Saling The World: Hajimete no MotorStorm

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 14th, 2006, feature a flurry of activity in Japan as a rush of new releases compete for top sales. 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. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 2. Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (Sega), 3. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 4. Red Steel (Ubisoft), 5. Call of Duty 3 (Activision). Japan: 1. Hajimete no Wii (Nintendo), 2. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 3. Pokémon Battle Revolution (Nintendo), 4. Zelda no Densetsu: Tasogare no Himegimi (Nintendo), 5. Odoru Made in Wario (Nintendo). UK: 1. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 2. Red Steel (Ubisoft), 3. Wii Play (Nintendo), 4. Call of Duty 3 (Activision), 5. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Activision). Though Twilight Princess continues to dominate sales in the United States and Europe despite short supplies, Japan apparently has a greater interest in Hajimete no Wii, Wii Sports, and Pokémon Battle Revolution this week. Pokémon Battle Revolution's popularity in its first week of release comes as little surprise, considering the continued success of Pocket Monsters Diamond and Pearl for Nintendo's DS. The strong sales of Hajimete no Wii and Wii Sports, however, indicate that the Nintendo Wii is quickly finding an audience among casual gamers in Japan. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Gears of War (Microsoft), 2. Call of Duty 3 (Activision), 3. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 4. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft), 5. Tony Hawk's Project 8 (Activision). Japan: 1. Chikyuu Boueigun 3 (D3 Publisher), 2. Oneechanbara vorteX (D3 Publisher), 3. World Soccer Winning Eleven X (Konami), 4. Blue Dragon (Microsoft), 5. Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 (Tecmo). UK: 1. Call of Duty 3 (Activision), 2. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft), 3. Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (Konami), 4. Gears of War (Microsoft), 5. FIFA 07 (EA Sports). Few surprises can be found in the North American and UK Xbox 360 charts this week, aside from a minor slip in sales for Gears of War in Europe. Japan, however, continues to offer a wildly different Xbox 360 bestseller list from week to week thanks to a near-constant influx of awaited titles. This week's list is lead by D3 Publisher's two latest offerings, while next week's is expected to be headed by Capcom's Lost Planet: Extreme Condition. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 2. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA), 3. Call of Duty 3 (Activision), 4. Need for Speed Carbon (EA Games), 5. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Activision). Japan: 1. MotorStorm (SCEI), 2. Resistance: Jinrui Botsuraku no Hi (SCEI), 3. Ridge Racer 7 (Namco), 4. Kidou Senshi Gundam: Target in Sight (Bandai), 5. Miyazato San Kyoudai Naizou: Sega Golf Club (Sega). MotorStorm makes a strong impression in Japanese PS3 sales in the days following its release, despite its lack of online play and middling scores from Famitsu. Otherwise, both the U.S. and Japan continue to see the biggest sales among heavy-hitters like Resistance: Fall of Man and Madden NFL 07. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 2. Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix), 3. Guitar Hero II (RedOctane), 4. Guitar Hero (RedOctane), 5. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts). Japan: 1. Wild Arms: The Vth Vanguard (SCEI), 2. Ryu ga Gotoku 2 (Sega), 3. Okami (Capcom), 4. Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny: Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. II Plus (Bandai), 5. Momotaro Densetsu 16 (Hudson). UK: 1. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 2. Need for Speed Carbon (EA Games), 3. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 4. Canis Canem Edit (Rockstar), 5. WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2007 (THQ). Sales among Japanese PS2 titles this week show a strong debut for the just-released Wild Arms: The Vth Vanguard and newfound popularity for Capcom's Okami, thanks to a recent budget-priced re-release. In other regions, Electronic Arts' sports titles appear to be popular choices for holiday gifts, while LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy remains equally popular in both the U.S. and in Europe. PC North America: 1. The Sims 2: Pets (EA Games), 2. Microsoft Flight Simulator X (Microsoft), 3. Crazy Machines: The Wacky Contraptions Game (Viva Media), 4. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 5. Medieval II: Total War (Sega). Japan: 1. Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs (Microsoft), 2. Ys Origin (Nihon Falcom), 3. Civilization IV: Warlords (Cyber Front), 4. Arabians Lost: The Engagement on Desert (QuinRose), 5. Sukatto Golf Pangya (Frontier Groove). UK: 1. The Sims 2: Pets (EA Games), 2. Medieval II: Total War (Sega), 3. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 4. Football Manager 2007 (Sega), 5. Microsoft Flight Simulator X (Microsoft). Interestingly, two U.S.-developed games (Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs and Civilization IV: Warlords) manage to find themselves among Japan's best-selling PC titles this week, despite the fact that both games were released some time ago. This week's Japanese chart also sees the return of Arabians Lost: The Engagement on Desert after an absence of several weeks, while former chart-topper Sukatto Golf Pangya falls to fifth place. Nintendo DS North America: 1. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 2. Nintendogs: Dalmatian & Friends (Nintendo), 3. Yoshi's Island DS (Nintendo), 4. Brain Age (Nintendo), 5. Big Brain Academy (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Fushigi no Dungeon: Fuurai no Shiren DS (Sega), 2. Pocket Monsters Diamond (Nintendo), 3. Nippon Joushikiryoku Kenteikau Kanshuu: Imasara Jin ni wa Kikienai - Otona no Joushikiryoku Training DS (Nintendo), 4. Pocket Monsters Pearl (Nintendo), 5. Hoshi no Kirby: Sanjou! Dorocche Dan (Nintendo). UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo), 3. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 4. 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo), 5. Tetris DS (Nintendo). Though the title remains an obscurity in other regions, Fushigi no Dungeon: Fuurai no Shiren DS currently leads sales among all software currently available across all platforms in Japan. The ChunSoft-developed remake of a popular 1995 Super Famicom dungeon crawler has been eagerly anticipated by many Japanese gamers in the months leading up to its release, and is expected to remain a top seller for many weeks to come. Surprisingly, no North American or European release date for Fuurai no Shiren DS has yet been announced. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 2. NBA Live 07 (EA Sports), 3. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (Konami), 4. Star Wars Battlefront II (LucasArts), 5. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar). Japan: 1. Maplus: Portable Navi (Edia), 2. World Soccer Winning Eleven 10: Ubiquitous Evolution (Konami), 3. Makai Senki Disgaea Portable (Nippon Ichi), 4. Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception (Namco), 5. Ridge Racers 2 (Namco). UK: 1. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 2. Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (Konami), 3. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 4. Need for Speed Carbon: Own the City (EA Games), 5. The Sims 2: Pets (EA Games). Japanese PSP software sales this week are lead by newcomer Maplus: Portable Navi, a GPS receiver-enhanced tool designed to aid in navigation. The software reportedly works worldwide, making it especially valuable for gamers who do a lot of travelling. Elsewhere, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops makes an impressive showing in the United States, while Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories remains a popular choice in Europe. Game Boy Advance North America: 1. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team (Nintendo), 2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (Buena Vista), 3. Pokémon Emerald Version (Nintendo), 4. Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (Nintendo), 5. Dogz (Ubisoft). Japan: 1. Final Fantasy VI Advance (Square Enix), 2. Rhythm Tengoku (Nintendo), 3. Pocket Monsters Emerald (Nintendo), 4. Final Fantasy V Advance (Square Enix), 5. Pocket Monsters FireRed (Nintendo). UK: 1. Dogz (Ubisoft), 2. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 3. Flushed Away (D3 Publisher), 4. The Sims 2: Pets (EA Games), 5. Pokémon Emerald Version (Nintendo). Casual gamer-friendly GBA titles like Dogz and The Sims 2: Pets show increased sales during the holiday season, and games based on popular licenses experience a slight boost as well. It's interesting to note that Dogz has become especially popular in Europe, where the title surmounts strong competition from the likes of LEGO Star Wars II and numerous Pokémon sequels. Xbox North America: 1. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 2. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 3. Thrillville (LucasArts), 4. Call of Duty 3 (Activision), 5. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Activision). Japan: 1. Halo (Microsoft), 2. Halo 2 (Microsoft), 3. Dead or Alive Ultimate (Tecmo), 4. Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (Tecmo), 5. Forza Motorsport (Microsoft). UK: 1. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 2. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 3. Need for Speed Carbon (EA Games), 4. Halo 2 (Microsoft), 5. Silent Scope Complete (Konami). As with the PS2, EA's most popular sports franchises see the biggest sales for the Xbox this week in the United States and the UK. LEGO Star Wars II and a variety of recent releases remain popular as well, and should continue to see big sales throughout the rest of 2006.