US console sales charts: June 18-24

Brains triumph over American and European football in BestBuy.com's top sellers; price slashing means ladder climbing for older Xbox games.

Last week was light on new releases, but one new high-profile game was put to the test. Electronic Arts' NFL Head Coach made its series debut on June 20 and is one of the first big-name sports strategy titles aimed at the American market.

For a football-starved country that devours EA's main pigskin franchise by the millions, sales prospects for NFL Head Coach were uncertain, as it focuses exclusively on coaching and management instead of Madden's on-the-field action. The game didn't quite get the Gatorade shower EA had hoped, but the PlayStation 2 version of the game landed in a respectable third place.

With the launch of the Nintendo DS Lite in the US earlier in the month, the dynamic DS duo of Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day and New Super Mario Bros. swapped spots and landed in first and second, respectively. The highly rated Mario Kart DS kept its wheels turning in the top 10, power sliding into ninth, down two spots.

Football in the top 10 wasn't limited to the American variety--a flurry of FIFA soccer titles were also kickin' onto the list. Available now for $29.99, 2006 FIFA World Cup for the Xbox (fourth) and PlayStation 2 (fifth), as well as FIFA 06 for the Xbox (eighth), were helped along by surging interest in "The Beautiful Game."

The rest of the top-10 slots were older, budget-priced Xbox games. Star Wars: Battlefront II led the pack in the sixth slot, followed by Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse at seven and Ninja Gaiden Black at 10.

Noticeably missing from the list were any Xbox 360 games, thanks to a month that has so far seen only one new next-gen release (MotoGP 06 on June 16--Over G Fighters flew into stores today).

70 Comments

  • desilee

    Posted Sep 2, 2006 2:45 pm PT

    Ended

  • sirhamalot

    Posted Jul 2, 2006 7:08 am PT

    Wow, alot of good points, but it seems no one noticed Mario Kart DS on the list. Looks like the DS Lite is bringing back interest in older games. Also to the fellow who said the chart does not reflect the whole sales market, although that is true, you can usually see the charts mimic each other from store to store. Though the free Brain Age could off set that.

  • agefreak

    Posted Jul 2, 2006 3:11 am PT

    FIFA maintaining a healthy spot!!!! Shows how good the 2006 WC ed is.......

  • rbarahona

    Posted Jul 1, 2006 3:20 pm PT

    The Nintendo DS is performing well in the US, let's hope that Nintendo can keep the momentum. It was very good to see that the new sim by EA also landed in the top 5.

  • jugg3rn4ut

    Posted Jul 1, 2006 6:57 am PT

    See how Backwards Compatibility boosts Xbox games, Microsoft??! Take notice...!!

  • Vicerol

    Posted Jun 30, 2006 12:01 pm PT

    i won a psp and ds and let me tell you they both suck at this time

  • smiley17O

    Posted Jun 30, 2006 10:50 am PT

    THIS IS JUST BESTBUYS ONLINE SALES. NO GAMESTOP EB GAMES OR ANY OTHER STORE FOR GAME SALES. THIS ISNT EVEN ALL OF BEST BUYS SALES CAUSE THESE WERE GAMES SOLD THROUGH ONLINE BEST BUY AND DOESNT COUNT THE PEOPLE WHO GO TO ACTULL BEST BUY STORES AND BUY THE GAMES.

  • nytrospawn

    Posted Jun 30, 2006 9:59 am PT

    Price cuts on the Xbox games.

  • maoonparas

    Posted Jun 30, 2006 8:48 am PT

    how do i know who is the winner!

  • King_Dodongo

    Posted Jun 30, 2006 8:15 am PT

    PSP will never be on charts or top ten

  • terrabreak13

    Posted Jun 30, 2006 8:03 am PT

    I thought this article was about "US console sales" and not about "US console game sales". Anyway I almost bought a game for the original xbox.

  • LosDaddie

    Posted Jun 30, 2006 6:57 am PT

    5 Xbox games in the top 10? It shows the Xbox-crowd is the most hardcore!

  • fjgamer

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 10:32 pm PT

    Wow, go Stubbs!

  • Nintendo_Man

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 9:57 pm PT

    And the 360 doesn't need a price drop, hmmm.

  • troakun

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 9:26 pm PT

    5 xbox games no 360 games? Move on people, I mean the 360 line-up can't be THAT bad.

  • rynmls

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 8:46 pm PT

    theres no good releases this days.... waiting and waiting

  • soulknight63133

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 8:43 pm PT

    Ninja Gaiden is one of the best action arcade title ever!

  • OmegaOrtega

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 8:31 pm PT

    Global_Nexus
    Brain Age is #1? Even if these sales are only at Best Buy, that's freakishly impressive. NSMB fell from first to second, which is too bad but second isn't bad. The Xbox made a comeback, which is nice since I'll finally be getting my own here sometime. Then I'll finally own all current/last gen. consoles. And PS2 games make up the rest. It's too bad there aren't any PSP games that sell well enough to get on -there-, because there are some really great ones.
    (select an action below) ______________ Report Abuse To Moderator Posted Jun 29, 2006 5:38 pm PT
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The truth. *shakes your hand*

  • crills

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 7:34 pm PT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • metroidlink1030

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 6:33 pm PT

    Just goes to show you American mainstream gamers will buy anything labeled EA.

  • jdowdy10

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 6:31 pm PT

    Well, Brain Age was free when you purchased your DS on launch day at Best Buy, so naturally it got the top spot.

  • bucanero05

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 5:29 pm PT

    3 football games in a American chart, the world cup makes miracles, the Americans had discover the most important sport in the world.

  • LOLO_BOND

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 5:14 pm PT

    well people are buying ninja gaiden black to play on x360

  • Gamer46

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 4:45 pm PT

    The DS continues to kick butt.

  • cajunXLVII

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 4:32 pm PT

    wow console gaming is in trouble.

  • alexgangur

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 4:31 pm PT

    Ugh... Battlefront 2 has the worst AI ever to grace (not so gracefully) an FPS, or at least in this gen. Il'd probably be more thrilled playing LAN Sbf2 against a shoe than its singleplayer.

  • rafaelmorales11

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 3:47 pm PT

    here's the proff that the DS OWNS THE PSP!!!

    DS ROCKS!!!!mwahahaha!!!

  • xbox_gamer1

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 3:42 pm PT

    The Xbox lives!!! Now its time for me to buy some games to bring some use to the black box since i got my 360.GO MICROSOFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Global_Nexus

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 3:38 pm PT

    Brain Age is #1? Even if these sales are only at Best Buy, that's freakishly impressive. NSMB fell from first to second, which is too bad but second isn't bad. The Xbox made a comeback, which is nice since I'll finally be getting my own here sometime. Then I'll finally own all current/last gen. consoles. And PS2 games make up the rest. It's too bad there aren't any PSP games that sell well enough to get on -there-, because there are some really great ones.

  • meimnobody

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 3:29 pm PT

    Stubbs the zombie a game that was considered to have bombed last year is on the sales chart? Seriously the NPD needs to get it's act together like the Japanese have and count all stores that sell video games, release the sales figures for free on a weekly basis. Instead of only counting half the stores and none of the online retailers as well as charging 1500 bucks for a report.

  • TrueWarlord

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 2:50 pm PT

    Good to see Ninja Gaiden Black still on Bestbuy.com's top 10 list. And now that Stubbs is now $19.99, I might get it now.

  • Poltergeist13

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 2:50 pm PT

    Don't call it a comeback...lol. What happened, did everyone last week mistake Xbox 180 games for 360 games (though I know 3 of those games are backward compatible). DS has had a nice ride as of late (plus the new DS launched), but it will come to an end when Prey for 360 comes out.

  • Mechakucha

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 2:43 pm PT

    us chart ruulz all other charts

  • gamer_10001

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 2:32 pm PT

    Brain Age is #1 and there aren't any 360 games on the list, surprising.

  • omarguy01

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 2:29 pm PT

    ds and xbox are winning! woot!

  • EasyStreet

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 2:27 pm PT

    So Brain Age is slowy storming the US just like Japan.

  • blackIceJoe

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 2:25 pm PT

    So many football/soccer game are they sure this is for the US.I would have thought after the US got out of the race for the cup it would stop selling I guess I was wrong.

  • xDarkSeraphimX

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 2:25 pm PT

    Yet further proof of how the 360 has been an utter failure thus far. Since they're not selling consoles anywhere else in the world, and since the PS2 still outsells the Xbox 360 even here in the U.S., software sales are going to have to pick up. At least the execs can take some solace in the high number of Xbox titles selling well.

  • TheGrandMiG

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 2:17 pm PT

    lol no psp. no surprise there.

    DS PWNS NOOBS

  • 9997

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 2:14 pm PT

    I don't get it. Xbox is beating Xbox 360?? What is this world coming to

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 2:14 pm PT

    brain age is doing well

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 2:13 pm PT

    [This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

  • basketcasetct

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 2:03 pm PT

    ds is doing really well

  • dwmorrow

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 2:02 pm PT

    I love football, both college and professional, but NFL Head Coach looks extremely boring.

  • somesthetic

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 1:58 pm PT

    xbox and ds?

    I'm in bizzaro world!

  • nix6six6

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 1:58 pm PT

    who still buys games for regular xbox, i know i'd be damned.

  • Sonicplys

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 1:47 pm PT

    Viva the original xbox! See Mirco$oft. Lower the damn prices, and watch the money roll in.
    Xbox >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Xbox 360

  • NeoJoe

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 1:45 pm PT

    ryanduvall

    Battlefront II is discount. At least at my Best Buy in Ohio. It is $19.99.

  • Kenzo287

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 1:40 pm PT

    PSP DIED

  • kcswanko

    Posted Jun 29, 2006 1:36 pm PT

    yeah what did happen to the PSP, that still arond?

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