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Dragon Age 2 champions UK sales chart
Dragon Age 2, as it was foretold by the Chantry prophecies, took the top spot on Chart-Track's all formats UK sales chart for the week of March 6. Hawke's ascension meant that s/he pushed back the Pokémon of the White and Black breeds to second and fourth place, respectively. Fight Night Champion beat up most of the competition to retain third place, while Just Dance 2's seductive moves helped it slide up two spots to fifth. The big move last week was THQ's uDraw Studio (with Game Tablet), which shot up into tenth place from #83 in its second week at retail. Check out the complete UK top ten after the break.
Pokemon Black and White capture top UK sales spots
Pokemon White and Black fulfilled their destinies by capturing the top spots on Chart-Track's UK sales chart this past week. The latest iteration on the franchise became "the biggest ever launch of Pokemon games across one weekend in the UK," according to Chart-Track. The White version outsold Black by 13,000 copies. Combining the sibling title's sales, it is the third largest Nintendo launch in the UK, behind Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii. The third place belt went to Fight Night Champion, which would have premiered at the top of the charts this week if it hadn't been for those pesky (and adorable) poke-critters. Bulletstorm slipped from second to fourth, while Killzone 3 went from first to fifth. Other noteworthy debuts on the chart are PC titles Dawn of War 2: Retribution and Rift, at 17 and 19, respectively. Of course, these are only box retail figures -- the magical (and likely larger) digital distribution sales numbers are in the hands of the respective platform holders. Check out the UK top ten after the break.
Killzone 3 holds off Bulletstorm for top UK sales spot
Killzone 3 beat out the other high-profile FPS premiere, Bulletstorm, on the UK charts last week, but it didn't out-debut its predecessor, Killzone 2. According to Chart-Track, Killzone 3 is the "14th fastest-selling" Sony title in first-week UK sales -- Killzone 2 is the fifth. More shooting, and some kicking, got it done for third and fourth place in last week's sales ranking, as Call of Duty: Black Ops and FIFA 11 took the spots below the two debut shooters. The previous week's almost top title, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, slipped from second down to seventh. Where's Just Dance 2, you ask? In fifth, of course. Unstoppable beast!
Black Ops outmaneuvers Marvel vs. Capcom 3 on UK charts
Call of Duty: Black Ops received some marketing reinforcements last week in the UK to regain the top spot, its eighth time as king of the hill. The move stole Marvel vs. Capcom 3's premiere Thor thunder, as the fighter debuted in second place. Don't feel too bad for MvC3, though -- Chart-Track notes that the title sold as many copies in its first week as its predecessor did in its lifetime on PS2 and Xbox (the company doesn't have access to the XBLA and PSN figures). Dead Space 2 stomped the space yard at third, with Test Drive Unlimited 2 downshifting its top gear premiere into fourth. The fifth and sixth spots are occupied by chart stalwarts FIFA 11 and Just Dance 2, respectively. Check out the full UK top ten after the break.
Test Drive Unlimited 2 sets franchise record atop UK charts
It may be a case of Top Gear-fever, but Atari's Test Drive Unlimited 2 raced to the top of the UK all formats sales chart. Chart-Track notes that TDU2 is "by far" the biggest launch in the franchise, outselling the previous entry by more than double, with 68 percent of sales on Xbox 360, 28 percent on PS3 and the rest (4 percent) on PC. After two weeks as king of the mountain (standing gallantly atop a pile of Necromorphs), Dead Space 2's Isaac Clarke took the long way through an air duct and ended up in second place. The rest of the top five is some kind of late-2010 flashback, as FIFA 11, Call of Duty: Black Ops and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood occupy spots three through five, respectively. Last week's big mover was Ubisoft's Dance Juniors, a "Kidz Bop" version of its unstoppable Just Dance franchise, which jumped 290 percent in its second week, just narrowly missing entry into the top ten at spot 12. We've placed a video of the game after the break to see what all the fuss is about, along with the UK top ten.
Dead Space 2 holds off FIFA to stay atop UK charts
Dead Space 2 became 2011's first repeat #1 in weekly UK software sales last week, according to Chart-Track, as it beat out a resurgent FIFA 11 (which began the year at #1) to stay atop the charts in its second week at retail. The week's new releases failed to crack the top ten, however, as the latest Mario vs. Donkey Kong (DS) and Mario Sports Mix (Wii) debuted at #11 and #12, respectively. (The only other new entry to make the top 40 was The Sims 3: Outdoor Living Stuff expansion.) Back in the top ten, LittleBigPlanet 2 floated down two spots during the week to #5, while the surprising Art Academy (DS) stayed in attendance, graduating up to #8 (from #9 the previous week). What are the chances Just Dance 2 finally ran out of moves? Check out the complete top ten list after the break.
Dead Space 2 engineers top entry on UK sales chart
Isaac Clarke's Necromorph nightmare is a dream for EA, as Dead Space 2 reached the top spot on the all formats UK sales chart last week. According to Chart-Track, launch sales of the intense sequel were up 70 percent from when Dead Space debuted at sixth in 2008. Sackboy took a 48 percent sales tumble, dropping LittleBigPlanet 2 into second, while FIFA 11 enjoyed the top-seated action in third. The peanut-butter-and-jelly goodness of stabbing and shooting round out the top five with Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Call of Duty: Black Ops in fourth and fifth, respectively. The week also saw the return of the original Just Dance into the top ten, meaning Ubisoft had the original and its sequel in the top ten just cha-cha-chinging away. Check out the top ten in UK sales after the break.
LittleBigPlanet 2 debuts atop UK sales chart, Mass Effect 2 PS3 in top ten
The very pretty, Britty build-a-palooza LittleBigPlanet 2 grabbed itself the top spot on Chart-Track's UK sales chart last week. According to the chart masters, the sequel's premiere numbers were "almost identical" to that of the original, being "only 95 sales short" of it. Call of Duty: Black Ops and the magical Just Dance 2 took silver and bronze, respectively. While we're on the subject of the resilient dance game genre, Harmonix's Dance Central slipped one spot from 12 to 13, while Ubisoft's original Just Dance moved up two spots from 13 to 11. LittleBigPlanet 2 wasn't the only game to have a big debut on PS3 last week, our top game of 2010, Mass Effect 2, premiered in the seventh spot overall and in second on the PS3-specific chart.
DC Universe Online logs into UK top ten, Black Ops reacquires top spot
DC Universe Online flew into Chart-Track's UK sales chart this week and nipped a spot in the top ten. The PS3 and PC superhero simulator debuted in tenth place and, according to Chart-Track, is only the fourth retail title on PS3 to be online-only. The other internet-required games are MAG, Warhawk and SOCOM: US Navy Seals Confrontation. The rest of the top ten is composed of the usual suspects playing musical chairs. Call of Duty: Black Ops is back on top, followed by FIFA 11 and the unstoppable Just Dance 2. Speaking of dance games, Harmonix's Dance Central is eyeing a spot in the top ten as it moves from 17 to 12 this week. Check out the top ten after the break.
FIFA 11 kicks off 2011 atop UK charts
For the first full week of 2011, FIFA 11 held onto the top spot in the UK's multiplatform sales ranking, according to Chart-Track. The footie franchise has maintained that center forward position for four consecutive weeks. Oh ... oh, look who's in second place, why if it isn't our good friend Just Dance 2. Ubisoft's unstoppable booty-shaking series keeps on crunkin', with the series' sequel inexplicably moving up two spots into second. Thus, Call of Duty: Black Ops finds itself out of its comfort zone in third place, the first time it hasn't been in the top two since its November launch. It would seem Mass Effect 2's various end of year accolades spurred interest in the game again, as it returned to the top 40 in spot 18. With no new major game releases this past week, the chart is a shifting of the usual suspects. Check out the top ten after the break.
FIFA enters new year atop UK charts, two Kinect titles land in top ten
Call of Duty Black Ops and FIFA 11 have been fighting for that top spot on the UK charts this holiday season, but FIFA 11 took back number one on Chart-Track's All Formats chart for the week ending January 1, 2011. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, (the perennial) Just Dance 2 and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood didn't move a muscle, maintaining their spots in third, fourth and fifth place, respectively. Microsoft's Kinect had two games in the top ten in the twilight of 2010. Kinect Sports has been hanging around since the peripheral launched, but Dance Central is apparently gaining the attention it deserves, storming the dance floor into tenth place, up nine spots from the prior week. There were five Kinect games in the top 40 this past week, the most since the device's launch week. Check out the UK's top ten after the break.
Black Ops tops UK charts this holiday, NFS: Hot Pursuit gets sales boost
For a second year in a row going into Christmas, the Call of Duty franchise is king of the Chart-Track UK All Formats chart, with CoD:Black Ops sales slightly up and occupying the space where CoD: Modern Warfare 2 was last year. FIFA 11 placed second, which is nothing unusual. However, coming out of nowhere, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit sales jumped 48 percent, which boosted the game from seventh to third. Occupying the fourth and fifth spots respectively are Ubisoft's Just Dance 2 and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. Just Dance 2 sales were up fifteen percent this week, which means, unless something very strange happens next week, a member of the Just Dance franchise will have been in the top of the UK charts for all of 2010. The first Just Dance owned much of the early part of the year. Check out the UK's top ten -- keep hanging in there, Donkey Kong Country Returns! -- after the break.
Call of Duty: Black Ops holds off Cataclysm on UK sales chart, Epic Mickey enters Top 40
For the week ending December 11, Chart-Track's UK All Formats chart had Call of Duty: Black Ops at the top, FIFA 11 in second and the highly anticipated expansion, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, in third. Yes, that math feels all kinds of wrong. Here's a perfect example of how the lack of online sales tracking can create an issue when looking at Chart-Track and NPD results. Cataclysm was the first WoW expansion, a game that reportedly has 12 million subscribers, to be available both at retail and online. It seems that unless players were interested in baubles, they were more than happy to just pay Activision-Blizzard for the authorization key directly online. In other news, it looks like the UK caught on that Disney Epic Mickey launched. The Wii exclusive, created by Warren Spector's Junction Point Studio, finally broke into the Top 40 at 37, "misunderstood" design and all. And because it's our obsessive fascination, we'll tell you that Just Dance 2 slipped a mere single spot into sixth. That means we are only a few weeks away from a member of the Just Dance franchise holding a place in the top ten for nearly all of 2010. Check out the UK's top performing titles after the break.
Michael Jackson: The Experience moonwalks up UK sales chart, Black Ops king of the hill
Gran Turismo 5 ran out of gas after its debut week, dropping 61 percent in sales and into fourth place on Chart-Track's UK All Formats chart. The top three titles were Call of Duty: Black Ops, FIFA 11 and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. The big premieres for the week were Donkey Kong Country Returns and Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary at 13 and 22, respectively. So, last week we almost neglected to mention Disney Epic Mickey, because it didn't make the Top 40. We thought its performance might have been an anomaly ... until it missed out again on the Top 40 and maintained its place at #11 on the Wii Chart. Not a good sign. Comparatively, Ubisoft's Michael Jackson: The Experience, which debuted down at #38 last week, had a thriller of a second week, shooting up to sixth place. It's now holding hands with Ubisoft's stalwart Just Dance franchise, which had its numerical sequel in the fifth spot. Find the full UK top ten after the break.
Gran Turismo 5 starts at pole position in UK sales chart
Gran Turismo 5 raced into first place on the UK sales chart last week, becoming the sixth largest PS3 launch ever in the region. In a good sign for the oft-delayed franchise installment, sales were up 6 percent from Gran Turismo 4's launch week numbers in March 2005 on the PS2 (according to Chart-Track). Call of Duty: Black Ops and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood both took one step back this week, grabbing silver and bronze, respectively. CoD:Blops dropped another 42 percent in sales two weeks after its record-setting premiere, while AC:B slipped off a Borgia tower, but caught itself 32 percent of the way down. FIFA 11 took the fourth spot with a sales surge, and fifth belongs to... yup, loyal chart watchers, you got it: Just Dance 2 is unstoppable as it waves its arms in the air, selling copies like it just don't care. As for debuts on the chart that didn't go vroom-vroom, Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare shambled in at 14, while Ubisoft's Michael Jackson: The Experience had the late king of pop make one duke-y of a debut down at 38. Find the full UK top ten after the break. Update: We just noticed that Disney Epic Mickey began its retail quest in the UK last week. It didn't even make the Top 40 in the All Formats chart. It debuted at the 11 spot on the Wii Chart. For comparison's sake, Michael Jackson: The Experience premiered at number five on the Wii chart, which ended up being 38 on the All Formats.
Black Ops maintains top UK sales spot, AC: Brotherhood has strongest debut in franchise
Call of Duty: Black Ops sales may have dropped 85 percent in the UK last week, but even with that massive dip its record-breaking debut ensured that Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood would stop at second place. 63,000 copies separated the two. According to Chart-Track, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood had the well-deserved, largest debut of the franchise to date. The only other top ten premiere this week came from Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, which raced into third place. The remainder of spots in the top five are occupied with games that involve feet. FIFA 11 defends its spot at fourth, as Just Dance continues reaping the benefits of its Faustian deal and its sequel does the Charleston in fifth. Check out the full UK top ten after the break.
Call of Duty: Black Ops breaks UK launch records
We already knew Call of Duty: Black Ops shattered day-one sales records in the UK, but let's just add a full week of intel to that with reports of 2 million units sold in the region over five days. Chart-Track estimates Activision-Blizzard's latest installment of the hit franchise took in a comfortable £81.9 million ($131.5M). For some disturbing perspective, Black Ops grossed more during its launch than the whole UK entertainment software market did over the past couple weeks ... combined. According to Chart-Track, last week became the highest grossing week in UK entertainment software history, with £113.8 million in sales. The last record breaker was £107.6 million, back in week 52 of 2008. (What was the number one game then? Call of Duty: World at War.) The record-breaking week was assisted by the launch of Microsoft's Kinect peripheral. Eight of the 11 UK Kinect launch titles debuted in the Top 40. The top premieres were Kinect Sports, Dance Central and Ubi's Motion Sports, which took fourth, 13th and 15th places, respectively. Check out the full UK top ten after the break.
Football Manager 2011 debuts atop UK charts, Bond finds quantum of solace in teens
Fable 3 lost the UK sales chart crown last week to not one, but two, footie titles. The football revolution sent Lionhead's Albion simulator to third as FIFA 11 maintained its spot in second and ... oh my, the PC-exclusive Football Manager 2011 premiered at the premier spot. According to Chart-Track, it was only the second PC-exclusive title to reach the top spot this year, with the other being StarCraft 2. Ubisoft's Just Dance 2 maintained its fourth place. If the title has the stamina of its older sibling, 2010 might have a Just Dance representative in the top ten throughout the entire year. Professor Layton and The Lost Future rounded out the top five. Other high-profile premieres last week, Goldeneye 007 for Wii and 007: Blood Stone, had licenses to kill the #13 and #18 spots, respectively. Spy with your double-0 eye the UK top ten after the break.
Fable 3 crowns UK charts, Force Unleashed 2 and Rock Band 3 debut
Fable 3 took the throne last week in the UK as the top-selling title, moving 128,895 units and 6,000 more than Fable 2 did during its launch week. Fallout: New Vegas sales, which held the top spot the prior week, dropped 55 percent, moving 69,613 copies to wastelanders. FIFA 11 kicked it up and charged back into second place with 75,703 sales, while Just Dance 2 kept its momentum and slid into fourth, moving and shaking 58,375 units. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 premiered in fifth place. FU2 unleashed 56,064 copies on the British public, with plenty of folks likely screaming that abbreviation after spending those hard-earned pounds on the disposable game. Meanwhile, the 7,386 owners of Rock Band 3, which debuted way down at #26, likely rocked the weekend away. You may have noticed we have actual unit sales this week, that's thanks to UKIE (formerly known as ELSPA). No idea how long this'll last, but it's interesting given the NPD's recent reluctance to share such data for the US. Check out the UK top ten after the break.
Fallout: New Vegas explodes on UK charts
Fallout: New Vegas hit it big on the High Street strip, taking the top spot on the UK Charts and besting Fallout 3's premiere week sales by 29 percent. Last week's top game, Medal of Honor, lost ground and dropped 48 percent in sales to second place, while FIFA 11 also slipped one position to the third spot. Nintendo DS title Professor Layton and the Lost Future (Unwound Future across the pond) debuted in fourth place, with -- no surprise! -- Just Dance 2 showing the stamina of its predecessor by rounding out the top 5. In case you're wondering, the original Just Dance doesn't look like it's coming back to the top ten this year, but it's still sitting comfortably in the teens at the 14 spot. Higher-profile premieres that didn't make the top ten include: Vanquish at #12, EA Sports MMA at #23 and DJ Hero 2 at #25. Discover the UK top ten for 10 picarats after the break.
