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UK Charts: Titanfall stands tall
If Lionel Richie was infatuated with giant mechanical killing machines rather than ladies, he'd be singing an ode to Titanfall right now. Respawn's shooter is once, twice, three times the UK No. 1 in a row - that's four times in total if you include its debut week in March. There's not much else to say about this week's UK charts; the top ten is made up of the same games from last week, except for Battlefield 4 replacing Trials Fusion. As for Titanfall, it's dominated most of April and it has the chance to keep that run going in May, at least until the arrivals of Wolfenstein: The New Order, Watch Dogs and Mario Kart 8. [Image: EA]
UK Charts: Titanfall holds No.1 spot, 2014 FIFA World Cup debuts 2nd
It's been a while since British soccer fans have seen their nations associated with the words "World Cup" and anything even remotely approaching second place - that said, at least England can say it won the damn thing once. Enough ancient history: 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil is the highest-placing new release in the UK this week, but unlike FIFA 14 it only reached second place; that top spot is still held by Titanfall. Maybe the most telling thing is FIFA 14 is only two places behind the World Cup game in 4th, some seven months after it was released. It's lower down the charts where things get a bit more interesting this week. The physical Deluxe copies of Trials Fusion, which contain the game's season pass, did well enough to see the grueling bike-former debut in 7th place. Meanwhile, you have to go all the way down to 20th to find colorful MMO Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn, which has just made its debut on PS4. On the other hand, Square Enix seemed pretty upbeat about the game reaching 2 million registrations last week, so make of that what you will. [Image: EA]
Titanfall reclaims UK No. 1 after landing on Xbox 360
Titanfall became the second game to return to the top of the UK charts in 2014, after forcing FIFA 14, the first game, to eject and drop into third. Respawn's mech-crammed shooter saw a 220 percent boost in sales following its arrival on Xbox 360, and that was enough to see it keep Lego: The Hobbit just beneath the summit in second place. It's a sign of a quieter April that retailer promotions helped South Park: The Stick of Truth rise up to fourth. That said, last week wasn't quiet enough to take Kinect: Sports Rivals into the top ten, and Rare's motion-controlled latest had to settle for 14th place. Football Manager 2014 placed 18th thanks to its spring transfer onto Vita, and the coaching sim is just ahead of The Elder Scrolls Online in 19th, which saw a sizable drop after debuting the week before in the No. 2 spot.
Elder Scrolls debuts second in UK, FIFA 14 reclaims the throne
It's not a No. 1, but Bethesda may be quietly satisfied with how The Elder Scrolls Online fared in the UK. The MMO's launch on Windows PC and Mac was enough to take it up to second place, and there are still PS4 and Xbox One versions to unravel in June. As it is, we may have to get used to the name currently on top of the UK charts. FIFA 14 is now up to 11 weeks in total (non-consecutive) as the country's No. 1, and - as if it needed the help - the English soccer season is excitingly close this year, and there's a World Cup just two months away. In related news, let's go live to the scene at EA Sports HQ... [Image: Bethesda]
Infamous: Second Son tops UK charts for second week, Reaper of Souls debuts 6th
After a month that saw more new releases than a bunny park, the last UK charts of March are an altogether quieter affair. The top three are unchanged, with Infamous: Second Son on top for a second week ahead of Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes and Titanfall. That's not to say there aren't any new releases this week, but only one of them makes it to the top ten. The "Reaper of Souls" expansion for Diablo 3 leveled all the way up to 6th, but Level-5/Capcom crossover Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright and motorbike racer MXGP are a bit behind in 15th and 19th respectively. [Image: Sony Computer Entertainment]
Infamous: Second Son beats Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes to UK No. 1
Infamous: Second Son racked up the second-best first week for a PS4 game in the UK, only placing behind launch title Killzone Shadow Fall. Those sales were enough to ensure the system exclusive took the UK No. 1 ahead of Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes this week, with last week's leader Titanfall titanfalling to third. Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster was the other big new release of the week and the re-polished PS3 and Vita game took fourth. February and March's swathe of big-name games has finally given the UK charts a more current feel: Eight of this week's top ten were released in 2014, and most of those only in the last few weeks. The two lingerers from last year? Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition and, no surprises, FIFA 14. [Image: Sony Computer Entertainment]
Titanfall helps the Xbox One almost double weekly sales in the UK
The Xbox One saw UK week-on-week sales jump by 96 percent alongside the arrival of Titanfall, with the game's bundle accounting for 70 percent of the hardware shifted. It's no surprise, then, that EA's multiplayer shooter went top of the country's sales charts, despite a valiant effort from Dark Souls 2. Namco brought Demon's Souls to Europe almost a year after Atlus released it North America, and it debuted sixth in the UK charts back in June 2010. A year later, Dark Souls landed in third, and its sequel went one better with a 20 percent rise in UK sales over its predecessor. Not a bad performance for the action-RPG series, especially since at one stage it looked uncertain to even reach Europe. Looking down the UK charts, a month that's been packed with new releases meant there wasn't enough space in the top ten for Yoshi's New Island. The 3DS game placed 12th. [Image: EA]
UK Charts: South Park - The Stick of Truth is top in class
South Park: The Stick of Truth may be censored on UK consoles, but that isn't going to stop Brits from respecting its authoritah. The long-delayed RPG ousts Thief to debut in the top spot this week, and that's Obsidian's first UK No.1 since Fallout: New Vegas in 2010. Alright, the developer only released Dungeon Siege 3 in the interim, but it's still a decent achievement. The only other new release in this week's charts places way lower, and that's Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures in 21st. Also, there's a big second-week plummet for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, which is damned from 10th down to 24th. Otherwise, it's all eyes on next week to see which of Dark Souls 2 and Titanfall to see which will keep UK tills the busiest. [Image: Ubisoft]
Thief yoinks top spot in this week's UK Charts
It's no daylight robbery: Thief is a deserving UK chart leader, especially since we're knee deep in the Q1 downpour of new releases. The Eidos Montreal game fended off plenty of competition to record the second highest sales for a No.1 game this year, and 75 percent of those were on PS4 and Xbox One. The new releases that fell short of the crown jewels include Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare in 4th, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 in 10th, and placing just outside the top ten is PS3 HD-em-up Tales of Symphonia: Chronicles in 13th. Konami may've been hoping to see the second Lords of Shadow place higher, but it's still the second biggest debut for the franchise (in Chart Track history), only topped by the first game.
UK Charts: Lego Movie Videogame puts together a two week run
The Lego Movie Videogame achieves something of a rarity in the UK charts this week - not just keeping FIFA 14 off the top, that is. It's one of few games to achieve more sales in its second week than in its first, albeit only 7 percent more, but it's still something to build on. A price reduction helps FIFA 14 back into second, while lower down the charts Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze debuts in ninth. The Wii U game is just ahead of Rayman Legends, which sees a 300 percent rise in weekly sales on the back of PS4 and Xbox One ports. All those games beat Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 to the top ten, as the last chapter in the FF13 saga sinks from a debut third spot to 11th.
Lego Movie Videogame is the new UK No. 1, Lightning Returns in third
We expected Lightning Returns to take Final Fantasy back to the top in this week's UK charts, but we hadn't counted on a blockbuster start for the Lego Movie Videogame. The film debuted across the country last week, after stacking up a $69 million opening weekend in North America. Enough of that yellow fever spread from big screens to smaller screens in the UK, with 15,000 more copies sold than a discounted Call of Duty: Ghosts in second place. Last week's chart leader, FIFA 14, turfed off down to fourth. That means the final game in Lightning's saga failed to take top spot, having to settle for an apt third place. For the record, there is some symmetry here: Final Fantasy 13-2 arrived in second place back in 2012, while Final Fantasy 13 itself debuted as a No. 1 game in 2010.
Normal service resumed: FIFA 14 reclaims UK No. 1, Fable Anniversary debuts third
FIFA 14 succumbed to a revamped re-release last week, but it fended off Fable Anniversary to resume its rule over the UK. Proving the intrusion by Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition was just a blip, EA's sporting superstar notched its 10th week total as the country's No. 1 - it's only the 11th game to achieve that feat in Chart-Track's ten-year history. As for Fable Anniversary, the Xbox 360 HD-ificiation debuted well at retail, taking third this week. It placed just behind perennial runner-up Call of Duty: Ghosts and just ahead of last week's chart leader, Tomb Raider DE. While FIFA 14 will no doubt continue to sell gazillions as the World Cup approaches, next week should see its pegged back by the first of February's big-hitters: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13. After that, the next two weeks brings us Thief, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2.
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition is the new, definitive-ish UK No. 1
FIFA 14 used to be the UK No. 1, then it took an arrow to the knee from Lara Croft. Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition is the new chart leader in Her Majesty's Kingdom, usurping the six-week rule of the footie sim. Not that it was a definitive victory, mind you. The PS4 and Xbox One ports were less than 500 sales ahead of the latest FIFAball, underlining just how well EA's game is still doing. While a new No.1 has us excited enough to go on a mass-murdering island tour, the rest of the chart is Samesburg. Still, the King is dead! Long live the Queen - until next week that is.
Six weeks and counting: FIFA 14 still leads the UK charts
Usually, the UK charts are interesting. Last year we saw Tomb Raider stay in the top ten for an impressive 25 weeks in a row, albeit 593 weeks less than Square Enix was hoping for. In September, Grand Theft Auto 5 became the UK's fastest-selling game of all time when it notched 2.25 million sales in its first week, leading to an unstoppable crime wave across the country that we all read about in the papers. Exciting stuff! Be that as it may, this week's offering is tumbleweeds. FIFA 14 is No.1 for the sixth week in a row and ninth week in total as it bids to become the Bryan Adams of the gaming charts. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z is a new entry in tenth, but a practically unchanged top nine tells you more about that than anything. In short, bring on February already.
FIFA 14 still UK No.1, Mario Party: Island Tour debuts 18th
Hey, UK Charts? Are you... you know... taking care of yourself? I mean, I only ask because it kind of looks like you're wearing almost the exact same stuff you had on last week. And hey, is that Aliens: Colonial Marines in your pocket? Are you sure you want to be carrying that thing around with you? You know, in public sight... where everyone can... no, you're right, it's none of my business. Sorry, UK Charts. Still, hey, I saw this new Mario Party: Island Tour thing you might like, just to change things up, you know. Oh, you saw it? And you... 18th? I see. Well, oh man really is that the time I've got to be going. I have this thing... with a book chart. Yeah. No, I'll call you.
FIFA 14 nets four weeks in a row as UK No. 1, Aliens: Colonial Marines returns
What better encapsulates the tranquility of games retail at the moment: that FIFA 14 is still top of the UK charts, now for the fourth week running and the seventh week in total, or that critical anti-darling Aliens: Colonial Marines is back in the top ten? Albeit that's at bargain bin pricing of around £5, but still - really? Minus a big leap back up to eighth for Killzone: Shadow Fall, there's not much else to say about this week's UK charts, really. Still, best to enjoy the downtime while it lasts, because February and March ain't gonna be so quiet.
FIFA 14's reign continues in this week's statue-like UK charts
The UK charts start 2014 like they ended 2013, and that's not limited to FIFA 14 extending its rule of the holiday roost. For starters, the same games that comprised last week's top ten feature in this week's. Not only that, but the top seven are exactly the same, with nobody moving a single place. In fact, the only movement in the entire top ten is Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition and Just Dance 2014 switching to eighth and ninth respectively. Yes, it is this time of year, and yes, there are no new releases to shake things up. Problem is, it doesn't make for a much to talk about in this post. So to make up for that, here's a gif of a cat going absolutely crazy about a potato. Happy new year, everybody!
UK charts: FIFA 14 on top again, a look back at a momentous year
2013 began with FIFA 13 leading the UK charts, and it ends with FIFA 14 crowned No. 1 for the second week in a row. The smart money is on EA Sports' MVP making it a hat-trick next week; the opening week's charts for each of the last three years has had a FIFA at the top. Rather than focusing on a top ten that's so static you'd think it'd just stuffed its face with Christmas dinner, let's look back through the rear view mirror of statistics at what's been a momentous year of UK charts-ery. We've had two console launches in the space of two weeks, an absolute ton of games, and as ever plenty of Call of FIFA in the charts. 24 different games topped the UK charts in 2013, including one-week wonders like Ni no Kuni, Resident Evil: Revelations, Aliens: Colonial Marines, and Payday 2. The Last of Us spent the most time at the UK's peak, earning six successive weeks as the numero uno in the summer. Pats on the back to FIFA 14 and Call of Duty: Ghosts for each racking five weeks in total, and to four-in-a-row hit Saints Row 4. Talking of successive No. 1s, six games kept top spot for three weeks running or more: BioShock Infinite, Dead Island: Riptide, The Last of Us, Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition, Saints Row 4, and Call of Duty: Ghosts.
FIFA 14 is UK's Christmas No. 1
FIFA 14 is this week's UK No. 1, making it a very Messi Christmas in 2013! Okay, we may have used that Messi Christmas gag already - and possibly that image. In our defense, Home Alone 2 is on and we've got orange and cinnamon mince pies. Just t'isn't the season for creativity, especially when you're dealing with the 14th FIFA to top the UK Christmas charts in 28 years. What more is there to say? That said, we did take the time to put a top ten-shaped present beneath the tree. No need to thank us, we knew you'd love it. Messi Christmas, everybody!
Call of Duty: Ghosts tops UK charts for third week in a row
"I am the Ghosts of Christmas past," said Call of Duty: Ghosts. "Long past?" inquired Scrooge, observant of the game's familiar nature. "Well, no," Call of Duty: Ghosts replied, a bit embarrassed. "I was the UK's best-selling game last week, and the week before that. This is my third week in a row as the UK No. 1." "Oh. I suppose that's marginally interesting... but not much more than that. Do you think that's why the author felt obligated to concoct a mediocre A Christmas Carol pastiche for an otherwise drab UK charts post?" "Probably... prooooobaaaaaablllllyyyyyyyyy... ooooooooohhhhh..." "You're not even a real ghost(s), are you?" "Shut up, Scrooge. You're not even a real duck." It was a Christmas miracle! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, "God bless us, every one!" "Shut up, Tiny Tim," said Call of Duty: Ghosts.
