ChartSpot: October 2005

As is the case each October, last month saw some of the bigger guns in the battle for fourth-quarter sales begin firing. Sony Computer Entertainment America's SOCOM 3: US Navy SEALs proved to be the biggest gun on the console charts, dethroning September champion Madden NFL 06 and landing ahead of NBA Live 06, both from Electronic Arts.

While all three of the top games were for the PlayStation 2, right behind was the first fourth-place finish for Sony's newest platform, the PSP. Take-Two Interactive-owned Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories enjoyed the best debut of any game on the platform, even though it didn't get as much critical praise as its console cousins.

Overall, the October console charts were dominated by PS2 games, which totaled 14 of the top 20 games that shipped during the month. Notable releases included Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (5th), FIFA Soccer 06 (7th), Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves (8th), The Warriors (9th), Shadow of the Colossus (10th), Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (11th), Soul Calibur III (12th), and Blitz: The League (16th).

Behind Liberty City Stories, the best non-PS2 finisher was Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness for the GameCube (6th). Slightly lower on the chart was Ubisoft's Xbox-exclusive shooter Far Cry Instincts (11th), followed by NBA Live 06 (15th) and Madden NFL 06 (19th) for Microsoft's current-gen console. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow for the DS was the only other non-Sony-platform game, coming in at 14th.

Microsoft Game Studios' Age of Empires III ruled the PC top 20 in October and was followed by a gaggle of top-tier titles. Three games had two versions--regular and special editions--which both made the chart, including Civilization IV (3rd and 16th), Quake 4 (8th and 14th), and F.E.A.R. (9th and 10th). If that wasn't enough to keep PC gamers busy through the holidays, the month also saw Black & White 2 (4th), Call of Duty 2 (7th), City of Villains (13th), and the Rome: Total War Barbarian Invasions expansion (17th) hit the market.

ALL CONSOLES
Last Month	Rank	Title	Platform	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
**	1	SOCOM 3: US Navy SEALs	PS2	SCEA	Oct-05	$49
2	2	NBA Live 06	PS2	Electronic Arts	Sep-05	$49
1	3	Madden NFL 06	PS2	Electronic Arts	Aug-05	$47
**	4	Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories	PSP	Take-Two	Oct-05	$50
**	5	Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi	PS2	Atari	Oct-05	$49
**	6	Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness	GC	Nintendo	Sep-05	$48
**	7	FIFA Soccer 06	PS2	Electronic Arts	Oct-05	$49
**	8	Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves	PS2	SCEA	Sep-05	$39
**	9	The Warriors	PS2	Take-Two	Oct-05	$49
**	10	Shadow of the Colossus	PS2	SCEA	Oct-05	$39
**	11	Tony Hawk's American Wasteland	PS2	Activision	Oct-05	$48
**	12	Soul Calibur III	PS2	Namco	Oct-05	$49
**	13	Far Cry Instincts	Xbox	Ubisoft	Sep-05	$47
**	14	Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow	DS	Konami	Oct-05	$35
11	15	NBA Live 06	Xbox	Electronic Arts	Sep-05	$49
**	16	Blitz: The League	PS2	Midway	Oct-05	$39
7	17	Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06	PS2	Electronic Arts	Sep-05	$49
**	18	Ultimate Spider-Man	PS2	Activision	Sep-05	$47
4	19	Madden NFL 06	Xbox	Electronic Arts	Aug-05	$47
**	20	Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks	PS2	Midway	Sep-05	$48

PC
Current Rank	Last Month	Title	Publisher	Average Price
1	**	Age of Empires III	Microsoft	$49
2	1	The Sims 2 Nightlife	Electronic Arts	$33
3	**	Civilization IV	Take-Two	$50
4	**	Black & White 2	Electronic Arts	$49
5	3	Roller Coaster Tycoon 3	Atari	$25
6	2	World of Warcraft	VU Games	$44
7	**	Call of Duty 2	Activision	$50
8	**	Quake 4	Activision	$49
9	**	F.E.A.R.	VU Games	$48
10	**	F.E.A.R.: Director's Edition	VU Games	$54
11	4	Battlefield 2	Electronic Arts	$48
12	8	The Sims 2	Electronic Arts	$42
13	**	City of Villians	NCsoft	$50
14	**	Quake 4: Special Edition	Activision	$59
15	**	Doom 3	Activision	$22
16	**	Civilization IV: Special Edition	2K Games	$49
17	**	Rome: Total War Barbarian Invasions	Sega	$29
18	7	The Sims Deluxe	Electronic Arts	$19
19	10	Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Winter Assault	THQ	$28
20	5	Guild Wars	NCsoft	$48

PLAYSTATION 2
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
**	1	SOCOM 3: US Navy Seals	SCEA	Oct-05	$49
2	2	NBA Live 06	Electronic Arts	Sep-05	$49
1	3	Madden NFL 06	Electronic Arts	Aug-05	$47
**	4	Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi	Atari	Oct-05	$49
**	5	FIFA Soccer 06	Electronic Arts	Oct-05	$49
**	6	Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves	SCEA	Sep-05	$39
**	7	The Warriors	Take-Two	Oct-05	$49
**	8	Shadow of the Colossus	SCEA	Oct-05	$39
**	9	Tony Hawk's American Wasteland	Activision	Oct-05	$48
**	10	Soul Calibur III	Namco	Oct-05	$49

XBOX
Last Month	Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
**	1	Far Cry Instincts	Ubisoft	Sep-05	$47
4	2	NBA Live 06	Electronic Arts	Sep-05	$49
1	3	Madden NFL 06	Electronic Arts	Aug-05	$47
**	4	Blitz: The League	Midway	Oct-05	$39
**	5	The Warriors	Take-Two	Oct-05	$49
**	6	Battlefield 2: Modern Combat	Electronic Arts	Oct-05	$49
**	7	Tony Hawk's American Wasteland	Activision	Oct-05	$48
5	8	X-Men Legends 2 : Rise of Apocalypse	Activision	Sep-05	$48
**	9	FIFA Soccer 06	Electronic Arts	Oct-05	$50
7	10	Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06	Electronic Arts	Sep-05	$49

GAMECUBE
Last Month	Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
10	1	Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness	Nintendo	Sep-05	$48
1	2	Mario Superstar Baseball	Nintendo	Sep-05	$46
**	3	Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance	Nintendo	Oct-05	$48
**	4	Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix	Konami	Oct-05	$46
**	5	Madagascar	Activision	May-05	$23
**	6	Ultimate Spider-Man	Activision	Sep-05	$46
5	7	Super Mario Sunshine	Nintendo	Aug-02	$19
**	8	SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle For Bikini Bottom	THQ	Oct-03	$14
4	9	Madden NFL 06	Electronic Arts	Aug-05	$46
7	10	Super Smash Bros. Melee	Nintendo	Dec-01	$29

GBA
Last Month	Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
1	1	Pokemon Emerald	Nintendo	Apr-05	$35
**	2	Bratz : Rock Angelz	THQ	Oct-05	$29
2	3	Lego Star Wars	Eidos Interactive	Mar-05	$30
5	4	Mario Bros 3: Mario 4	Nintendo	Oct-03	$30
**	5	Ultimate Spider-Man	Activision	Sep-05	$29
4	6	Disney Princess	THQ	Mar-03	$15
**	7	Power Rangers: S.P.D.	THQ	Sep-05	$20
8	8	Danny Phantom: The Ultimate Enemy	THQ	Sep-05	$28
**	9	Donkey Kong: King of Swing	Nintendo	Sep-05	$30
6	10	Madagascar	Activision	May-05	$30

DS
Last Month	Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
**	1	Castlevania : Dawn of Sorrow	Konami	Oct-05	$35
3	2	Nintendogs: Dachshund & Friends	Nintendo	Aug-05	$31
2	3	Nintendogs: Labrador Retriever & Friends	Nintendo	Aug-05	$31
1	4	Nintendogs: Chihuahua & Friends	Nintendo	Aug-05	$31
**	5	Trauma Center: Under The Knife	Atlus	Oct-05	$30
4	6	Advance Wars : Dual Strike	Nintendo	Aug-05	$35
6	7	Super Mario 64 Ds	Nintendo	Nov-04	$30
**	8	Lost In Blue	Konami	Sep-05	$30
**	9	Zoo Tycoon	THQ	Oct-05	$30
**	10	Madagascar	Activision	May-05	$25

PSP
Last Month	Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
**	1	Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories	Take-Two	Oct-05	$50
1	2	Madden NFL 06	Electronic Arts	Sep-05	$49
**	3	Marvel Nemesis: Rise of The Imperfects	Electronic Arts	Oct-05	$50
**	4	NBA Live 06	Electronic Arts	Oct-05	$49
2	5	Burnout Legends	Electronic Arts	Sep-05	$50
**	6	Virtua Tennis: World Tour	Sega	Oct-05	$40
**	7	X-Men Legends 2 : Rise of Apocalypse	Activision	Oct-05	$50
7	8	World Series of Poker	Activision	Sep-05	$40
3	9	Namco Museum Battle Collection	Namco	Aug-05	$40
4	10	Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition	Take-Two	Jun-05	$49