Saling The World: Wii Play, Supreme 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 February 15th, 2007, feature Supreme Commander storming Europe's PC front, while Wii Play causes a stir in sales worldwide. 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 Play (Nintendo), 2. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 3. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Nintendo), 4. Rayman Raving Rabbids (Ubisoft), 5. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports). Japan: 1. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 2. Hajimete no Wii (Nintendo), 3. Zelda no Densetsu: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 4. Excite Truck (Nintendo), 5. Odoru Made in Wario (Nintendo). UK: 1. Wii Play (Nintendo), 2. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 3. Red Steel (Ubisoft), 4. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Nintendo), 5. Excite Truck (Nintendo). Amazon's supply of Wii Play has drained completely in the days following its U.S. release, leaving consumers at the mercy of third-party sellers. Fortunately, aftermarket price inflation isn't particularly severe at the moment, though this could change if demand remains high and supplies are short. Such a situation seems likely, considering the title's continuing success overseas; months after its release in Europe, Wii Play continues to be the top seller among all Wii software in the region. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Gears of War (Microsoft), 2. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft), 3. Call of Duty 3 (Activision), 4. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 5. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (Capcom). Japan: 1. The Idolm@ster (Namco), 2. Gears of War (Microsoft), 3. Atsumare! Pinata (Microsoft), 4. Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 (Tecmo), 5. Call of Duty 2 (Konami). UK: 1. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (Capcom), 2. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft), 3. Need for Speed Carbon (EA Games), 4. Gears of War (Microsoft), 5. Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (Konami). With no new releases (save for Fuzion Frenzy 2's debut in Europe) seeing store shelves in any part of the world this week, the Xbox 360's sales charts remain almost unchanged from last week's as a result. Gears of War, as usual, remains a popular choice in all regions, while The Idolm@ster still attracts many new buyers in the weeks following its release in Japan. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA), 2. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 3. Call of Duty 3 (Activision), 4. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Activision), 5. Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega). Japan: 1. Virtua Fighter 5 (Sega), 2. Resistance: Jinrui Botsuraku no Hi (SCEI), 3. Formula One Championship Edition (SCEI), 4. Armored Core 4 (From Software), 5. MotorStorm (SCEI). For all of the doom and gloom forecasted en masse by blogs reporting that Virtua Fighter 5 was a sales dud in the week after its release, the game still managed to become last week's best-selling console title across all platforms in Japan. Topping the weekly sales numbers of established hits like Wii Sports and New Super Mario Bros., Virtua Fighter 5 could become one of the PlayStation 3's early success stories if its popularity can be maintained in the coming weeks. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. God of War (SCEA), 2. Guitar Hero II (RedOctane), 3. Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2 (Konami), 4. Madden NFL 07 (EA Sports), 5. Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix). Japan: 1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Capcom), 2. Soul Cradle: Sekai o Kurau Mono (Nippon Ichi), 3. Hiiro no Kakera: Ano Sora no Shita de (Idea Factory), 4. Zero no Tsukaima (Marvelous), 5. Okami (Capcom). UK: 1. EyeToy Play 3 with Camera (SCEE), 2. SingStar (SCEE), 3. Sega Mega Drive Collection (Sega), 4. Okami (Capcom), 5. Avatar: The Legend of Aang (THQ). God of War sees a surge in sales this week in anticipation of its upcoming sequel, due to hit retail in March. Another 2005 release seeing a rare return to the U.S. chart this week is Konami's Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2, which is raking in the benefits from a recent price drop. Japan, meanwhile, sees a massive upheaval in chart placement thanks to a number of popular titles being released last week, though Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas once again reigns at the top. PC North America: 1. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard), 2. Microsoft Flight Simulator X (Microsoft), 3. World of Warcraft (Blizzard), 4. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 5. Age of Empires III (Microsoft). Japan: 1. Heart no Kuni no Alice ~Wonderful Wonder World~ (QuinRose), 2. Lineage II: Intrude Masters Kit (NC Japan), 3. Final Fantasy XI All-in-One Pack 2006 (Square Enix), 4. Sukatto Golf Pangya - Marugoto Kit (Frontier Groove), 5. SimCity 4 Deluxe (EA Games). UK: 1. Supreme Commander UEF Faction Pack (THQ), 2. ArmA: Armed Assault (505 Game Street), 3. World of Warcraft (Blizzard), 4. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard), 5. The Sims 2: Pets (EA Games). Surprisingly, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade falls several places in this week's European PC chart, after staying on top of the list for every week since its release. This is thanks in part to the popularity of an Amazon-exclusive version of Supreme Commander, and the recently released ArmA: Armed Assault appears to be garnering its share of fans as well. This is likely just a temporary shift in chart placement, however, as The Burning Crusade is expected to reclaim its spot at the top at some point in the near future. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Brain Age (Nintendo), 2. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 3. Diddy Kong Racing DS (Nintendo), 4. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 5. Big Brain Academy (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Layton Kyouju no Fushigi na Machi (Level 5), 2. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (Square Enix), 3. Wish Room: Tenshi no Kioku (Nintendo), 4. Picross DS (Nintendo), 5. Death Note: Killer Game (Konami). UK: 1. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 2. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 3. Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo), 4. Nintendogs: Lab & Friends (Nintendo), 5. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo). The Level 5-developed adventure title Layton Kyouju no Fushigi na Machi proves to be a force to be reckoned with in the week of its debut, and is currently the single best-selling Japanese software title across all platforms at Amazon. The anime-licensed Death Note: Killer Game also pulls impressive numbers in its first week of release, though at the moment it doesn't appear to possess the potential staying power of Level 5's offering. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 2. Star Wars Battlefront II (LucasArts), 3. Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (SCEA), 4. Medal of Honor: Heroes (EA Games), 5. Lumines (Ubisoft). Japan: 1. Tales of Destiny 2 (Namco), 2. Kanon (Prototype), 3. Maplus: Portable Navi (Edia), 4. Lumines II (Q Entertainment), 5. Routes Portable (Aqua Plus). UK: 1. Sega Mega Drive Collection (Sega), 2. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 4. Medal of Honor: Heroes (EA Games), 5. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts). Japan's PSP chart is shaken up this week with the release of Tales of Destiny 2 and Kanon -- two anticipated titles that quickly took over the top two software sales spots for the platform. The just-released Lumines II also makes an impression, while Sega Mega Drive Collection continues to clean up in Europe.