Saling The World: Viva la Steel 2

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 November 16th, 2006, includes a number of launch titles for the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii. 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: PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 2. Ridge Racer 7 (Namco Bandai Games), 3. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports), 4. Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire (Namco Bandai Games), 5. NBA 2K7 (2K Sports). Japan: 1. Ridge Racer 7 (Namco), 2. Resistance: Jinrui Botsuraku no Hi (SCEI), 3. Kidou Senshi Gundam: Target in Sight (Bandai), 4. Genji: Kamui Souran (SCEI), 5. Mahjong Kakutou Club (Konami). Today marks the day the PS3 launches in the United States, but while pre-launch Nintendo Wii software sales are strong, gamers so far appear to be comparatively uninterested in purchasing PS3 titles in advance of the console's release. This can likely be blamed on the extremely limited number of PS3s that will be available after launch -- consumers are less willing to buy software if they will probably lack a console to play it on. Meanwhile in Japan, Ridge Racer 7 leads PS3 software sales by a significant margin, while Resistance: Jinrui Botsuraku no Hi and Kidou Senshi Gundam: Target in Sight wage a close battle for second place. Nintendo Wii North America: 1. Red Steel (Ubisoft), 2. Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (Sega), 3. Rayman: Raving Rabbids (Ubisoft), 4. Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Atlus), 5. Call of Duty 3 (Activision). Even though the console itself will not be available to purchase until Sunday, Nintendo Wii software is seeing brisk sales in the week leading up to the hardware's launch. Of note is that this week's Wii chart only represents sales among games that can currently be purchased in stores; some launch titles that have yet to hit retail are not included as a result. Still, these numbers give a good indication of what third-party software will be the most popular upon the Wii's release, though these games will soon face tough competition from highly anticipated Nintendo-published titles like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Excite Truck. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Gears of War (Microsoft), 2. Call of Duty 3 (Activision), 3. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 4. Viva Piñata (Microsoft), 5. WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2007 (THQ). Japan: 1. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Ubisoft), 2. Table Tennis (Rockstar), 3. Final Fantasy XI All-in-One Pack 2006 (Square Enix), 4. Full Auto (Sega), 5. Rumble Roses XX (Konami). UK: 1. Gears of War (Microsoft), 2. Call of Duty 3 (Activision), 3. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 4. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 5. Need for Speed Carbon (EA Games). Microsoft is hoping that the strength of the Xbox 360's most recent releases will boost hardware sales through the launch of Nintendo's and Sony's competing next-generation consoles, and thus far, sales are strong for many of these titles. Gears of War and Call of Duty 3 have proven to be just as popular in Europe as they are in the United States, and Viva Piñata is also pulling decent numbers in the days following its release in the U.S. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix), 2. Guitar Hero II (RedOctane), 3. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 4. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 5. WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2007 (THQ). Japan: 1. Ryuu ga Gotoku (Sega), 2. Sengoku Musou 2: Empires (Koei), 3. Negima!? 3-Jikanme: Play Version (Konami), 4. Utawarerumono (Aqua Plus), 5. Xenosaga Episode III Premium DVD (Namco). UK: 1. WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2007 (THQ), 2. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 3. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 4. Canis Canem Edit (Rockstar), 5. Need for Speed Carbon (EA Games). The PlayStation 2's best-seller charts remain much the same as last week's in all regions, despite the influx of a large number of recent releases. Japan's list sees the introduction of a few new titles, however, though all continue to be outsold by a budget-priced rerelease of Sega's Ryuu ga Gotoku. PC North America: 1. Medieval II: Total War (Sega), 2. The Sims 2: Pets (EA Games), 3. Microsoft Flight Simulator X (Microsoft), 4. Nancy Drew: The Creature of Kapu Cave (Atari), 5. Neverwinter Nights 2 (Atari). Japan: 1. Ragnarok Online Anniversary Package (Gungho Online Entertainment), 2. Phantasy Star Universe (Sega), 3. Ys Origin (Nihon Falcom), 4. Battlefield 2142 (EA Games), 5. Final Fantasy XI All-in-One Pack 2006 (Square Enix). UK: 1. The Sims 2: Pets (EA Games), 2. Medieval II: Total War (Sega), 3. Football Manager 2007 (Sega), 4. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 5. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade (THQ). As with the PS2, few new entries can be seen in this week's PC charts, thanks in part to game-related purchases shifting to next-generation consoles for the time being. Medieval II: Total War is proving to be a big seller for Sega, however, as the title ranks high in both the U.S. and the UK this week. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Final Fantasy III (Square Enix), 2. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 3. Brain Age (Nintendo), 4. Nintendogs: Lab & Friends (Nintendo), 5. Pokémon Ranger (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Nippon Joushikiryoku Kenteikau Kanshuu: Imasara Jin ni wa Kikienai - Otona no Joushikiryoku Training DS (Nintendo), 2. Pocket Monsters Diamond (Nintendo), 3. Zaidan Houjin Nippon Kanji Nouryoku Kentei Kyoukai Koushiki Soft: 200 Mannin no KanKen: Tokoton Kanji Nou (IE Institute), 4. Pocket Monsters Pearl (Nintendo), 5. Oide yo Dobutsu no Mori (Nintendo). UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. Bratz: Forever Diamondz (THQ), 3. Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo), 4. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 5. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team (Nintendo). After only being on store shelves for a few days, Final Fantasy III climbs to first place in DS sales in its first week of release in the United States -- an impressive debut for the only Final Fantasy title to have never previously seen U.S. shores. Otherwise, all three regions' lists seem to be stocked with familiar hits and Pokémon titles, as usual. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 3. Medal of Honor: Heroes (EA Games), 4. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 5. Daxter (SCEA). Japan: 1. SD Gundam G Generation Portable (Bandai), 2. Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception (Namco), 3. Planetarium Curator Ohira Takayuki Kanshuu: Home Star Portable (Sega), 4. Ridge Racers 2 (Namco), 5. Minna no Golf Portable (SCEI). UK: 1. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 2. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 3. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 4. Need for Speed Carbon: Own the City (EA Games), 5. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007 (EA Sports). Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories may have slipped from first place in the United States, but its sales continue to prove the strongest among all PSP titles in Europe. Few other noteworthy sellers stand out, but with several PSP games debuting in the past week in all regions, the charts could very well see some fresh faces soon. Game Boy Advance North America: 1. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team (Nintendo), 2. Cars (THQ), 3. Pokémon Emerald Version (Nintendo), 4. Final Fantasy V Advance (Square Enix), 5. Super Mario Advance (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Final Fantasy V Advance (Square Enix), 2. Pocket Monsters FireRed (Nintendo), 3. Rhythm Tengoku (Nintendo), 4. Pocket Monsters Emerald (Nintendo), 5. Pocket Monsters Leaf Green (Nintendo). UK: 1. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team (Nintendo), 2. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 3. Pokémon Emerald Version (Nintendo), 4. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 5. Madagascar (Activision). While Final Fantasy V Advance places high in this week's GBA charts, its impact was somewhat softened by the release of the upgraded DS port of Final Fantasy III less than a week later. Final Fantasy fans are likely to buy both titles regardless, but this week's sales figures indicate that many consumers are choosing to buy Final Fantasy III over Final Fantasy V Advance when given the choice between both titles. Xbox North America: 1. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 2. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 3. Halo 2 (Microsoft), 4. Call of Duty 3 (Activision), 5. Star Wars Battlefront II (LucasArts). Japan: 1. Halo (Microsoft), 2. Halo 2 (Microsoft), 3. Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (Tecmo), 4. Forza Motorsport (Microsoft), 5. Fable (Microsoft). UK: 1. FIFA 07 (EA Sports), 2. Need for Speed Carbon (EA Games), 3. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 4. King Kong (Ubisoft), 5. Halo Triple Pack (Microsoft). The sun has set on Nintendo's GameCube, and with the debut of the Wii and the PlayStation 3, Microsoft's original Xbox could also find itself losing favor among consumers. A lack of future titles hurts the console's chances of remaining viable for much longer, but in the meantime, fresh releases like Call of Duty 3 help to keep its software sales from becoming stagnant.