Saling The World: Monster Hunter 2nd G, Crisis Core Top Charts

Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five real-time Amazon.com charts 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 April 3rd, 2008, find Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G continuing to clean up in Japan, while demand for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue builds overseas. 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. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 4. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo), 5. No More Heroes (Ubisoft). Japan: 1. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Dairantou Smash Brothers X (Nintendo), 3. Deca Sporta (Hudson), 4. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 5. Family Ski (Namco). UK: 1. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 2. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 3. Wii Play (Nintendo), 4. Carnival Funfair Games (2K Games), 5. Game Party (Midway). North America's top Wii sellers remain nearly unchanged from last week's results, though No More Heroes makes an unexpected return to the charts following a drop in price at Amazon. Japan's chart continues to be headed by Wii Fit and Dairantou Smash Brothers X by a significant margin. The upcoming release of Mario Kart Wii promises to upset Japan's otherwise predictable weekly Wii sales results, however, and currently ranks high in regional preorder sales. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Burnout Paradise (EA Games), 2. Rock Band Special Edition (MTV Games), 3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 4. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Ubisoft), 5. Halo 3 (Microsoft). Japan: 1. Armored Core: For Answer (From Software), 2. The Idolm@ster: Live for You! (Namco), 3. Skate (EA Games), 4. Dark Sector (D3 Publisher), 5. Raiden Fighters Aces (Success). UK: 1. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Ubisoft), 2. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 3. Condemned 2 (Sega), 4. Devil May Cry 4 (Capcom), 5. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft). Amazon's "Lightning Deal" promotion brings a sale-priced Burnout Paradise to the top of North America's Xbox 360 chart this week. Rock Band also sees a jump in popularity after a price drop, while Call of Duty 4 overtakes Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for the first time since the latter title's initial U.S. release. Japan, meanwhile, finds last week's chart-topping Dark Sector drop to fourth place in its second week on store shelves, while EA's Skate climbs back up to third place after finishing fifth in the week prior. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. MLB 08: The Show (SCEA), 3. Rock Band Special Edition (MTV Games), 4. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 5. Army of Two (EA Games). Japan: 1. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 5 (Konami), 2. Armored Core: For Answer (From Software), 3. Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! (Sega), 4. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Activision), 5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision). UK: 1. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (SCEE), 2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 3. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 4. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Ubisoft), 5. Devil May Cry 4 (Capcom). As preorder sales continue to increase in the days leading up to the North American release of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Call of Duty 4 once again tops weekly PS3 sales. MLB 08 jumps up to take second place, meanwhile, after finishing fourth in last week's results. Elsewhere, Japan finds a new chart champion in Konami's just-released baseball sim sequel Pro Yakyuu Spirits 5, while UK sales continue to be headed by Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection (Konami), 2. Dance Dance Revolution: Disney Channel Edition Bundle (Konami), 3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 4. Rock Band Special Edition (MTV Games), 5. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 (Namco Bandai). Japan: 1. Musou Orochi: Maou Sairin (Koei), 2. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 5 (Konami), 3. Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch - Lost Colors (Bandai), 4. Musou Orochi: Maou Sairin -- Premium Box (Koei), 5. Suzumiya Haruhi no Tomadoi -- Limited Edition (Banpresto). UK: 1. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 2. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 3. Ben10: Protector of Earth (D3 Publisher), 4. The Simpsons Game (EA Games), 5. WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008 (THQ). Though the recently released Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection remains a consistent seller from week to week, demand for Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 quickly cools in the title's second week of release. After a second-place debut last week, Ultimate Ninja 3 drops to fifth in Amazon's North American PS2 software sales this week, and could fall out of the top five as soon as next week. A newly released Musou Orochi follow-up leads PlayStation 2 sales in Japan, meanwhile, with Pro Yakyuu Spirits 5 emerging as a popular pick on both the PS2 and the PS3. PC North America: 1. The Orange Box (EA Games), 2. Sins of a Solar Empire (Stardock), 3. Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath (EA Games), 4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 5. The Sims 2: FreeTime (EA Games). Japan: 1. Clannad Full Voice (Key), 2. Infinity Plus (CyberFront), 3. Little Busters! (Key), 4. Final Fantasy XI: Altana no Kamihei (Square Enix), 5. Vocaloid 2 Character Vocal Series 01: Hatsune Miku (Crypton Future Media). UK: 1. Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath (EA Games), 2. The Sims 2: FreeTime (EA Games), 3. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War -- Soulstorm (THQ), 4. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision). Both The Orange Box and Sins of a Solar Empire stage a sales comeback this week at Amazon. The Orange Box sees a new surge in popularity thanks to a "Deal of the Day" price drop, while Sins of a Solar Empire clings to its position in the top five due to positive reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations that persist more than two months after the title's initial release. The recently released expansion pack Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath also continues to perform well in the United States, and leads overall PC sales in the UK. Nintendo DS North America: 1. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 2. Professor Layton and the Curious Village (Nintendo), 3. Brain Age 2 (Nintendo), 4. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 5. Brain Age (Nintendo). Japan: 1. DS Bimoji Training (Nintendo), 2. SimCity DS 2 (EA Games), 3. Tottadoo! Yoiko no Mujintou Seikatsu (Namco), 4. Vitamin X Evolution (D3 Publisher), 5. Pokemon Ranger: Batonnage (Nintendo). UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo), 3. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 4. Puzzle League DS (Nintendo), 5. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo). New Super Mario Bros. once again wins out over Professor Layton and the Curious Village in weekly Nintendo DS software sales in North America, though Layton's consistently strong sales could bring it back up to the top at any time. Mario Kart DS moves up to fourth place this week, while Brain Age drops to the bottom of the top five. Pokemon Ranger: Batonnage slips to fifth place in Japan, meanwhile, leaving Vitamin X Evolution and Tottadoo! Yoiko no Mujintou Seikatsu to rise in its place. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 2. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA), 3. Patapon (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. Star Ocean: The Second Evolution (Square Enix), 3. Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch - Lost Colors (Bandai), 4. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom), 5. Tales of Rebirth (Namco). UK: 1. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA), 2. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 3. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 4. The Simpsons Game (EA Games), 5. Call of Duty: Roads to Victory (Activision). Like Professor Layton and New Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo DS, last week's PSP sales champion Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and God of War: Chains of Olympus continue to wage a fierce war for chart dominance. Crisis Core wins out for the second week in a row, though Chains of Olympus' impressive debut and continuing chart presence could see it back at first place in future weeks. Japan's overall charts are still headed by Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, meanwhile, which continues to rank as the region's top software seller across all platforms.