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UK's top-selling retail games of 2014 led by FIFA
As was expected, FIFA 15, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Grand Theft Auto 5 dominated the UK sales chart in 2014. MCV has the list of the top 100 titles by sales, supplied by Chart-Track and UKIE. A huge caveat to note is the data only covers physical retail box copies, with no digital distribution data. Ubisoft was the publisher with the most games on the chart, followed by EA, at 12 and nine, respectively. Watch Dogs and Destiny made the top ten, with original intellectual properties making up nine percent of the list. Head over to MCV for all 100.
Not even 'FIFA 15' could dethrone 'Frozen' in the UK last year
It should shock no-one to hear that Frozen outsold every other piece of entertainment in the UK in 2014. Even so, the emphatic style with which it did so might surprise you. According to new figures from the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), the Disney sing-along extravaganza racked up just over 4 million DVD and Blu-ray sales last year, beating the nearest competition, which included films, video games and music, by a huge margin. Its closest rivals were FIFA 15, which scored 2.6 million sales, and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, which shifted 1.8 million copies -- a stellar effort, considering they debuted at least six months after Frozen's release. The film's soundtrack even made the top 20, besting entertainment home-runs such as Destiny, Gravity and Watch Dogs. The numbers aren't perfect though; the ERA's data only includes physical film and video game sales, while its music figures account for digital sales too. Even so, were downloads fully embraced we doubt Elsa and friends would have been toppled from their icy throne.
This week's UK charts are last week's UK charts
It's nearly the time for merriment, which means it's nearly time for the Christmas Doctor Who special. The UK gaming chart is already getting into the festive mood by re-enacting the "Blink" episode. The chart managed to keep its eyes wide open for the whole week, meaning the top five games have stayed in exactly the same position, and nobody's going to get eaten and sent back to the 1920s by sharp-toothed gargoyles. For now. So, it's (gasp) FIFA 15 on top for the second week running, followed by Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Grand Theft Auto 5, Far Cry 4 and Lego Batman 3. There aren't even any new releases to holler about, so the only real action comes courtesy of Destiny. Bungie's shooter planet-hopped seven places into ninth, no doubt boosted by the new Dark Below expansion. The top ten below the break may be almost the same, but the customary (and lovably roguish) music video isn't! Don't worry, it's not at all festive; we'll save that ear-bomb for next week.
FIFA 15 reclaims top, The Crew cuts in at sixth in UK charts
Captain Toad isn't adventuring in Europe until next month, so that leaves The Crew as the only major new release in this week's UK charts. Ubisoft's online-roaming racer takes to the grid in sixth place, cruising just behind the typical glob of big hitters. You can tell the silly season's beginning to die out when the latest FIFA is back on top, sat just in front of the latest Call of Duty. Just to prove it's not too predictable, this week the UK chucks Lego Batman 3 back up to fifth on the back of retailer promotions, while lower down Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix debuts in 31st place. For the full top ten and the customary (but not predictable) music video, head past the break.
FIFA 15 among games blocking PS4 Share Play in US
Users are reporting a number of issues with using the PS4's Share Play feature, Sony's online pass-the-controller multiplayer service. Namely, it appears FIFA 15 is giving players fits, as visiting players are unable to view the footage shown on the host's console. Rather, one half of the Share Play tandem sees the screen above, which says, "Viewing the game screen that the host is currently playing is not allowed due to content restrictions in your country or region." In our tests between two US-based PS4 players this morning, the Share Play visitor was unable to view game footage on four separate occasions: In FIFA 15, WWE 2K15, Guacamelee and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. Share Play for FIFA 15 was functional once we tested the service with our UK-based editor, Sinan Kubba (albeit with some bouts of lowered resolution and frame-dropping). However, it appears the error message being displayed is entirely inaccurate, as PlayStation noted on Twitter, adding that the support team is investigating the issues. Eurogamer's big list of Share Play-functioning games notes that FIFA 15 "works fine," so your mileage (or kilometer-age in this case) may vary at the moment. Share Play arrived in October as part of the PS4's version 2.0 update, which itself caused a number of other issues for players. Sony issued another update just this week, version 2.02, to rectify some of the console's lingering problems. We've reached out to Sony to find out what might be causing the hiccups with Share Play and which games are affected.
UK Charts: CoD Advanced Warfare dethrones FIFA
After six weeks unchallenged, even FIFA 15 can't stop Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare from taking top spot in the UK. EA's latest sterling factory falls to No. 2, while according to Chart Track, Sledgehammer's shooter outsells the combined first week sales of Titanfall, Destiny and Wolfenstein: The New Order - by 14 percent. Of course it helps when you're on all platforms and, oh we don't know, a Call of Duty. It might be more revealing to contrast and compare Advanced Warfare against Ghosts, and the 2014 game did beat its annual predecessor's first week in the UK. However, Advanced Warfare debuted on PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, while Ghosts launched on PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Wii U. The Xbox One version of Ghosts arrived the following week, and for that matter the game's PS4 and Xbox One copies launched before the respective consoles did... For more on this week's UK charts including the full top ten and the music video (yes it's still going), advance beyond the break.
PlayStation Plus subscriber count adds up to 7.9 million
7.9 million users are signed up to PlayStation Plus, a figure Sony said was a factor behind the success of the company's games division last quarter. Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Kenichiro Yoshida divulged the subscriber count during Sony's investors call, following its earnings release last week. When asked about the PlayStation division's prolific second quarter which saw an 83.2 percent year-on-year improvement in revenue, Yoshida first put down the momentum to Destiny and FIFA 15, noting both games contributed "quite significantly." He then added that "at the same time" the PS Plus subscription service had reached "7.9 million members."
Sunset Overdrive fails to derail FIFA 15 in this week's UK charts
We're used to FIFA reigning over UK charts like, well, rain over UK chaps (and chapettes), but this is plainly ridiculous. FIFA 15 is up to six weeks in a row already as the British best-seller, seeing off one major launch after another like it just doesn't care - and it probably doesn't. The latest victim? Insomnaic's Sunset Overdrive on Xbox One, which settles for second place. After debuting 7th, in its second week Wii U hell-raiser Bayonetta 2 is alarmingly AWOL after failing to stay in the top 40. In contrast The Evil Within holds steady in fourth, with the rest of the top ten made up by big hitters like Destiny, Shadow of Mordor and Forza Horizon 2. And of course, the Minecrafts. After stowing safely in the top ten for a few weeks, Alien: Isolation finds itself dragged down to 13th along with Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel in 15th. For the full top ten and more on this week's new releases (and the spectacular return of the customary music video), point your good selves beyond the break.
FIFA reigns in the UK, Bayonetta 2 debuts in top ten
FIFA 15 continues to rock the UK's sales charts, marking the soccer sim's fifth consecutive week at the top. EA's marquee sports game is followed by the PlayStation version of Minecraft, which reached Vita this month and made a sizable jump from ninth to second in the sales charts last week. Third on the list is The Evil Within, Bethesda's frightful survival horror game. Unsurprisingly, the middle of the pack includes Destiny, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. As far as new games go, the Wii U-exclusive Bayonetta 2 arrived at seventh in the UK's sales charts last week, a good spot for a single-console new release that also complements our five-star review of the game. Head past the break for the breakdown of the top-ten sellers in the UK, provided by Chart-Track.
Fifa fo fum, who smells the blood of an English man?
Chart-Track's post-FIFA portion of the year rolls along on the UK charts, with the footie franchise holding the top spot now for four straight weeks. Hunting the perennial performer was The Evil Within and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel in second and third, respectively. Although Chart-Track doesn't share unit sales, it should be noted Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel's third place showing is impressive given that it's only available for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC (nor does this count digital distribution). Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor is fighting death in fourth place despite a 51 percent drop from last week. Alien: Isolation is holding on tight in sixth before it gets sucked out the airlock. Run past the break for the UK top ten.
Report: UK PS4 bundle to include Minecraft, FIFA 15
According to an MCV report, Sony devotees in the UK planning to pick up a PlayStation 4 will soon have a new option to consider: a bundle including the console, FIFA 15 and Minecraft for £350. That price point matches that of the Glacier White PlayStation 4, which will be appearing in the UK on October 17. We attempted to contact Sony to see if there's any chance the aforementioned bundle might appear outside of the UK - specifically, in North America - but the company would neither confirm the UK bundle, nor reveal an upcoming bundle aimed at the North American audience. Given the relative popularity of the FIFA series (and soccer in general) in the UK versus North America, it would come as little surprise if the bundle were exclusive to that side of the Atlantic. [Image: EA]
Alien: Isolation debuts 2nd in UK charts, doesn't scare off FIFA 15
Again and again, the UK charts prove that when all is said and done, FIFA FIFA and FIFA some more. This time around it was Alien: Isolation that failed to prevent FIFA 15 from notching a third week on top of the country's retail sales charts. Still, Creative Assembly's zeal for xenomorphs was enough to take its newly hatched space horror into second place. Regular charters will remember FIFA 15 held off three major new releases last week in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Forza Horizon 2 and Super Smash Bros. 3DS. This week, EA's sportsball sim denied four new challengers. In addition to Alien: Isolation, PS4 racer Driveclub had to settle for fifth, as it didn't manage to overtake Forza in fourth. Like Mordor which placed third, the Xbox game dropped just a place in its second week. Meanwhile, basket case NBA 2K15 debuted seventh. As for the fourth challenger, PS4, Xbox One and PC remaster Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition fell short of the top ten in 12th place. As for what kept it out, once again if you regularly keep up with our UK charts posts, you won't be at all surprised to see the two entries sat in ninth and tenth place - as ever, check out the full top ten and customary music video below the break.
Joystiq Weekly: Vib-ribbon launches, Driveclub Review, RE: Revelations 2 preview and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. "Better eight years late than never," PlayStation Network users probably said during this week's return of Vib-ribbon. Sure, we're not exactly in drought season, but what's stopping you from impulsively bailing on 2014's release calendar to revisit a 1999 cult classic? Beyond money and life's responsibilities, anyway. If Vib-ribbon is fair game for a 2014 appearance, can we go ahead and get our hopes for comparably-unlikely surprises? Sure, StarCraft: Ghost's indefinitely-on-hold status is probably irreversible at this point, but if Blizzard felt like continuing development in secret for years and launching it without warning, we wouldn't be upset. Valve, you're more than welcome to do the same with fresh installments in the Half Life or Left 4 Dead series. There was more to this week than feeble wishes though, including resolution news for Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Assassin's Creed: Unity, reviews for Driveclub and Neverending Nightmares, and previews for AC: Unity and Resident Evil: Revelations 2. All those and more are tidied up for you after the break!
FIFA 15 review: Parking the bus
PS4/Xbox One/PC - also available on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, 3DS and PS Vita What is the ideal reality for an annual sports video game series? For players, a relevant, modern game in a franchise should be relentlessly entertaining. It should have long legs, allowing players to extend the experience for months as a reliable means of getting their sports fix. EA's FIFA series is one of those properties, as demonstrated in the previous generation through this year's edition, FIFA 15. The soccer simulations have been operating at an incredibly high level for years, and it seems as if each version is still an improvement over the last. There's a downside to being at the top, however: Those improvements will shrink in scale, and the reasons to choose the latest game over the last one one shrink along with those changes.
FIFA 15 holds off Mordor, Forza, Smash in this week's UK charts
FIFA 15 survived a three-way attack to score a second week as the UK No. 1, despite a 70 percent drop in sales. EA's soccer sim shimmied its way past multiplatform action-RPG Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Xbox-only racer Forza Horizon 2 and porta-brawler Super Smash Bros 3DS, placing second, third and fourth respectively. While the trio of new releases couldn't topple the UK's love of FIFA (and let's face it, few can), they did do enough to outplace Bungie shooter Destiny, which dropped from second to fifth in its fourth week on sale. Minus the PS4 retail edition of Minecraft (which UK databod Chart Track denotes as another platform for Minecraft: PlayStation Edition), the other new release in the top 40 was Crimes & Punishments: Sherlock Holmes in 27th. Finally, while Chart Track tends to hold back specific sales figures, it did release some interesting platform differentials for a few of this week's big hitters. For example, the Shadow of Mordor split is 56 percent PS4, 41 percent Xbox One and 3 percent PC (that doesn't include download sales), while Forza Horizon 2 geared in with a 73:27 ratio between Xbox One and Xbox 360. As ever, the full top ten and increasingly traditional music video are below the break.
FIFA 15 kicks Destiny from top spot in UK
It's the post-FIFA portion of the year on the Chart-Track UK sales charts. Historically this means we'll likely have EA Sports' FIFA XX at the top until Activision's Call of Duty shows up, but there's always the possibility for Just Dance or a Zumba game to mess with that. Anyway, FIFA 15 is out now and it accounted for 80 percent of all software sales and 87 percent of all revenue for the week. Chart-Track estimates if one were to align all the week-one FIFA sales for every platform (it was staggered last year), FIFA 15 unit sales would be flat year-over-year, with a 6 percent revenue increase. The Xbox One and PS4 versions account for 54 percent of unit sales. The only new release last week to break the Top 40 is Fantasy Life, the Level-5 (Prof. Layton, Dark Cloud) RPG, which debuted in the eight spot. The UK top ten can be found after the break.
New Nintendo eShop releases: Curtain Call, Smash 3DS Demo
Sure, there are a few new releases on Wii U, but this week the eShop's really all about the 3DS. For starters, if you've yet to grab a code for the Super Smash Bros. demo, the good news is it'll be available for all starting 9AM PT/midday ET tomorrow, September 19. The demo includes Mario, Link, Pikachu, the Villager and Mega Man (where's my Wii Fit Trainer dangit!) and a single stage, namely Battlefield. Other things to note: The demo supports local multiplayer but not online, its save data isn't compatible with the full game, and like other eShop demos you can only open it 30 times. If you'd rather wait it out, the game proper hits stores on October 3. If you're more a lover than a fighter, there are plenty of other activities to explore on the go. Musical types can take on Theatrhyhtm Final Fantasy Curtain Call, which Danny Cowan said "easily surpasses its predecessor" in our review, and there are fishing RPG (yup) and culinary larks in Legend of the River King 2 and Cooking Mama 5. River King dev Natsume has another Virtual Console game this week in arcade-style western shooter Wild Guns, available on Wii U. As ever and ever, the full list of new releases is below the break. Also, the pre-Smash sale is still ongoing - check out this weeks offering - and you can find all the other offers here.
FIFA 15 booting up for EA Access members today
FIFA 15 will roll out to EA Access members on Xbox One today, five days before its arrival on retail shelves. The game is available on a limited basis before its September 23 launch much like Madden NFL 15; EA Access members will have six hours to score as many goals as they can before the early play period dries up. Hey, there's always the FIFA 15 demo that's been available for a little over a week. EA revealed its Access program in late July as a method of providing Xbox One players select games from its catalog for $5 per month or $30 per year. Earlier this month, the publisher said members poured 245,000 hours into the Madden 15 trial, amounting to over 40,000 players. EA removed Ultimate Team trade offers from FIFA 15 following revisions to its Ultimate Team abuse policies last month, which will result in permanent FIFA Online bans for coin selling and farming. The publisher removed trading from its FIFA Ultimate Team web app at that point, and multiple tweets indicate that the app is down for extended maintenance today. [Image: EA Sports]
FIFA 15 removing trade offers from Ultimate Team mode
Electronic Arts announced that it has disabled a key feature in FIFA 15's Ultimate Team mode in an attempt to crack down on the harmful trade of in-game currency. In recent FIFA series games, players could exchange in-game items, coins, and players with friends using the Trade Offers feature. Finding that coin sellers often used the service to shuttle ill-gotten currency between accounts, EA removed the feature from this year's game. The coin-selling market is tied to account hacking and phishing, and functions in previous FIFA games could be exploited to cheat players out of cash by artificially inflating auction bids. EA's Ultimate Team revisions supplement recent changes to its cheating policy, which gives coin buyers three strikes before they're permanently booted from FIFA online play. Sellers are dealt harsher penalties, and risk being banned from all EA-published games for coin selling and farming. [Image: Electronic Arts]
FIFA 15 demo starts rolling out today
Like Lionel Messi or an overexcited baby, FIFA 15 is dribbling all over the place this week thanks to the arrival of its demo. Xbox Live Gold members can already take out EA's sim for a kickabout on Xbox One and Xbox 360 (free members can join in starting September 16) and it's also confirmed to be hitting PC later today. Going by PSN tradition, the demo should reach digital stores on PS4 and PS3 later today too. As ever, Euro PS owners have to wait until tomorrow. The demo itself lets up to two players trial with eight club teams, including Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, Boca Juniors, Napoli and Paris St. Germain. It also features a FIFA Ultimate Team demo for those who dream of dream teams.
