Saling The World: Vesperia, Sims 2: Apartment Life Lead U.S. Charts

Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five real-time Amazon.com 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 28th, 2008, find Tales of Vesperia heading Xbox 360 software sales in the U.S. and Japan, while The Sims 2: Apartment Life sees a successful debut week on PCs. 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. Mario Super Sluggers (Nintendo), 4. Wii Play (Nintendo), 5. Rock Band (EA Games). Japan: 1. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 3. Captain Rainbow (Nintendo), 4. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 5. Zero: Gesshoku no Kamen (Nintendo). UK: 1. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 (EA Sports), 3. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 4. Wii Play (Nintendo), 5. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega). Mario Super Sluggers takes third place in Wii software sales in its first week of North American release, ultimately coming up short against reigning chart champions Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii. Though both titles have remained in high demand since their initial release, each continues to be available in short supply at Amazon and at many stores nationwide. The Skip-developed Captain Rainbow also sees a favorable sales reception in its Japanese debut week, and finishes third in this week's lineup. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 takes second in its premiere week in the UK, meanwhile, as Wii Fit again tops regional sales. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Tales of Vesperia -- Premium Edition (Namco Bandai), 2. Tales of Vesperia (Namco Bandai), 3. Madden NFL 09 (EA Sports), 4. Too Human (Microsoft), 5. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 (EA Sports). Japan: 1. Tales of Vesperia (Namco), 2. Clannad (Prototype), 3. Too Human (Microsoft), 4. Soulcalibur IV (Namco), 5. Dead Rising -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Capcom). UK: 1. Too Human (Microsoft), 2. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 3. Beijing 2008 (Sega), 4. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 5. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 (EA Sports). Both the regular and limited editions of Namco Bandai's debuting RPG Tales of Vesperia manage to trump former North American Xbox 360 sales leader Madden NFL 09 in this week's results. Too Human falls to fourth place, meanwhile, as Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 joins the chart at fifth. Tales of Vesperia remains a top seller in Japan this week as well, though the recently released Xbox 360 port of Clannad provides ample chart competition. UK gamers place Too Human at the top of the charts in its premiere week, with GTAIV finishing close behind. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (SCEA), 2. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (SCEA), 3. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (SCEA), 4. Devil May Cry 4 (Capcom), 5. Blazing Angels II: Secret Missions of WWII (Ubisoft). Japan: 1. Afrika (SCEI), 2. Battlefield: Bad Company (EA Games), 3. Soulcalibur IV (Namco), 4. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots -- Special Edition (Konami), 5. Senjou no Valkyria (Sega). UK: 1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 2. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (SCEA), 3. Beijing 2008 (Sega), 4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 (EA Sports), 5. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami). A recent PS3-focused sales day at Amazon takes many of the console's previous sales leaders back into top five territory in North America. Leading the pack are Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Ratchet & Clank Future, which achieve top sales this week after temporary price markdowns. Sony's just-released Afrika takes top honors in Japan, meanwhile, as a debuting port of Battlefield: Bad Company finishes at second place. 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), 2. Persona 4 (Atlus), 3. Secret Game: Killer Queen (Yeti), 4. Sengoku Basara X (Capcom), 5. Battle of Sunrise -- Limited Edition (Sunrise). UK: 1. SingStar Summer Party (SCEE), 2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 3. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 4. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar), 5. Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (SCEE). Rock Band overtakes Madden NFL 09 in this week's PS2 sales results in North America. God of War II jumps up to third place, while Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection and Guitar Hero III round out the regional top five. In Japan, Persona 4 is back on top after being briefly dethroned by J-League Winning Eleven 2008 Club Championship in the week prior. PC North America: 1. The Sims 2: Apartment Life (EA Games), 2. The Orange Box (EA Games), 3. Baldur's Gate II: Ultimate Collection (Vivendi), 4. SimCity 4 Deluxe (EA Games), 5. Microsoft Flight Simulator X (Microsoft). Japan: 1. Monster Hunter Frontier Online Season 3.0 Premium (E-Frontier), 2. Final Fantasy XI: The Vana'diel Collection (Square Enix), 3. Clannad Full Voice (Key), 4. Little Busters! (Key), 5. Ragnarok Online Summer Package 2008 (E Frontier). UK: 1. The Sims 2: Apartment Life (EA Games), 2. Sid Meier's Civilization IV Complete (2K Games), 3. The Sims 2: IKEA Home Stuff (EA Games), 4. Football Manager 2008 (Sega), 5. Medieval II: Total War -- Kingdoms Expansion Pack (Sega). The just-released The Sims 2 expansion pack Apartment Life debuts as this week's top PC seller in North America and the UK, beating out competition from The Orange Box and Sid Meier's Civilization IV Complete. Monster Hunter Frontier Online Season 3.0 completes the week as Japan's top PC seller, with Final Fantasy XI and Clannad finishing at second and third. Nintendo DS North America: 1. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 2. Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness (Natsume), 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. 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. 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo), 3. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 4. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 5. More Brain Training (Nintendo). Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness makes a strong impression in North American Nintendo DS software sales in its first week of release, pushing past Mario Kart DS as this week's second-best seller on the platform. Despite its initial sales strength, however, Island of Happiness could disappear from the top five as soon as next week, as recent hits like Guitar Hero: On Tour and The World Ends With You quickly disappeared from regional charts soon after their release. Rhythm Tengoku Gold continues to lead Japanese multiplatform software sales, meanwhile, with KORG DS-10 and Dragon Quest V: Tenkuu No Hanayome trailing close behind. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA), 2. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 3. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 4. Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness (NIS America), 5. Madden NFL 09 (EA Sports). Japan: 1. Fate/Tiger Colosseum Upper -- Megamori Box (Capcom), 2. Phantasy Star Portable (Sega), 3. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom), 4. Clannad (Prototype), 5. Maplus: Portable Navi 2 (Edia). UK: 1. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 2. Final Fantasy (Square Enix), 3. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 4. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEE), 5. Final Fantasy II (Square Enix). God of War: Chains of Olympus climbs to the top of this week's North American PSP sales results, leaving long-time chart leader Crisis Core at second place. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness also experience surges in popularity this week, while recent chart champion Madden NFL 09 falls to fifth place. Elsewhere, Japan finds a new chart leader in the recently released Fate/Tiger Colosseum Upper, as demand increases for Final Fantasy I and II in Europe following price drops for both titles.