Saling The World: GTA IV, Mario Kart Lead US, Luminous Arc 2 Tops 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 May 15th, 2008, see newcomers Luminous Arc 2: Will and Aoishiro leading sales among this week's debuting Japanese titles, as The World Ends With You sells out 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. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. We Ski (Namco Bandai), 4. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 2. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 3. Totsugeki!! Famicom Wars VS (Nintendo), 4. Link no Bowgun Training + Wii Zapper (Nintendo), 5. Dairantou Smash Brothers X (Nintendo). UK: 1. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 3. Wii Play (Nintendo), 4. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts), 5. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega). After previously seeing a strong North American debut, Boom Blox finishes just outside the region's top five in this week's Wii sales results. In its place is Namco Bandai's We Ski, which finishes third in its first week of release. Mario Kart Wii still firmly holds on to its lead in the U.S. and Japan, meanwhile, as a difficult-to-find and largely sold-out Wii Fit remains highly sought-after in the UK. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 2. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 3. Rock Band Special Edition (EA Games), 4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 5. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft). Japan: 1. The Darkness (Spike), 2. The Idolm@ster: Live for You! (Namco), 3. The Idolm@ster -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Namco), 4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 5. Turok (Touchstone). UK: 1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 2. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 3. The Orange Box (EA Games), 4. Viking: Battle for Asgard (Sega), 5. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft). Anticipation for Team Ninja's Ninja Gaiden II builds rapidly this week in North America, with Amazon reporting weekly presale numbers that rival this week's overall sales for Grand Theft Auto IV. Demand falls rapidly for Assassin's Creed, meanwhile, as last week's sales boost for the title has since faded due to the expiration of a temporary sale price at Amazon. Elsewhere, The Darkness tops regional sales in its first week of Japanese release, as The Idolm@ster and its sequel Live for You! remain big sellers from week to week. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 2. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (SCEA), 3. Rock Band Special Edition (EA Games), 4. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 5. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft). Japan: 1. Senjou no Valkyria (Sega), 2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 3. Makai Senki Disgaea 3 -- First Print Limited Edition (Nippon Ichi), 4. Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! (Sega), 5. Armored Core: For Answer (From Software). UK: 1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 2. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (SCEE), 3. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 5. Burnout Paradise (EA Games). While Ninja Gaiden II leads preorder demand on the Xbox 360, this week's PlayStation 3 presales in North America are headed by Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Amazon reports that MGS4 is rapidly approaching Grand Theft Auto IV's level of popularity, and outranks all other currently available software in weekly sales. Assassin's Creed drops to fifth place after a strong finish last week, meanwhile, as Rock Band and Guitar Hero III move up the charts in its stead. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Activision), 2. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES (Atlus), 3. Rock Band (EA Games), 4. Rock Band Special Edition (EA Games), 5. Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection (Konami). Japan: 1. Aoishiro -- Limited Edition (Success), 2. NiGHTS into Dreams... -- Nightopia Dream Pack (Sega), 3. Musou Orochi: Maou Sairin (Koei), 4. KimiKiss -- ebKore+ (Enterbrain), 5. Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch - Lost Colors (Bandai). UK: 1. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 2. SingStar Summer Party (SCEE), 3. The Simpsons Game (EA Games), 4. Top Trumps: Doctor Who (Eidos), 5. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar). Guitar Hero III sees a sales resurgence across several platforms this week in North America, with the PlayStation 2 edition seeing the biggest sales boost due to a significant drop in price at Amazon. The standalone version of Rock Band also finds new sales popularity resulting from a recent "Deal of the Day" promotion, though demand is likely to wane now that the title has returned to full price. In Japan, Aoishiro tops PS2 software sales in its debut week, as the limited edition version of Sega's NiGHTS remake returns to the top five following a price drop. PC North America: 1. The Orange Box (EA Games), 2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 3. World of Warcraft: Battle Chest (Blizzard), 4. The Sims 2: Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff (EA Games), 5. SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition (EA Games). Japan: 1. Chaos;Head (Nitro Plus), 2. Alice in Deep Forest: Fukai Mori no Kuni no Alice (QuinRose), 3. Final Fantasy XI: Vana'diel Collection (Square Enix), 4. Little Busters! (Key), 5. Clannad Full Voice (Key). UK: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 3. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War -- Soulstorm (THQ), 4. Football Manager 2008 (Sega), 5. Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut Edition (Ubisoft). The Orange Box saw a fast climb up North America's PC sales chart over the last week, taking a first-place sales victory after finishing fifth in the week prior. Also making a return this week is World of Warcraft: Battle Chest, which takes third after failing to chart last week. Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures continues to lead in presales among upcoming software, meanwhile, as Mass Effect follows close behind. Nintendo DS North America: 1. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 2. My Word Coach (Ubisoft), 3. Brain Age 2 (Nintendo), 4. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 5. Brain Age (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Luminous Arc 2: Will (Marvelous), 2. DS Bimoji Training (Nintendo), 3. Bokura wa Kaseki Holder (Nintendo), 4. SimCity DS 2: Kodai kara Mirai e Tsuduku Machi (EA Games), 5. Layton Kyouju to Fushigi na Machi (Level 5). UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. More Brain Training (Nintendo), 3. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 4. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 5. 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo). The popularity of Square Enix's The World Ends With You has apparently outlasted Amazon's stock, as the title has since sold out completely following a first-place sales victory last week. Though it fails to chart in this week's North American results, secondary market prices are quickly climbing, and could continue to rise until a restock arrives. With The World Ends With You forced out of this week's competition, New Super Mario Bros. takes its place as the United States' current DS sales leader. Ubisoft's My Word Coach also finds a popularity boost this week following a drop in price, while in Japan, the just-released Luminous Arc 2: Will overtakes DS Bimoji Training's weeks-long sales lead. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 2. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA), 3. Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (SCEA), 4. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (Konami), 5. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar). Japan: 1. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom), 2. Bleach: Heat the Soul 5 (SCEI), 3. Nippon no Asoko de (SCEI), 4. Maplus Portable Navi 2 (Edia), 5. Star Ocean: The Second Evolution (Square Enix). UK: 1. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 3. WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008 (THQ), 4. Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 (EA Games), 5. FIFA 08 (EA Sports). The discounted Greatest Hits version of Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters makes fast progress in this week's PSP sales in the United States, though Crisis Core and God of War: Chains of Olympus remain firm in their places atop the region's chart. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories also make solid sales finishes to round out North America's top five. In Japan, Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G finds new competition from the just-released Bleach: Heat the Soul 5, though its continuing popularity keeps it at the top of regional PSP sales.