Saling The World: Vesperia, Wii Fit, Madden Rule Roost

Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five sellers for every available platform in the United States, Japan, and Europe, as shown by real-time Amazon.com sales statistics, providing an important update of sales patterns worldwide. This week's charts, with data taken from August 21st, 2008, see Tales of Vesperia leading weekly Xbox 360 software sales in Japan for the second week running, as Konami's soccer sim sequel J-League Winning Eleven 2008 meets with a warm reception on the PS2. 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. Wii Play (Nintendo), 4. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo), 5. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega). Japan: 1. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 3. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 4. Zero: Gesshoku no Kamen (Nintendo), 5. Dairantou Smash Brothers X (Nintendo). UK: 1. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 4. Carnival Funfair Games (2K Games), 5. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega). Though Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii remain entrenched at the top of North America's Wii software sales chart, Super Mario Galaxy and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games mount a comeback this week after a long absence. Super Mario Galaxy's surge in popularity can be traced to a recent price drop at Amazon, which may indicate an impending nationwide drop in price for the title. In Japan, Zero: Gesshoku no Kamen slips to fourth place in its third week of release, while preorder sales are growing fast for Nintendo's upcoming Captain Rainbow. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Madden NFL 09 (EA Sports), 2. Too Human (Microsoft), 3. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 4. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 5. Soulcalibur IV (Namco Bandai). Japan: 1. Tales of Vesperia (Namco), 2. Soulcalibur IV (Namco), 3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 4. Dead Rising -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Capcom), 5. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Bethesda). UK: 1. Beijing 2008 (Sega), 2. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 3. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 4. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 5. Soulcalibur IV (Namco Bandai). The Silicon Knights-developed Too Human finishes second in Xbox 360 sales in its first week of release in North America, coming up short against last week's reigning leader Madden NFL 09. Amazon reports that this week's overall top-selling 360 title in North America is the upcoming Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. The title has risen sharply in presale popularity at the retailer following a recent announcement that all preorder holders will receive an early and free version of an XBLA remake of the original Banjo-Kazooie. Tales of Vesperia sees another record-selling week in Japan, meanwhile, as Grand Theft Auto IV and Beijing 2008 remain high in demand in the UK. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Madden NFL 09 (EA Sports), 2. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 3. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami), 4. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (SCEA), 5. Soulcalibur IV (Namco Bandai). Japan: 1. Soulcalibur IV (Namco), 2. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots -- Special Edition (Konami), 3. Siren: New Translation (SCEI), 4. Senjou no Valkyria (Sega), 5. Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi -- Limited Edition (Aqua Plus). UK: 1. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami), 2. Beijing 2008 (Sega), 3. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 4. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (SCEA), 5. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (SCEE). Little change can be seen in this week's PS3 software sales charts in North America, where Gran Turismo 5: Prologue pushes past Soulcalibur IV to make a return to the top five. Madden NFL 09 leads as the platform's top seller for the second week in a row, followed by Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4. Japanese PS3 sales remain steady as well, with Soulcalibur IV and MGS4 leading this week's results, while Metal Gear and Beijing 2008 head sales in the UK. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Madden NFL 09 (EA Sports), 2. Rock Band Special Edition (EA Games), 3. Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection (Konami), 4. God of War II (SCEA), 5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision). Japan: 1. J-League Winning Eleven 2008 Club Championship (Konami), 2. Persona 4 (Atlus), 3. Secret Game: Killer Queen (Yeti), 4. Sengoku Basara X (Capcom), 5. Battle of Sunrise -- Limited Edition (Sunrise). UK: 1. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 2. SingStar Summer Party (SCEE), 3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar), 4. SingStar Bundle (SCEE), 5. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts). Madden NFL 09 also maintains its lead on the PS2 in its second week of North American release, beating out previous chart-toppers Rock Band and Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection in weekly sales numbers. Elsewhere, newcomer J-League Winning Eleven 2008 Club Championship leads Japanese PS2 sales in a successful debut week, pushing long-running chart champion Persona 4 to second place. PC North America: 1. World of Warcraft Battle Chest (Blizzard), 2. Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm (Navarre Corp), 3. The Orange Box (EA Games), 4. Diablo Battle Chest (Blizzard), 5. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II -- The Sith Lords (LucasArts). Japan: 1. Monster Hunter Frontier Online Season 3.0 Premium (E-Frontier), 2. Phantasy Star Universe: Illuminus no Yabou (Sega), 3. Final Fantasy XI: The Vana'diel Collection (Square Enix), 4. Ragnarok Online Summer Package 2008 (E Frontier), 5. Sim People Complete Edition 3 (EA Games). UK: 1. Sid Meier's Civilization IV Complete (2K Games), 2. Crysis (EA Games), 3. Football Manager 2008 (Sega), 4. The Sims 2: FreeTime (EA Games), 5. The Sims 2: IKEA Home Stuff (EA Games). The long-awaited and frequently delayed PC version of Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm finally makes its North American debut this week, and finishes as one of the region's top weekly sellers. Blizzard's series compilations World of Warcraft Battle Chest and Diablo Battle Chest also see strong sales this week, as does BioWare's returning RPG hit Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II. Nintendo DS North America: 1. My Spanish Coach (Ubisoft), 2. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 3. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 4. Brain Age (Nintendo), 5. Brain Age 2 (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo), 2. KORG DS-10 (AQ Interactive), 3. Dragon Quest V: Tenkuu No Hanayome (Square Enix), 4. Inazuma Eleven (Level 5), 5. Sigma Harmonics (Square Enix). UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. More Brain Training (Nintendo), 3. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 4. 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo), 5. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega). A discounted My Spanish Coach leads North American Nintendo DS sales this week, surpassing the weekly numbers of New Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart DS. The title has since risen back to MSRP, however, and demand is likely to fall next week as a result. Rhythm Tengoku Gold and KORG DS-10 see yet another successful sales week in Japan, meanwhile, as newcomers Inazuma Eleven and Sigma Harmonics enter the charts at fourth and fifth place. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 2. Madden NFL 09 (EA Sports), 3. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA), 4. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (Square Enix), 5. Patapon (SCEA). Japan: 1. Phantasy Star Portable (Sega), 2. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom), 3. Gundam Battle Universe (Bandai), 4. Eiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki FC (Nihon Falcom), 5. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu Portable 3 (Konami). UK: 1. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 2. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 3. Secret Agent Clank (SCEE), 4. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEE), 5. Final Fantasy (Square Enix). In a surprising turn of events, Square Enix's Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII manages to outpace Madden NFL 09 as this week's top PSP software seller in the United States. Crisis Core continues to demonstrate remarkable chart staying power from week to week, as last year's edition of Madden remained at the top of regional PSP sales for several weeks following its debut. Both titles are expected to wage a close sales war in the weeks to come.