Saling The World: Metroid Prime 3 Corrupts Cross-Platform U.S. Sales

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 August 30th, 2007, feature cross-platform sales victory for the just-released Metroid Prime 3: Corruption in the United States, while Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms shakes things up on the PC front. 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. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. Carnival Games (Global Star), 4. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo), 5. Mario Strikers Charged (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 2. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo), 3. Forever Blue (Nintendo), 4. Hajimete no Wii (Nintendo), 5. Kidou Senshi Gundam: MS Sensen 0079 (Bandai). UK: 1. Wii Play (Nintendo), 2. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (EA Sports), 3. Big Brain Academy for Wii (Nintendo), 4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (EA Games), 5. Cooking Mama (505 Games). Metroid Prime 3: Corruption bests former overall sales leader BioShock in its first week of release, becoming the week's single best-selling software title across all platforms in the United States. With few major Wii releases on the horizon, Corruption's place atop the chart is likely to remain uncontested over the next several weeks as well. Positive buzz from upcoming titles like My Sims and Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party could bring a reshuffling of chart positions in the near future, however. Xbox 360 North America: 1. BioShock (2K Games), 2. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 3. Gears of War (Microsoft), 4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (EA Sports), 5. Guitar Hero II Bundle (RedOctane). Japan: 1. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Ubisoft), 2. Hitman: Blood Money (Spike), 3. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Spike), 4. Trusty Bell: Chopin no Yume (Namco), 5. The IdolM@ster (Namco). UK: 1. BioShock (2K Games), 2. BioShock -- Limited Edition (2K Games), 3. Gears of War (Microsoft), 4. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft), 5. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (EA Sports). Though Metroid Prime 3: Corruption comes out on top overall in this week's cross-platform results, BioShock remains a top seller on the Xbox 360, and has the sales strength to lead for weeks to come. Interestingly, the highly anticipated Mistwalker-developed RPG Blue Dragon fails to chart in either the U.S. or the UK this week. This follows a surprisingly mediocre UK sales debut in the week prior, though its performance in its week of release in the United States is even weaker, ranking in at a sixth-place finish. Future weeks could bring an upswing in sales in both regions, however. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Warhawk (SCEA), 2. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 3. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA), 4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (EA Sports), 5. Ninja Gaiden Sigma (Tecmo). Japan: 1. Blade Storm: Hyakunen Sensou (Koei), 2. Blade Storm: Hyakunen Sensou -- Premium Box (Koei), 3. Minna no Golf 5 (SCEI), 4. Boku no Natsuyasumi 3 (SCEI), 5. Call of Duty 3 (Spike). UK: 1. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEE), 2. MotorStorm (SCEE), 3. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (EA Sports), 4. Formula One Championship Edition (SCEE), 5. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Ubisoft). After ranking as one of the PlayStation 3's most anticipated titles in the months since the console's launch late last year, Warhawk debuts to a first-place finish in the United States. Former sales leader Madden NFL 08 falls to second place, meanwhile, as newcomer Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 pulls in impressive numbers in its first week of release. In Japan, Blade Storm: Hyakunen Sensou finds decisive PS3 chart domination in its first week of release, with the regular edition and the Premium Box version finishing in first and second place. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 2. Guitar Hero II Bundle (Activision), 3. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 (Atlus), 4. God of War (SCEA), 5. God of War II (SCEA). Japan: 1. Gintama Gin-San to Issho! Boku no Kabuki Machi Nikki (Bandai), 2. Ikki Tousen: Shining Dragon -- Gentei Bakuretsu Pack (Marvelous), 3. Sengoku Musou 2 Mushouden (Koei), 4. Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn! Dream Hyper Battle, 5. Metal Gear 20th Anniversary: Metal Gear Solid Collection (Konami). UK: 1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (EA Games), 2. SingStar '90s (SCEE), 3. Transformers: The Game (Activision), 4. God of War II (SCEE), 5. Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix). Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 hangs on to its status as a top five PS2 seller for the third week in a row since its initial release -- an impressive feat, considering that many popular RPG releases experience quick drops in sales numbers shortly after release. Japan's chart, meanwhile, finds new leadership in Gintama Gin-San to Issho! Boku no Kabuki Machi Nikki and Ikki Tousen: Shining Dragon, both of which best last week's champion Sengoku Musou 2 Mushouden in weekly sales. PC North America: 1. Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms (Sega), 2. Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War (Midway), 3. BioShock (2K Games), 4. World of Warcraft (Blizzard), 5. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard). Japan: 1. Restaurant Empire (Media Quest), 2. San Goku Shi XI Power Up Kit (Koei), 3. San Goku Shi XI (Koei), 4. Sim People: Expansion Collection 3 (EA Games), 5. Monster Hunter Frontier (Capcom). UK: 1. Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms (Sega), 2. BioShock (2K Games), 3. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 3. Guild Wars: War of the North (NCsoft), 4. Medieval II: Total War (Sega), 5. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard). A flurry of activity hits the PC charts in the United States this week, with the just-released Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms expansion pack trumping established sellers like BioShock and World of Warcraft in its first week of release. The year-old RTS Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War also makes a surprising return to the charts this week, following a reduction in price to $3.99 as a part of Amazon's "Deal of the Day" promotion. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Brain Age 2 (Nintendo), 2. Brain Age (Nintendo), 3. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 4. Pokemon Diamond (Nintendo), 5. Big Brain Academy (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (Square Enix), 2. Gyakuten Saiban 3 -- Best Price! (Capcom), 3. Facening de Hyoujou Yutaka ni Inshou Up: Otona no DS Kao Training (Nintendo), 4. Ganbaru Watashi no Kakei Diary (Nintendo), 5. Zelda no Densetsu: Mugen no Sunadokei (Nintendo). UK: 1. More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima (Nintendo), 2. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 3. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 4. Pokemon Diamond (Nintendo), 5. Cooking Mama (505 Games). Brain Age 2 continues its reign atop the DS bestsellers list in the United States, with the DS Lite-bundled version moving more units than the standalone release. The popularity of both editions has sparked renewed interest in the original Brain Age, which finishes at second place in this week's chart. The week is equally uneventful for DS sales in Japan, where Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates and Gyakuten Saiban 3 remain seated at the top of the chart, mirroring last week's results. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Monster Hunter Freedom 2 (Capcom), 2. Jeanne D'Arc (SCEA), 3. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports), 4. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 5. Final Fantasy: Anniversary Edition (Square Enix). Japan: 1. Lumines -- PSP the Best (Bandai), 2. Dragoneer's Aria: Ryuu ga Nemuru made (Nippon Ichi), 3. Eiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki FC (Nihon Falcom), 4. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom), 5. Maplus: Portable Navi (Edia). UK: 1. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 2. Brian Lara 2007 Pressure Play (Codemasters), 3. Mind Quiz (Sega), 4. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 5. Transformers: The Game (Activision). Considering its history of leading the Japanese PSP sales charts for months after its initial release, it comes as little surprise to find Monster Hunter Freedom 2 (Monster Hunter Portable 2nd in Japan) at the top of the United States's chart in its debut week. Capcom's offering manages to steal away this first-place victory from the niche RPG hit Jeanne D'Arc, which continues to perform well in its second week of release.