to retail price and suffering a related drop in customer interest at Amazon, the weekly battle between New Super Mario Bros. and Professor Layton and the Curious Village resumes. Professor Layton comes out on top in this week's results, though next week could tell a different story. Preorder demand for the upcoming roguelike sequel pair Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time indicates that both titles could find themselves topping U.S. Nintendo DS sales upon their release next week. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 2. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA), 3. Jeanne D'Arc (SCEA), 4. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (Konami), 5. Patapon (SCEA). Japan: 1. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom), 2. Star Ocean: The Second Evolution (Square Enix), 3. Maplus Portable Navi 2 (Edia), 4. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom), 5. Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch - Lost Colors (Bandai). UK: 1. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA), 2. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 4. Patapon (SCEE), 5. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar). Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and God of War: Chains of Olympus make another predictable appearance at the top of the PSP's software sales chart in North America this week, while strategy-RPG favorite Jeanne D'Arc returns after a long absence following a drop in price at Amazon. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops jumps up a place in this week's results, meanwhile, leaving Patapon at the bottom of the top five.