Saling The World: Mario, Lara Top U.S. and UK Charts

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 May 31st, 2007, feature Mario Party 8, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, and Forza Motorsport 2 dominating consumer interest in the United States and the UK. 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. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. Super Paper Mario (Nintendo), 4. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 5. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Nintendo). Japan: 1. BioHazard 4 Wii Edition (Capcom), 2. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 3. Zelda no Densetsu: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 4. Wii de Yawaraka Atama Juku (Nintendo), 5. Super Paper Mario (Nintendo). UK: 1. Mario Strikers Charged Football (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 4. Cooking Mama (505 Games), 5. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Disney). Mario Party 8 debuts to a first-place finish among all competing Wii software in its first week of release in the United States, and barely beats out Forza Motorsport 2 as this week's single best-selling software title across all platforms. Mario also continues to lead the charts in Europe, where Mario Strikers Charged Football finishes as the week's second-best seller among all titles for all platforms. Japan, on the other hand, sees its biggest-selling Wii title in BioHazard 4, which racks up fast sales in its first few days of release. Xbox 360 North America: 1. Forza Motorsport 2 (Microsoft), 2. Gears of War (Microsoft), 3. Shadowrun (Microsoft), 4. Guitar Hero II Bundle (RedOctane), 5. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft). Japan: 1. Forza Motorsport 2 (Microsoft), 2. Test Drive Unlimited (Microsoft), 3. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft), 4. Armored Core 4 (From Software), 5. The IdolM@ster (Namco). UK: 1. Gears of War (Microsoft), 2. Crackdown (Microsoft), 3. Shadowrun (Microsoft), 4. Guitar Hero II Bundle (RedOctane), 5. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2K Games). Forza Motorsport 2 takes top honors in Xbox 360 software sales in its debut week, achieving impressive sales numbers that could eventually outpace Mario Party 8's in future weeks. Forza 2 also continues to lead Japan's chart for the second week in a row, and is likely to remain at the top until the mid-June release of the anticipated RPG Trusty Bell. Shadowrun, meanwhile, sees similarly big sales in the U.S. and Europe in its first week of release, and could potentially grow in popularity in both regions due to the strength of its online multiplayer component. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA), 2. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda), 3. MLB 07: The Show (SCEA), 4. MotorStorm (SCEA), 5. Virtua Tennis 3 (Sega). Japan: 1. Virtua Fighter 5 (Sega), 2. Formula One Championship Edition (SCEI), 3. Gundam Musou (Bandai), 4. Ridge Racer 7 (Namco), 5. Power Smash 3 (Sega). UK: 1. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEE), 2. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Ubisoft), 3. MotorStorm (SCEE), 4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Disney), 5. Spider-Man 3 (Activision). The PlayStation 3 charts show little change this week, closing out the month of May with yet another week of sluggish sales and inactivity. June will likely bring renewed interest to the platform, however, as awaited releases like The Darkness and Ninja Gaiden Sigma could become sales winners in future weeks. For now, however, successful licensed titles like Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and a discounted Virtua Fighter 5 in Japan constitute the most exciting developments in PS3 software sales worldwide. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Odin Sphere (Atlus), 2. Guitar Hero II Bundle (RedOctane), 3. SingStar Pop Bundle (SCEA), 4. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 5. God of War (SCEA). Japan: 1. Guilty Gear XX Accent Core (Arc System Works), 2. Odin Sphere (Atlus), 3. Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku o: Melody of the Sun and Sea (Alchemist), 4. Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku o: Melody of the Sun and Sea -- Limited Edition (Alchemist), 5. LoveDrops (Dimple). UK: 1. Tomb Raider: Anniversary (Eidos), 2. Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix), 3. Spider-Man 3 (Activision), 4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Disney), 5. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar). Odin Sphere proves itself to be more than a one-week wonder, as the title holds its position at the top of the U.S. PS2 chart for the second week in a row. Odin Sphere also continues to perform well in Japan, though newcomer Guilty Gear XX Accent Core takes the #1 spot in this week's results. Meanwhile, Tomb Raider: Anniversary faces little trouble in becoming the week's top-selling title on any platform in its first week of release in the UK, and could remain at the top of the PS2 chart for some time to come. PC North America: 1. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard), 2. Starcraft Battle Chest (Blizzard), 3. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 4. Halo 2 (Microsoft), 5. World of Warcraft (Blizzard). Japan: 1. Shinkyouku Soukai Polyphonica 3 & 4 (Ocelot), 2. Shinkyouku Soukai Polyphonica -- 1 & 2 Box Edition (Ocelot), 3. Heart no Kuni no Alice ~Wonderful Wonder World~ (QuinRose), 4. Ragnarok Online RJC2007 Memorial Package (GungHo Online Entertainment), 5. Final Fantasy XI All-in-One Pack 2006 (Square Enix). UK: 1. Tomb Raider: Anniversary (Eidos), 2. Microsoft Flight Simulator X (Microsoft), 3. Sid Meier's Civilization Chronicles (2K Games), 4. Football Manager 2007 (Sega), 5. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (EA Games). The PC version of Tomb Raider: Anniversary also makes a big splash in Europe this week, though the PS2 port appears to be the more popular of the two for the time being. In the United States, anticipation continues to build for the upcoming Starcraft 2, and the Starcraft Battle Chest compilation continues to see boosted sales as a result. Meanwhile, the just-released PC port of Halo 2 finishes in fourth place in U.S. PC sales -- a sluggish debut that could be blamed on a combination of a week-long delay and ambivalence from critics. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Pokemon Diamond (Nintendo), 2. Pokemon Pearl (Nintendo), 3. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 4. Brain Age (Nintendo), 5. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Miru Chikara o Jissen de Kitaeru: DS Ganryoku Training (Nintendo), 2. Chuugaku Eitango Target 1800 DS (IE Institute), 3. Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 (Nintendo), 4. TOEIC Test DS Training (IE Institute), 5. Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Motto Eigo Duke (Nintendo). UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. Cooking Mama (505 Games), 3. Big Brain Academy (Nintendo), 4. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 5. Final Fantasy III (Square Enix). The Nintendo-published brain training title Miru Chikara o Jissen de Kitaeru: DS Ganryoku Training debuts to take first place in software sales across all platforms in Japan this week -- an impressive feat, considering the sales strength of fellow DS chart-toppers Chuugaku Eitango Target 1800 DS and Ouendan 2. Little activity can be found elsewhere in the world, though the upcoming Nintendo DS Browser is seeing a significant amount of preorder interest in the United States this week, in anticipation of its upcoming release. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 2. Star Wars Battlefront II (LucasArts), 3. Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror (SCEA), 4. Daxter (SCEA), 5. Fight Night Round 3 (EA Sports). Japan: 1. Final Fantasy Tactics: Shishi Sensou (Square Enix), 2. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom), 3. Minna no Golf Ba Vol. 1 (SCEI), 4. Bleach: Heat the Soul 4 (SCEI), 5. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (Konami). UK: 1. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 2. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 3. Sega Mega Drive Collection (Sega), 4. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (Konami), 5. Lumines II (Disney). Interest in PSP accessories and hardware far exceeds demand for PSP software in the United States this week, as memory sticks, travel cases, and the PSP core console itself are currently selling far more units than any individual software title. Japan, on the other hand, finds a new favorite in the just-released Minna no Golf Ba, while Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops remains in demand in both the UK and Japan.