It's an uninspiring week in the charts as the Top 10 has barely a sniff of original IP.
Dr Kawashima's Brain Training is the only title up there that isn't either a sport's tie-in, sequel or license.
Topping off the dearth of creativity is Ubisoft's all-formats
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, climbing from the sewers of the Number 2 spot to dislodge
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars and claim the Number 1 spot.
The only new release in the All-Formats Chart this week is Nintendo's fourth crack at
Pokemon on the DS,
Pokemon Ranger. Just behind it Ubisoft shows its face again at Number 3 with its super-budget re-release,
Rayman 2: The Great Escape for the PC.
Codemasters'
Brian Lara International Cricket 2007 is one of two sports releases in the Top 10, coming in at four under par (or Number 4, since SPOnG's knowledge of how golf scoring applies to entertainment charts is dubious) - the next-gen (and PS2) title climbs up five places from Number 9.
Number 5 is where EA's
Command & Conquer 3 on the PC lands following its fall from the top. Behind
C&C is
Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, another title making a re-appearance thanks to a Ubisoft re-release at a dramatically reduced price. Rounding off the four Ubisoft titles making the Top 10 this week is
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time for PC and PS2, again thanks to massive price cuts.
Number 9 is where this week's only original Top 10 entry,
Dr Kawashima's Brain Training, sits, marking an impressive 25 weeks in the Top 10 since its release on the DS 45 weeks ago.
Red Octane's
Guitar Hero II, published by Activision, slips down the charts from Number 5 to Number 12 in its second week of 360 release. It seems that people aren't all that keen to play a game that offers either a
duff controller or
all-out console death.EA's
Sims add-on,
The Sims 2: Celebration Stuff for the PC, hits the charts in its second week of release, coming in Number 19.
Following last week's
PS3 software slide Sony's PS3 exclusives fall further to the wayside.
MotorStorm overtakes (or doesn't fall as far as)
Resistance: Fall of man. The former rests at Number 22, while the latter drops to Number 27.
Next week, keep an eye out for the PS3 version of
F.E.A.R., and
Final Fantasy V on the GBA. In the meantime, if you see an original-looking game lying around your local retailer, give us a shout. But remember, the publishers are only going to sell what people are going to buy... so let's not get too self-righteous here. Comments? In the Forum below please - and remember, you no longer have to register to get your opinion seen.