The Sims on top again

Electronic Arts' popular virtual-life game The Sims regained the lead on NPD Intelect's latest weekly list of best-selling games. The Sims, which was released in early 2000, lets players create and control virtual people. The game's sales have been supported by the release of two expansion packs, The Sims: Livin' Large and The Sims: House Party, which took ninth and sixth place on the list, respectively. A third expansion pack, The Sims: Hot Date, is scheduled for release in November.

Blizzard Entertainment's role-playing game expansion Diablo II: Lord of Destruction came in at second place for the week, followed by Operation Flashpoint, which dropped into third place from first place the week before. Microsoft's civilian flight game Flight Simulator 2000 took fourth place, while THQ's first-person shooter Red Faction debuted at fifth place in its first partial week of release.

Infogrames' theme park management game RollerCoaster Tycoon jumped up to seventh place from 10th place the week before, apparently boosted by drop in average price from $27 to $23, and GodGames' gritty third-person shooter Max Payne, which continued its slow decline, dropped to eighth place from sixth place the week before.

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

Best-selling games for the week of September 16-22, 2001:

Rank / Title / Publisher / Average price
1 / The Sims / Electronic Arts / $40
2 / Diablo II: Lord of Destruction / Vivendi Universal / $35
3 / Operation Flashpoint / Codemasters / $41
4 / Flight Simulator 2000 / Microsoft / $31
5 / Red Faction / THQ / $42
6 / The Sims: House Party / Electronic Arts / $30
7 / RollerCoaster Tycoon / Infogrames / $23
8 / Max Payne / GodGames / $47
9 / The Sims: Livin' Large / Electronic Arts / $29
10 / Diablo II / Vivendi Universal / $40