UK Sales Chart, Week Ending April 8th

Always likely to perform well on the home turf of publisher Eidos, the latest entry in the Tomb Raider franchise has debuted with the largest sales week across all formats for any game in the series. Sales for the PlayStation 2 alone, though, were less than that for the much criticized last incarnation, Angel of Darkness. The game sold more than three times that of second place rival The Godfather, in a top ten that is otherwise most notable for the performance of film licensed titles. Current cinema hit Ice Age 2 moved up ten places as a result of the movie’s release, while the DVD release of the first The Chronicles of Narnia movie in the UK, plus heavy promotion of the PS2 game and the new releases of the GameCube and Xbox versions of the title saw the game jump twenty-five places to number nine. The highest new entry outside of the top forty was tennis simulator Top Spin 2 at number twelve, with its position due almost entirely to the Xbox 360 version, despite lukewarm reviews. PSP title Splinter Cell Essentials debuted at number twenty-three, with rhythm action game Guitar Hero entering at number twenty-six.

Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2006 ELSPA (UK) Ltd