The Charts: Final Fantasy Shot Down + GTA Shoots Up

Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 has cast Square Enix's Final Fantasy XII down from the top of the charts this week. SPOnG hates to say 'we told you so,' but... we did.

Neither Advanced Warfighter nor Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories on the PS2 has succeeded in halting the software market's steady slide in sales, however. It dips 13% in units and 8% in value this week.

The 360 and the Wii are the only platforms to gain ground this week. The 360 (which is outdoing itself from the same period last year by a factor of three) climbs 7% in units and 13% in value. The Wii gains a measly 1% in units and also drops 9% in value.

Good news for Ubisoft though, innit? Advanced Warfighter – selling 37,125 units on the 360 - beats out Final Fantasy XII’s 23,112 units by a whopping 14,013. The first Advanced Warfighter game never managed to top the charts, despite selling 10K more copies than its sequel this time last year.

We shouldn't knock Final Fantasy XII too much, however. It's still sitting at Number 2. Gamers seem to find Patrick Stewart's masculine lilting tones over that pretty advert irresistible. SPOnG's Grandma certainly does.

Rockstar's budget PS2 release of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories muscles its way in at Number 3. SPOnG's almost surprised its done so well. There's been neither hide nor hair from Jack Thompson about it, and it just doesn't seem like a Rockstar release without JT's warm-hearted support.

Sega's Sonic and The Secret Rings on the Wii performs admirably, leaping one place from Number 5 to Number 4. If you're wondering why people are buying it after the Blue Blur's poor performance on the 360 you should check out SPOnG's preview here. We'll also be sure to let you know how Sonic's PS3 offering plays.

Crackdown gets sat down by Sonic and the rest. Microsoft's super-cops are knocked from Number 2 to number 5.

The only other new entry in the Top 40 this week is Nintendo's Mario Vs Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis. It performs a little disappointingly for a DS title with the word 'Mario' in the title, coming in at number 32.

Keep your eyes on SSX Blur for the Wiii and... not a lot else, next week.

For the full listings head over to SPOnG's charts page.