SYDNEY--Who said the Pokémon craze was dead down under? The latest adventures of Pikachu and his pals dominated Australian game charts last week, with Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team for the Nintendo DS and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team for the Game Boy Advance landing in the number one and two spots.
The Pokémon titles knocked the PlayStation 2 version of Lego Star Wars II from the top spot in the overall top 10 charts, according to data trackers GfK Australia.
Sales figures for the week of September 25 to October 1 showed Lego Star Wars II had fallen to number five behind the two new Pokémon titles, with Kingdom Hearts II taking the third spot and FIFA 07 for the PlayStation 2 in fourth. Although it had already been out for months in Japan and the US, Kingdom Hearts II was released in Australia at the end of September.
Flying the flag for the Xbox 360 in the overall top 10 were Test Drive Unlimited and Saints Row. Test Drive Unlimited slipped three places back this week to land at number seven, while Saints Row made it back into the top 10 after a couple of weeks out of the charts.
All sales stats, including console-by-console breakdowns, can be found below:
Top 10 Full-Priced Games
1. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, Nintendo DS
2. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team, GBA
3. Kingdom Hearts 2, PS2
4. FIFA 2007, PS2
5. Lego Star Wars II, PS2
6. AFL Premiership 2006, PS2
7. Test Drive Unlimited, Xbox 360
8. SingStar Anthems bundle, PS2
9. Tekken Dark Resurrection, PSP
10. Saints Row, Xbox 360
Top 10 Game Boy Advance Games (over AU$40)
1. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team
2. Lego Star Wars II
3. Pokemon Emerald
4. Madagascar: Operation Penguin
5. Cars
6. Dogz 2005
7. Monster House
8. Shrek Superslam
9. Pokemon Leaf Green
10. Pokemon Sapphire
Top 10 GameCube Games (over AU$50)
1. Mario Party 7
2. Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness
3. Mario Smash Football
4. NFS: Most Wanted
5. Cars
6. FIFA 2007
7. Paper Mario: 1000 Year Door
8. Star Fox: Assault
9. Resident Evil 4
10. Pikmin 2
Top 10 PC Games (over AU$20)
1. World of Warcraft
2. The Sims 2: Glamour Life Stuff
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth
4. Company of Heroes
5. The Sims 2: Open Business
6. The Sims Deluxe
7. The Sims 2
8. The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff
9. Age of Empires III
10. The Sims 2: Nightlife
Top 10 Nintendo DS Games (over AU$40)
1. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team
2. New Super Mario Bros
3. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training
4. Nintendogs Dachshund
5. Nintendogs Labrador
6. Lego Star Wars II
7. Big Brain Academy
8. Spyro: Shadow Legacy
9. Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
10. Mario Kart
Top 10 PS2 Games (over AU$50)
1. Kingdom Hearts 2
2. FIFA 2007
3. Lego Star Wars II
4. AFL Premiership 2006
5. SingStar Anthems bundle
6. NFS: Most Wanted
7. V8 Supercars 3
8. Cars
9. SingStar Rocks! bundle
10. SingStar Party
Top 10 PSP games (over AU$40)
1. Tekken: Dark Resurrection
2. Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror
3. Gangs of London
4. GTA: Liberty Cities
5. Star Wars: Battlefront II
6. WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 07
7. NFS: Most Wanted
8. NBA Live 2006
9. Cars
10. Loco Roco
Top 10 Xbox Games (over AU$50)
1. Lego Star Wars II
2. FIFA 2007
3. V8 Supercars 3
4. Cars
5. NRL Rugby League 2
6. Black
7. GTA: The Trilogy
8. Hitman: Blood Money
9. FIFA 2006
10. The Godfather
Top 10 Xbox 360 Games (over AU$50)
1. Test Drive Unlimited
2. Saints Row
3. Dead Rising
4. Lego Star Wars II
5. Just Cause
6. The Lord of the Rings, the Battle for Middle-earth II
7. Project Gotham Racing 3
8. Dead or Alive 4
9. Perfect Dark Zero
10. Call of Duty 2
All data supplied by GfK Australia.
GrimBee DS games are putting on a fair act aren't they! I wonder if people in the back blocks bought as many games as they do in sydney! I know me-self that, being a banana bender an all, that i've purchased quite a few! dude, if you live in Sydney, you aren't a banana bender, that is a slang term for Queenslanders.
I didn't expect pokemon to do so well still
What?? 6 Sims games in the first 10 PC games?? Looks like aussies really love their Sims.
interesting ... pokemon owns all!!
yep, Pokemon owns, but am suprised about Mystry Dongeon one, i mean its not full fledged Pokemon game, but its a lot of fun just to play a POKEMON, how cool is that?
i;d like to see sale figures of each game and console, it would truly determine which are populare and by how much. Maybe GfK Australia could do thar and post them here? This still proves that Pokemon are still doing well in all teritories. Has the 10 year thing got something to do with it?
very interesting
Gotta say it - some games are really hanging in there. When you've got year-old games still in console top-tens, it suggests the market is a bit too high priced - and people are waiting for games to drop in price. And that Sim phenomenon - probably in no small part due to the relatively low price of expansions, combined with the devotion of those who play. Watch for Oblivion for the PC to make a comeback - as discounting makes it attractive once more.
Good to see most everyone got represented. Any chance of actual sales figures? Instead of just the charts?
is Smack vs Raw 2007 out ?
Wow Pokemon number 1
is it just me or anyoneelse think pokemon games suck, i have no idea why their in the top
These Tops look nice! Go DOA4!
Strange, I thought FIFA 07 woud have been way higher. Looks like Australia isn't as ape-nut as Europe with soccer games.
Crikey! Thats one bonza of a list, mate! Theres even games for the sheilas out there! DS games are putting on a fair act aren't they! I wonder if people in the back blocks bought as many games as they do in sydney! I know me-self that, being a banana bender an all, that i've purchased quite a few! You must be some sort of big galoot if you think lego starwars for the ds is any cop though.. Ok, I love austrailia.. And anything to with Austrailia and Games (my two most liked things) is awesome!! It's a shame the aussies get things a bit later, but you know, if you ever been there you would know there are much more cool things to do there than wait around for bl***y games! ;) I wonder what games the austrailians will get for christmas though! I hope they get loads like the usa and the uk.
Glad PSP has one on there.
God bless you Aussie Tekken fans for keeping the PSP alive. ;)
Look at the PC charts! The Sims absolutely owns them. Six out of the ten spots. That is absolutely crazy!
I can confirm Methedemons comment is correct and they are STILL uber over the Playstaion 2 *home console brand (DS has at last started digging a hole six feet under for the PSP where it belongs) Those 1/3 houshold numbers for a PS1 weren't bs hehe we'll see what happens when my fellow aussies see they'll have to hand over $999 of our australian dollars for a PS3 :D just hand over 10 times what your gamecube costed and we'll give you your PS3
360 not doing so well there, PS2 still owns
only two xbox 360 games in the top ten microsoft needs to make a move like what there doing in Japan
Kud-Dukan this is the aussie chart and it shows that the ps2 owners are not buying the 360
jofy, that statement you made is completely inaccurate. You do realize that there are tens of millions of PS2's on the market, and only around 6-7 million 360s, right? Of course the charts still have the PS2 on top...there are alot more of them, and people are still buying games for it.
Wow Kingdom Hearts 2 was beat by Pokemon. I thought this was to be the game every one wanted but I guess it was Pokemon for Gameboy and DS.
6 sony games in the top ten and only 2 for the 360,when the ps3 and wii come out that will be the end of days for the 360
360 ownz