Saling The World: Guitar Hero III Sells Out; Resellers Swoop In

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 1st, 2007, observe Amazon's struggle to supply enough Guitar Hero III bundles to satisfy high consumer demand, as third-party resellers rake in profits from the resulting chaos. 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 Play (Nintendo), 2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 3. Carnival Games (Global Star), 4. Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party (Konami), 5. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo). 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. Takarajima Z: Barbaros no Hihou (Capcom). UK: 1. Big Brain Academy for Wii (Nintendo), 2. Carnival Funfair Games (2K Games), 3. The Simpsons Game (EA Games), 4. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo), 5. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Nintendo). As Super Mario Galaxy makes its expected chart-topping debut in Japan, presales for the North American version currently outpace the sales of all available and upcoming games across all platforms. Wii Play currently leads in the meantime, though Guitar Hero III would likely take the top spot this week if not for a shortage of supply at Amazon. Amazon-affiliated third-party sellers currently charge a minimum of $134 for new and used copies of Guitar Hero III, with some sources advertising prices as high as $160. It's unknown whether Amazon's supply will be replenished anytime soon, and demand is only expected to climb as the holiday season approaches. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Activision), 4. The Orange Box (EA Games), 5. BioShock (2K Games). Japan: 1. Ace Combat 6: Kaihou e no Senka (Namco), 2. The Idol M@ster -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Namco), 3. Chikyuu Boueigun 3 -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (D3 Publisher), 4. Dead Rising / Gears of War -- Xbox 360 Platinum Double Pack (Capcom / Microsoft), 5. Gears of War -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Microsoft). UK: 1. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 2. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 3. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 4. The Orange Box (EA Games), 5. Project Gotham Racing 4 (Microsoft). The Xbox 360 port of Guitar Hero III suffers a similar fate as the Nintendo Wii version in its debut week. With Amazon's initial supply quickly depleted, shoppers find themselves at the mercy of the inflated prices of third-party sellers. The controller-bundled Xbox 360 version in particular appears to be in extremely high demand, and sellers are quick to take advantage with prices that range from $140 to $199.99. Standalone versions of Guitar Hero III are still currently in stock at Amazon, however, and don't appear to be in any danger of selling out at this point in time. In Japan, meanwhile, Ace Combat 6 debuts to take first place in Xbox 360 sales, while the remainder of the region's chart consists of recent budget-priced rereleases of popular titles like Gears of War and The Idol M@ster. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (SCEA), 2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 3. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA), 4. The Simpsons Game (EA Games), 5. FIFA Soccer 08 (EA Sports). Japan: 1. Imabikisou (Japan), 2. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Spike), 3. The Eye of Judgment: Biolith Rebellion (SCEI), 4. Rise from Lair (SCEI), 5. Minna no Golf 5 (SCEI). UK: 1. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEE), 2. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 3. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 4. MotorStorm (SCEE), 5. Heavenly Sword (SCEE). Though it may be a difficult find on other platforms, the PlayStation 3 version of Guitar Hero III is still readily available. Amazon itself has exhausted its supply in the days following Guitar Hero III's release, but bundles can still be purchased through an affiliated retail partner at their original price of $99.99. Regardless of Guitar Hero III's availability, however, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction emerges as this week's top-selling PlayStation 3 title after a strong debut last week, and is likely to be a popular choice throughout the holidays. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Activision), 2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 3. Guitar Hero II Bundle (Activision), 4. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 5. Manhunt 2 (Rockstar Games). Japan: 1. Clannad (Interchannel), 2. Ar tonelico II: Sekai ni Hibiku Shoujo Tachi no Souzoushi (Banpresto), 3. God of War II (Capcom), 4. Metal Gear 20th Anniversary: Metal Gear Solid Collection (Konami), 5. Super Robot Taisen Scramble Commander the 2nd (Banpresto). UK: 1. Rugby 08 (EA Sports), 2. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 3. The Simpsons Game (EA Games), 4. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 5. SingStar R&B (SCEE). Guitar Hero III dominates this week's PlayStation 2 software sales results in North America, with both standalone and bundled versions remaining consistently in stock at Amazon to meet with high demand. The non-bundled version proves to be the more popular of the two, given that a large percentage of players already own a controller included with previous PS2 releases in the series. Manhunt 2 makes a tepid PS2 debut this week, meanwhile, after failing to chart on other platforms. PC North America: 1. Hellgate: London (EA Games), 2. The Orange Box (EA Games), 3. The Witcher (Atari), 4. Nancy Drew: Legend of the Crystal Skull (Her Interactive), 5. Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties (Microsoft). Japan: 1. Hatsune Miku (Cripton Future Media), 2. Lineage II: First Throne (NC Japan), 3. Phantasy Star Universe: Illuminus no Yabou (Sega), 4. Little Busters! (KEY), 5. Clannad (KEY). UK: 1. Football Manager 2008 (Sega), 2. The Orange Box (EA Games), 3. Hellgate: London (EA Games), 4. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 5. The Witcher (Atari). Hellgate: London and The Witcher meet with an enthusiastic reception among PC gamers in their first week of U.S. release, and both pose a major threat to former sales champion The Orange Box in this week's results. Hellgate: London manages to come out on top in the end, but given the strength of chart regulars and consistent sellers like Nancy Drew: Legend of the Crystal Skull, next week's results could tell a different story. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Brain Age 2 (Nintendo), 2. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo), 3. Brain Age (Nintendo), 4. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 5. Flash Focus (Nintendo). Japan: 1. DS Nishimura Kyotaro Suspense Shin Tantei Series: Kyoto Atami Zekkai no Kotou - Satsui no Wana (Tecmo), 2. Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Fuuketsu no Grimoire (Square Enix) 3. DS Bungaku Zenshuu (Nintendo), 4. Zaidan Houjin Nippon Kanji Nouryoku Kentei Kyoukai Koushiki Soft: 250-Mannin no KanKen (IE Institute), 5. Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Motto Eigo Duke (Nintendo). UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima (Nintendo), 3. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo), 4. Cooking Mama (505 Games), 5. 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo). North America's top DS sellers continue to offer littler variation from week to week, with Flash Focus continuing to hang on to its fifth-place standing in the face of competition from New Super Mario Bros. and the Brain Age series. In Japan, DS Nishimura Kyotaro Suspense Shin Tantei Series: Kyoto Atami Zekkai no Kotou - Satsui no Wana is back on top after being beaten by the recent Final Fantasy Tactics A2 in the week prior. Meanwhile, Nintendo's DS Bungaku Zenshuu remains a consistent seller from week to week, and Zaidan Houjin Nippon Kanji Nouryoku Kentei Kyoukai Koushiki Soft: 250-Mannin no KanKen joins the chart as another potential edutainment hit for the DS in Japan. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (Konami), 2. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (Square Enix), 3. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 4. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 5. Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness (NIS America). Japan: 1. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 2. Gundam Battle Chronicle (Bandai), 3. Eiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki FC (Nihon Falcom), 4. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom), 5. Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters GX: Tag Force 2 (Konami). UK: 1. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 3. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (Square Enix), 4. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 5. Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron (LucasArts). Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles tops North American PSP sales for the second week in a row, as the upgraded PS2 port Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness creeps up the chart at fifth place in its debut week. Otherwise, much of this week's PSP charts remains the same as last week's results, with Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII continuing to do big business in Japan, while FIFA 08 cleans up in the UK.