ChartSpot: April 2006

May 30, 2006 12:53PM PDT

Kingdom Hearts II reigns again, GRAW and Oblivion stay put, and the Sims remain Open for Business.

Industry-research group NPD Funworld has released their detailed monthly sales rankings for April 2006--and they look a lot like the previous month's. On the portable/console chart, there was no change at the top, with Kingdom Hearts II for the PlayStation 2 standing fast at number one. The number-two and three slots also remained the same--both were occupied by the top two Xbox 360 games, Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Advanced Warfighter and 2K Games' The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Next up were two "God" games for the PS2--Electronic Arts' Godfather and Sony's God of War, which are selling at discount price points of $39.99 and $19.99, respectively. They were followed by a trio of baseball titles: MLB '06: The Show for the PS2, and Major League Baseball 2K6 for the Xbox 360 and PS2. Rounding out the top 10 were Sony and Polyphony Digital's Tourist Trophy for the PS2 and EA's Battlefield 2: Modern Combat for the Xbox 360.

On the portable front, only two Nintendo DS games cracked the top 20 non-PC games list. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day landed in 14th, while Metroid Prime: Hunters eked its way onto the list in 20th. Still, the DS's double-showing was better than the PlayStation Portable and Game Boy Advance--no title for either platform made the top 20 at all.

On the PC charts, the Sims once again took the top slot in the form of The Sims 2: Open For Business expansion pack. Another add-on, The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff, came in third, the Sims 2 was seventh, Sims 2 Nightlife was 12th, the Sims Complete Collection was 17th, and The Sims 2: University was 18th.

As is often the case, role-playing games were well represented on the April 2006 bestseller charts. The PC edition of the free-roaming RPG The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was the number-two game of the month, while a pair of massively multiplayer online RPG titles--Vivendi's World of Warcraft and NCsoft's Guild Wars Factions--were fourth and fifth, respectively. Real-time strategy games were also on hand in force and included Star Wars: Empire At War (sixth), Lord of the Rings, Battle For Middle-earth II (eighth), and Age of Empires III (ninth).

ALL CONSOLES
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Platform	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
1	1	Kingdom Hearts II	PS2	Square Enix	Mar-06	$50
2	2	Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter	360	Ubisoft	Mar-06	$59
3	3	Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	360	2K Games	Mar-06	$60
8	4	The Godfather: The Game	PS2	Electronic Arts	Mar-06	$39
10	5	God of War	PS2	Sony	Mar-05	$20
5	6	MLB '06: The Show	PS2	Sony	Mar-06	$40
**	7	Major League Baseball 2K6	360	2K Games	Apr-06	$60
**	8	Major League Baseball 2K6	PS2	2K Games	Apr-06	$40
**	9	Tourist Trophy	PS2	Sony	Apr-06	$40
**	10	Battlefield 2: Modern Combat	360	Electronic Arts	Apr-06	$60
**	11	Tomb Raider: Legend	360	Eidos Interactive	Apr-06	$60
**	12	Major League Baseball 2K6	XBX	2K Games	Apr-06	$40
**	13	Tomb Raider: Legend	PS2	Eidos Interactive	Apr-06	$49
**	14	Brain Age: Train Your Brain In Minutes A Day	DS	Nintendo	Apr-06	$20
**	15	Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas	PS2	Rockstar Games	Oct-04	$20
**	16	NBA Ballers: Phenom	PS2	Midway	Mar-06	$40
**	17	Kingdom Hearts	PS2	Square Enix	Sep-02	$20
**	18	Ice Age 2: The Meltdown	PS2	Vivendi	Mar-06	$37
9	19	Fight Night Round 3	360	Electronic Arts	Feb-06	$59
11	20	Metroid Prime: Hunters	DS	Nintendo	Mar-06	$35

PC
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Average Price
1	1	The Sims 2 Open For Business	Electronic Arts	$33
2	2	Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	2K Games	$48
**	3	The Sims 2 Family Fun Stuff	Electronic Arts	$18
6	4	World of Warcraft	Vivendi	$47
**	5	Guild Wars Factions	NCsoft	$50
3	6	Star Wars: Empire At War	LucasArts	$47
7	7	The Sims 2	Electronic Arts	$39
5	8	Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle Earth II	Electronic Arts	$48
10	9	Age of Empires III	Microsoft	$44
12	10	Civilization IV	2K Games	$44
13	11	Battlefield 2	Electronic Arts	$47
11	12	The Sims 2 Nightlife	Electronic Arts	$31
14	13	Zoo Tycoon 2	Microsoft	$25
19	14	Zoo Tycoon: Complete Collection	Microsoft	$25
17	15	Guild Wars	NCsoft	$46
16	16	Call of Duty 2	Activision	$47
20	17	The Sims Complete Collection	Electronic Arts	$39
**	18	The Sims 2: University	Electronic Arts	$31
**	19	Warcraft III Battle Chest	Vivendi	$39
8	20	Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Collector's Edition	2K Games	$59

PLAYSTATION 2
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
1	1	Kingdom Hearts II	Square Enix	Mar-06	$50
5	2	The Godfather: The Game	Electronic Arts	Mar-06	$39
6	3	God of War	Sony	Mar-05	$20
3	4	MLB '06: The Show	Sony	Mar-06	$40
**	5	Major League Baseball 2K6	2K Games	Apr-06	$40
**	6	Tourist Trophy	Sony	Apr-06	$40
**	7	Tomb Raider: Legend	Eidos Interactive	Apr-06	$49
**	8	Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas	2K Games	Oct-04	$20
**	9	NBA Ballers: Phenom	Midway	Mar-06	$40
**	10	Kingdom Hearts	Square Enix	Sep-02	$20

XBOX
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
**	1	Major League Baseball 2K6	2K Games	Apr-06	$40
2	2	The Godfather: The Game	Electronic Arts	Mar-06	$39
4	3	Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas	2K Games	Sep-05	$20
6	4	Fable	Microsoft	Sep-04	$20
**	5	Tomb Raider: Legend	Eidos Interactive	Apr-06	$49
7	6	Halo 2	Microsoft	Nov-04	$29
**	7	NBA Ballers: Phenom	Midway	Mar-06	$40
5	8	Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter	Ubisoft	Mar-06	$49
1	9	Black	Electronic Arts	Mar-06	$40
**	10	Ice Age 2: The Meltdown	Vivendi	Mar-06	$37

XBOX 360
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
1	1	Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter	Ubisoft	Mar-06	$59
2	2	Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	2K Games	Mar-06	$60
**	3	Major League Baseball 2K6	2K Games	Apr-06	$60
**	4	Battlefield 2: Modern Combat	Electronic Arts	Apr-06	$60
**	5	Tomb Raider: Legend	Eidos Interactive	Apr-06	$60
3	6	Fight Night Round 3	Electronic Arts	Feb-06	$59
6	7	Call of Duty 2	Activision	Nov-05	$59
**	8	Final Fantasy XI Online	Square Enix	Apr-06	$50
**	9	Top Spin 2	2K Games	Mar-06	$40
9	10	Far Cry: Instincts Predator	Ubisoft	Mar-06	$60

GAMECUBE
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
1	1	Sonic Riders	Sega	Feb-06	$40
**	2	Ice Age 2: The Meltdown	Vivendi	Mar-06	$37
**	3	Harvest Moon: Magical Melody	Natsume	Mar-06	$40
3	4	Mario Kart: Double Dash !!	Nintendo	Nov-03	$30
2	5	Naruto: Clash of Ninja	D3publisher	Mar-06	$40
5	6	Super Mario Sunshine	Nintendo	Aug-02	$18
**	7	Madagascar	Activision	May-05	$17
6	8	Super Smash Brothers Melee	Nintendo	Dec-01	$30
4	9	Super Mario Strikers	Nintendo	Dec-05	$50
7	10	Lego Star Wars	Eidos Interactive	Oct-05	$30

GAME BOY ADVANCE
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
**	1	Ice Age 2: The Meltdown	Vivendi	Mar-06	$28
6	2	Super Mario Advance	Nintendo	Jun-01	$19
9	3	Chicken Little	Buena Vista Games	Oct-05	$18
**	4	Chronicles of Narnia	Buena Vista Games	Nov-05	$18
**	5	Yoshi's Island: Mario 3	Nintendo	Sep-02	$19
**	6	Mario & Luigi Saga	Nintendo	Nov-03	$19
**	7	Kingdom Hearts: Chain	Square Enix	Dec-04	$20
10	8	Yu-Gi-Oh ! Ultimate Masters	Konami Digital Ent.	Mar-06	$30
**	9	Catz	Ubisoft	Mar-06	$28
3	10	Pokemon Emerald	Nintendo	Apr-05	$35

DS
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
**	1	Brain Age: Train Your Brain In Minutes A Day	Nintendo	Apr-06	$20
1	2	Metroid Prime: Hunters	Nintendo	Mar-06	$35
3	3	Animal Crossing: Wild World	Nintendo	Dec-05	$35
5	4	Tetris DS	Nintendo	Mar-06	$32
4	5	Mario Kart DS	Nintendo	Nov-05	$35
2	6	Super Princess Peach	Nintendo	Feb-06	$35
7	7	Nintendogs: Dachshund & Friends	Nintendo	Aug-05	$31
**	8	Ice Age 2: The Meltdown	Vivendi	Mar-06	$29
6	9	Pokemon Trozei	Nintendo	Mar-06	$35
8	10	Nintendogs: Labrador & Friends	Nintendo	Aug-05	$31

PSP
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
1	1	MLB '06: The Show	Sony	Mar-06	$40
4	2	Daxter	Sony	Mar-06	$40
2	3	Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories	2K Games	Oct-05	$50
6	4	Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai	Atari	Mar-06	$40
5	5	Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror	Sony	Mar-06	$40
**	6	Untold Legends: The Warrior's Code	Sony Online Ent.	Mar-06	$40
**	7	Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Essentials	Ubisoft	Mar-06	$40
7	8	SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo	Sony	Nov-05	$40
3	9	Fight Night Round 3	Electronic Arts	Feb-06	$40
9	10	Need For Speed: Most Wanted	Electronic Arts	Nov-05	$50