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Saling The World: Mario, Phoenix Wright Rule Worldwide Charts
by Danny Cowan [PC, Console/PC, Mobile Console]
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April 13, 2007
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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 April 12th, 2007, see Super Paper Mario leap to the top of Wii software sales in the week of its U.S. debut, as the just-released Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Phoenix Wright) leads overall weekly sales in Japan. 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. Super Paper Mario (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports), 5. Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (Sega).
Japan: 1. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 2. Hajimete no Wii (Nintendo), 3. Mezase!! Tsuri Master (Hudson), 4. Zelda no Densetsu: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 5. Fire Emblem: Akatsuki no Megami (Nintendo).
UK: 1. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 2. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports), 3. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Nintendo), 4. Excite Truck (Nintendo), 5. Red Steel (Ubisoft).
Super Paper Mario debuts to brisk sales, and currently weighs in as this week's best-selling software title across all platforms in the United States. The game also ranks high in pre-orders in Japan, where it will see release next week. A release date for PAL territories has yet to be announced. Interestingly, this week's U.S. chart also features the return of Sega's Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz after an absence of several months, thanks to a brief promotion-related reduction in price earlier in the week at Amazon.
Xbox 360
North America: 1. Guitar Hero II Bundle (RedOctane), 2. Gears of War (Microsoft), 3. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Ubisoft), 4. Crackdown (Microsoft), 5. Viva Pinata (Microsoft).
Japan: 1. Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 (Tecmo), 2. Gears of War (Microsoft), 3. Culdcept Saga: Title Update Edition (Bandai), 4. Armored Core 4 (From Software), 5. Final Fantasy XI All-in-One Pack 2006 (Square Enix).
UK: 1. Guitar Hero II Bundle (RedOctane), 2. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2K Games), 3. Crackdown (Microsoft), 4. Gears of War (Microsoft), 5. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Ubisoft).
Guitar Hero II remains the Xbox 360's biggest seller in the United States and the UK, as bundles have become increasingly difficult to find in stores in the week following its debut. Viva Pinata also nets a place on this week's U.S. chart, with the critically acclaimed but commercially underwhelming title finding new sales life after a universal price drop to $29.99 at all retail outlets. Japan, meanwhile, reports an odd lack of The IdolM@ster in its chart this week, though the game will likely return at some point in the near future.
PlayStation 3
North America: 1. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda), 2. MotorStorm (SCEA), 3. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA), 4. Virtua Tennis 3 (Sega), 5. Formula One Championship Edition (SCEA).
Japan: 1. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 4 (Konami), 2. Gundam Musou (Bandai), 3. Virtua Fighter 5 (Sega), 4. MotorStorm (SCEI), 5. Ridge Racer 7 (Namco).
UK: 1. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEE), 2. MotorStorm (SCEE), 3. Formula One Championship Edition (SCEE), 4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports), 5. Call of Duty 3 (Activision).
Konami's baseball sim Pro Yakyuu Spirits 4 sees strong sales in Japan this week, and manages to become the first PlayStation 3 game to best Gundam Musou in weekly sales since the latter title's debut in March. In other regions, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion continues to lead in the United States, while Europe maintains a high demand for the launch favorite Resistance: Fall of Man.
PlayStation 2
North America: 1. God of War II (SCEA), 2. Guitar Hero II Bundle (RedOctane), 3. God of War (SCEA), 4. MLB 07: The Show (SCEA), 5. Kingdom Hearts II (Square Enix).
Japan: 1. Grim Grimoire (Nippon Ichi), 2. Musou Orochi (Koei), 3. Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ (Square Enix), 4. VitaminX (D3 Publisher), 5. Okami -- PlayStation 2 the Best (Capcom).
UK: 1. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts), 2. Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix), 3. EyeToy Play 3 with Camera (SCEE), 4. Canis Canem Edit (Rockstar), 5. Okami (Capcom).
Guitar Hero II continues to gain sales momentum following the release of the Xbox 360 version, with this week seeing the bundle outselling the budget-priced God of War for the first time in several weeks. Rereleases and sale prices also play a heavy role in this week's UK chart, where older titles like LEGO Star Wars II, Canis Canem Edit, and Okami pull in big numbers thanks to recent discounts at Amazon. Japan, meanwhile, finds a top seller in the just-released Grim Grimoire, as former sales leader Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ sees a mild sales slowdown after spending two weeks at the top.
PC
North America: 1. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (EA Games), 2. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard), 3. The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles (2K Games), 4. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 5. World of Warcraft (Blizzard).
Japan: 1. Shinkyouku Soukai Polyphonica -- 1 & 2 Box Edition (Ocelot), 2. Medieval II: Total War (Sega), 3. Hoshi no Oujo (Mirai), 4. The Sims 2 Seasons! Data Set (EA Games), 5. Football Manager 2007: Japanese Edition (Sega).
UK: 1. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (EA Games), 2. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars -- Kane Edition (EA Games), 3. The Sims 2: Seasons (EA Games), 4. The Sims 2: Celebration! Stuff (EA Games), 5. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard).
The Sims 2 and its expansion packs see a small dip in sales in the United States this week, allowing Command & Conquer 3 and World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade to rule the charts in the meanwhile. Sims-related games continue to be high in demand in the UK, however, with both the Seasons and Celebration! Stuff expansion packs being the biggest sellers among all available PC software.
Nintendo DS
North America: 1. Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (D3 Publisher), 2. Brain Age (Nintendo), 3. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 4. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 5. Cake Mania (Majesco).
Japan: 1. Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Capcom), 2. TOEIC Test DS Training (IE Institute), 3. Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Motto Eigo Duke (Nintendo), 4. Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: MiniMini Daikoushin! (Nintendo), 5. Layton Kyouju no Fushigi na Machi (Level 5).
UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. Pokemon Ranger (Nintendo), 3. Cooking Mama (505 GameStreet), 4. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 5. 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo).
Gyakuten Saiban 4 debuts to impressive sales numbers, and faced little trouble in becoming the week's best-selling software title on any platform in Japan. In the United States, Puzzle Quest's continuing popularity makes it difficult for Amazon to keep it in stock for long periods of time -- potential buyers for the top-selling title are currently being told that the game is sold out, but will be restocked soon. In the meantime, casual-minded gamers have turned their attention to Majesco's just-released Cake Mania, which manages to slip into fifth place in weekly DS software sales.
PlayStation Portable
North America: 1. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 2. Killzone: Liberation (SCEA), 3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 4. Star Wars Battlefront II (LucasArts), 5. MLB 07: The Show (SCEA).
Japan: 1. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom), 2. Kidou Senshi Gundam Seed: Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. Portable (Bandai), 3. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu Portable 2 (Konami), 4. Eiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki FC (Nihon Falcom), 5. Princess Crown -- Atlus Best Collection (Atlus).
UK: 1. Sega Mega Drive Collection (Sega), 2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 3. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports), 4. Sonic Rivals (Sega), 5. Football Manager Handheld 2007 (Sega).
This week sees little change in PSP software sales in any region. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd still remains atop Japan's chart nearly two months after its release, and Sega Mega Drive Collection once again reclaims the top spot in the UK after a brief absence last week. Killzone: Liberation's newfound and surprising popularity on Amazon's U.S. site is likely a direct result of a recent price drop of 40%. It's currently unclear as to whether this is an official price drop or a temporary discount, however.
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