Saints Row overtakes Cars for pole position on this week's UK game charts, making it a double whammy for publisher THQ.
After a five-week run at the top of the UK all-format game chart, Cars has finally dropped down to number two. There's no reason for publisher THQ to feel too down, though, as its own Saints Row has replaced the movie tie-in at number one.
Arriving on the back of mostly positive reviews, the crime sim has taken pole position on its first week of release--not bad for an Xbox 360-exclusive title on the all-formats chart. Chart-Track reports that Saints Row is the second-fastest-selling Xbox 360 title to date, coming close to matching Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter's record from March 2006.
Elsewhere in the chart, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and New Super Mario Bros. continue to ride high at numbers three and four respectively. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (called Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day stateside) and Pro Evolution Soccer 5 also have a continued presence in the Top 10, although both drop places this week to numbers seven and eight respectively.
Following cut-price promotion from a number of retailers, The Sims 2 is enjoying a continued resurgence thanks to the budget release of the new Glamour Life Stuff add-on. The expansion pack debuted at number five, while The Sims 2 itself held on in the chart at number six.
Rounding off the chart at positions nine and ten are Reservoir Dogs from Eidos, and Animal Crossing: Wild World from Nintendo. Reservoir Dogs climbed up from number 14 where it entered last week, and while Animal Crossing has dropped three places since last week, television advertising has no doubt helped it remain in the top 10.
A couple of other new entries have also made an appearance further down the chart. Sony's Gangs of London, released on PlayStation Portable and developed by the team behind The Getaway, enters at a disappointing number 23. Sega's Let's Make a Soccer Team on the PlayStation 2 enters further down, with a first-week position of 31.
This Friday sees a number of high-profile Xbox 360 releases, with Enchanted Arms, Madden NFL 07, and--most notably--Dead Rising arriving on the console. Check back next week to see if Capcom's zombie horror game can shuffle its way into the top slot.
Guy Cocker is the Editor of GameSpot UK, a handheld gaming fan, and someone who actually managed to use video games to lose weight. He recently took up the position of games expert on BBC 5 live and is a BAFTA games judge.
It should be noted that the UK charts combine all platform sales of a game. So cars at number 2 is actually all the gba, ps2, gc, xbox, ds etc game sales. GTALCS is the ps2 and psp sales of the game. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2207229.stm has some more info. Sheesh game sales reports are expensive. 3000 pounds for a weeks report of game sales!? Although ELSPA does track 80-85% of the game sales in the UK on a weekly basis which makes up like 13 percent of the video games market.
Saints Row deserves 1st place its an awesome game and hopefully other developers will take notice of it and realise it is possible to make a really good gta style game.
i wonder why uk gamers like cars so much. or maybe its just the kids buying all those cars dvds.
Man, you guys really need some "Brain Age"!! To criticize Saints Row for being a wannabe GTA is hilarious when you have Liberty City Stories cloning its original game and the umpteenth version of the same Super Mario game....also the 9th version of soccer, 2nd version of Brain Age and who can count how many Sims there are. ...makes me wonder what you're playing (not for long, though, as I go back to enjoying Dead Rising and Saints Row-games without numbers after them) BTW, metroidlink..it shouldn't be Saint's Row...that implies there is only one Saint which is not true...if anything it should be Saints' Row...duh! But truly Saints Row is fine as it is ;-)
It's ironic that a game that so blatantly "borrows" gameplay from another beloved series would end up being so embraced. Usually these types of things end up ugly. I'm glad to see a change of pace. Maybe gamers are maturing??
Saints row is such a rip off of gta that it even managed to be fun, which is a first for any of the gta knockoffs, gratz volition.
Man I LOVE this game. This is better than GTA in every way! While I like the backdrops of GTA, Saint's Row doesn't dissapoint in story, voice acting, or character development. I was skeptical after the demo, but after renting and playing it, it's a winner!
Saint row has the looks of next gen which is good...But it reminds me of True Crimes in so many ways, I think I will hold back on this game for a while.
readyss: "no saint row is better than gta... till the GTA 5 comes out ^_^" You mean GTA 4
wildsoul0509 saints row is a gta wannabe ___________________________________ no saint row is better than gta... till the GTA 5 comes out ^_^
Saints Row? Wow...the title with the grammatical error won this week! That's pretty funny. (It should be Saint's Row, Volition!)
Zelos-W, while I agree GTA wasn't the best game, you have to admit it can be entertaining.
The article states that "Pro Evolution Soccer 5" is in 8th place but it is not on the list at all. It really is World Soccer Winning Eleven 9. A little more editing obviously needed.
Too bad it's in second place. Also, it's strange that a 360 game is in first, I guess that console is finally becoming popular. And the PSP version of GTA: Liberty City Stories is not on the chart anymore.
YES! Cars has benn toppled...it had to happen eventually but I am so glad it came sooner rather than later.
Finally Cars has been knocked from 1st place. Not that I have anything against the game, but I'm curious to why it is selling so well.
dexter111344, why pathetic? Because you don't happen to agree with what people are buying? Good to see another 360 exclusive at No.1. Dead Rising looks certain to be another, next week.
Cool, I wonder if Cars will stay there for another month, if so, kind of scary and freaky.
Saints Row is very, very fun. The story is actually pretty interesting as well. Good to see it is doing well.
oh well i dont care what these are i buy the games i like not the games other people like
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