Saling The World: Mercenaries 2 Tops Multiplatform Charts in UK

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 September 4th, 2008, find Mercenaries 2 taking an early sales lead on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in Europe, while Afrika and Tales of Vesperia head console sales in Japan. 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 Fit (Nintendo), 2. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 3. Rock Band (EA Games), 4. Wii Play (Nintendo), 5. We Ski (Namco Bandai). Japan: 1. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 3. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 4. Zero: Gesshoku no Kamen (Nintendo), 5. Captain Rainbow (Nintendo). UK: 1. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 (EA Sports), 4. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 5. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega). After seeing a promising chart debut last week, Mario Super Sluggers falls out of the top five in this week's North American Wii sales results. The title is replaced by Rock Band and a returning We Ski, while the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Unleashed approaches top seller territory based on weekly presales alone. Japan sees last week's premiering Captain Rainbow drop to fifth place in favor of increased sales for Wii Sports and Zero: Gesshoku no Kamen. Last week's second-place European debut Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 falls to third place, as demand for Wii Play is on the rise. Xbox 360 North America: 1. NCAA Football 09 (EA Sports), 2. Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (EA Games), 3. Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (Microsoft), 4. Infinite Undiscovery (Square Enix), 5. Madden NFL 09 (EA Sports). Japan: 1. Tales of Vesperia (Namco), 2. Musou Orochi: Maou Sairin (Koei), 3. Ninja Gaiden II (Tecmo), 4. Clannad (Prototype), 5. Too Human (Microsoft). UK: 1. Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (EA Games), 2. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 3. Infinite Undiscovery (Square Enix), 4. Beijing 2008 (Sega), 5. Halo 3 (Microsoft). North America's Xbox 360 chart sees a flurry of activity this week, with many recently released titles taking over the region's top sales spots. Mercenaries 2, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, and Infinite Undiscovery all debut to top sales this week, while a temporary Amazon sale price boosts NCAA Football 09 to the front of the pack. In Japan, Tales of Vesperia takes another first-place sales victory, fending off the just-released Musou Orochi: Maou Sairin. Ninja Gaiden II finds itself back in the top five after a price drop at Amazon.co.jp, while Clannad and Too Human round out regional results. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 2. Madden NFL 09 (EA Sports), 3. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami), 4. Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (EA Games), 5. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (SCEA). Japan: 1. Afrika (SCEI), 2. Battlefield: Bad Company (EA Games), 3. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots -- Special Edition (Konami), 4. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion -- PlayStation 3 the Best (Bethesda), 5. Soulcalibur IV (Namco). UK: 1. Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (EA Games), 2. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami), 3. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 (EA Sports), 5. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (SCEA). Mercenaries 2 sees a strong U.S. debut week on the PlayStation 3 as well, but comes up short against long-standing chart leaders Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4. The title fares better in the UK, where it leads over all competitors in its first week of release. Afrika continues to lead Japanese PS3 sales, meanwhile, as a budget-priced rerelease of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion sneaks into the regional top five. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Rock Band Special Edition (EA Games), 2. Madden NFL 09 (EA Sports), 3. God of War II (SCEA), 4. Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection (Konami), 5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision). Japan: 1. Persona 4 (Atlus), 2. J-League Winning Eleven 2008 Club Championship (Konami), 3. Sengoku Basara X (Capcom), 4. Drastic Killer -- Excellent Box (Banpresto), 5. Katekyoo Hitman Reborn Nerae!? Ring x Bongole Returns (Marvelous). Rock Band again leads North American PlayStation 2 sales, outpacing Madden NFL 09 by a narrow margin. God of War II and Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection remain top sellers as well, while presales for the upcoming Lego Batman have seen a sharp increase in the past week. Persona 4 and J-League Winning Eleven 2008 Club Championship remain Japan's biggest sellers this week, while newcomer Katekyoo Hitman Reborn Nerae!? Ring x Bongole Returns charts at fifth place. PC North America: 1. The Sims 2: Apartment Life (EA Games), 2. Spore Creature Creator (EA Games), 3. The Orange Box (EA Games), 4. SimCity 4 Deluxe (EA Games), 5. Baldur's Gate II: Ultimate Collection (Vivendi). Japan: 1. Monster Hunter Frontier Online Season 3.0 Premium (E-Frontier), 2. Final Fantasy XI: The Vana'diel Collection (Square Enix), 3. Ragnarok Online Summer Package 2008 (E Frontier), 4. Civilization IV Deluxe Pack (Cyber Front), 5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision). UK: 1. The Sims 2: Apartment Life (EA Games), 2. Spore Creature Creator (EA Games), 3. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky (Deep Silver), 4. Football Manager 2008 (Sega), 5. Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Deluxe Edition (Microsoft). The Sims 2: Apartment Life stays a top PC seller in the U.S. and the UK for the second week in a row, surpassing demand for popular titles like The Orange Box and SimCity 4 Deluxe. Anticipation for the soon-to-be-released Spore results in a sales surge for Spore Creature Creator, meanwhile, as SimCity 4 Deluxe also finds new sales strength in the weeks leading up to Spore's release. Nintendo DS North America: 1. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 2. Brain Age (Nintendo), 3. Brain Age 2 (Nintendo), 4. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 5. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts). Japan: 1. Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo), 2. KORG DS-10 (AQ Interactive), 3. Dragon Quest V: Tenkuu No Hanayome (Square Enix), 4. Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Ken (Nintendo), 5. Daigasso! Band Brothers DX (Nintendo). UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. Guitar Hero: On Tour (Activision), 3. 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo), 4. More Brain Training (Nintendo), 5. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega). As expected, last week's second-place North American debut Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness didn't last long in the face of competition from New Super Mario Bros. and the Brain Age series. The title falls out of the top five this week in favor of Mario Kart DS and a discounted Lego Indiana Jones. Japan's Nintendo DS chart remains unchanged from last week, with Rhythm Tengoku Gold and KORG DS-10 still leading overall platform sales for the region. Europe's chart sees a shakeup from its usual reign of Brain Training with Guitar Hero: On Tour taking second place in overall DS sales, while 42 All-Time Classics and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games round out the top five. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 2. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA), 3. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 4. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (Square Enix), 5. Tekken: Dark Resurrection (Namco Bandai). Japan: 1. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom), 2. Phantasy Star Portable (Sega), 3. Fate/Tiger Colosseum Upper -- Megamori Box (Capcom), 4. Gundam Battle Universe (Bandai), 5. Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida. -- PSP the Best (SCEI). UK: 1. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 2. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEE), 3. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 (EA Sports), 4. International Athletics (Ghostlight), 5. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts). Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII retakes the top spot in this week's PSP sales results in the United States, surpassing last week's leader God of War: Chains of Olympus. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories also finds a recent resurgence of popularity, as does a rereleased and price-dropped Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. Last week's Japanese sales leader Fate/Tiger Colosseum Upper finds itself knocked out of the top spot by Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G and Phantasy Star Portable. Gundam Battle Universe also sees a return to Japan's top five this week, along with a rerelease of Acquire's Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida.