House Party holds April

Although its stranglehold on the top slots seems to be weakening, Electronic Arts' The Sims virtual-life game franchise continues to outsell almost everything on the market. NPD Intelect's most recent monthly list of best-selling games started with The Sims: House Party, the most recent expansion to The Sims, while the original game fell from first place to third, and the other expansion, The Sims: Livin' Large, fell from second place to fifth. Lionhead Studios' god game Black & White, also published by Electronic Arts, climbed from fourth place to second, while Dynamix's team-based shooter Tribes 2, published by Vivendi's Sierra Studios, took fourth place, up from 11th the month before.

The list below ranks games according to retail sales. To see a list of games ranked by GameSpot review score, visit our 6013054Top Games page .

Rank this month / Rank last month / Title / Publisher / Average price
1 / 10 / The Sims: House Party / Electronic Arts / $26
2 / 4 / Black & White / Electronic Arts / $41
3 / 1 / The Sims / Electronic Arts / $40
4 / 11 / Tribes 2 / Vivendi Universal / $44
5 / 2 / The Sims: Livin' Large / Electronic Arts / $27
6 / 3 / RollerCoaster Tycoon / Infogrames / $26
7 / 13 / Sim Theme Park / Electronic Arts / $20
8 / 8 / Age of Empires II: Age of Kings / Microsoft / $42
9 / * / Lego Island 2 / Lego Media / $24
10 / 6 / Diablo II / Vivendi Universal / $38
11 / 5 / NASCAR Racing 4 / Vivendi Universal / $42
12 / 9 / Command & Conquer Red Alert 2 / Electronic Arts / $38
13 / 7 / Hoyle Casino 2001 / Vivendi Universal / $28
14 / 12 / RollerCoaster Tycoon: Loopy Landscapes / Infogrames / $27
15 / * / Serious Sam / GodGames / $19
16 / 14 / Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion / Microsoft / $30
17 / 18 / SimCity 3000 Unlimited / Electronic Arts / $36
18 / 20 / Half-Life: Game of the Year Edition / Vivendi Universal / $23
19 / * / Starcraft: Battlechest Bundle / Vivendi Universal / $28
20 / 17 / EverQuest: Ruins of Kunark / Sony / $29