The Charts: Need for Speed Regains Pole Position

This Christmas week just gone has been a record-breaking biggest sales week ever for videogame software in the UK, up on the same week last year by nearly ten per cent, in terms of numbers of games shifted.

Another interesting stat from this week's charts is that the next-gen formats - DS, PSP, 360 and Wii - now represent 50% of all Full Price software units sold in the UK. Can we now stop refering to these formats as next-gen? Answers in the forum please.

EA tops off a diamond year with Need for Speed: Carbon overtaking last week’s Christmas number 1, FIFA 07 nudging back up to regain pole position at the top of the All Formats Chart this week, with FIFA 07 slipping to number 2.

EA can now claim the most dominant year ever in chart history, with an impressive 26 weeks at number 1 so far in 2006 (doubtless will be 27 weeks for the final week of the year to be announced next week).

Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 6, Activision’s Call of Duty 3 and EA’s The Sims 2: Pets all shift up one place to numbers 3, 4 and 5 respectively this week.

THQ’s WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2007 is the only Top 40 title to drop in sales this week, dropping down the top ten from number 3 to number 6.

Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training can now claim the highest ever
sales week for a DS game, bouncing on top of Mario 64 DS. Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training re-enters the top ten, up from number 11 to number 8. The game has certainly been a true phenomenon having not dropped out of the All Formats Top 20 since it launched 29 weeks ago!

Wii and festive party games continue to sell well, unsurprisingly, with the one Wii must-own title The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess cantering up one place to number 11 and Eidos’ Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: Party Edition up seven places to number 14.

Finally, there are two Top 40 re-entries for Ubisoft’s AAA-Wii titles, Rayman Raving Rabbids and Red Steel at numbers 32 and 34 respectively.

Right now, we’re going back to the sofa to get lost in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for another 24 hours. Christmas officially rocks!