PC games charts: November 19-25

By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpotPosted Dec 5, 2006 4:59 pm PT

The Sims 2: Pets retains top spot as Black Friday bargains drive PC game sales for the week of Thanksgiving.

While many US gamers' Thanksgivings were marked by abject gluttony, no amount of gravy-drenched turkey with piles of stuffing could possibly match the traditional consumer overindulgence of the morning after. That day, known as Black Friday to many poor souls in the retail workplace, is marked by heavily marked-down specials meant to draw tremendous crowds to stores as the holiday shopping season begins in earnest.

This year the effects of Black Friday were clearly visible on the NPD's PC game charts. While the lineup of titles in the top 10 (based on units sold) didn't raise many flags--Electronic Arts' The Sims 2: Pets expansion pack remained perched at number one just like the week before, and the week before that--the average selling price of those games was more interesting.

In its second week in stores, Sega's Medieval II: Total War plummeted from the second spot to the 10th spot, but it also was the only resident of the top 10 with an average selling price of $50. The next most expensive offering on the charts was Atari's Neverwinter Nights 2 in fifth place, with an average selling price of $31. Neverwinter Nights 2 still retails for $50 in many stores. Also placing on the charts in part thanks to price slashing were Electronic Arts' Battlefield 2142 (second place, ASP $29), Microsoft Flight Simulator X (sixth place, ASP $29), and THQ's Company of Heroes (eighth place, ASP $24).

The discounts were by no means limited to AAA titles. Buena Vista Games' budget TV tie-in Desperate Housewives jumped into the fourth spot on the charts with an ASP of $9, beaten out for number three by Mumbo Jumbo's Bejeweled 2 and its $7 ASP.

52 Comments

  • Humorguy_basic

    Posted Dec 25, 2006 8:47 am PT

    Don't forget. Housewives got to No4 because of a $9 selling price! And those those saying 'why do people keep buying the sims?' well, to be honest, they're not really, not in large numbers anyway. It's just that PC games sell so few copies now, nothing can touch a game like the sims that sells in numbers that PC games used to sell 5+ years ago. If the Sims had been released in 1995 they would not have got into the top 10. That tells you how much lower PC games are nowadays compared to then. Doom 3 sold half of what Doom sold, Half Life 2 sold half of what Half Life did, and that's from the publisher's themselves!. If PC games continue to sell less and less, you are going to see some very strange titles in the PC games chart. You are also going to see games come and go in the chart more often, as the few games that sell are sold quicker than the much higher number that used to sell.

    And eriksom, every 'breakthrough game mentioned, and indeed every game mentioned, except for Housewives and SIms are based around violence. Is it any wonder Sims sells in such vast numbers month after month? If you want a non-voilent games, what else is there? PC gaming needs to get broader, and hardcore gamers need to hope for more mainstream games like the Sims, or PC gaming is done for!

  • _Sam_

    Posted Dec 16, 2006 3:25 pm PT

    oh, I didn't think that Battlefield 2142 would still be doing so well

  • vtime

    Posted Dec 9, 2006 11:24 pm PT

    My gf loves sims 2. Need to go get sims: pets for her

  • dysguised22

    Posted Dec 9, 2006 4:45 pm PT

    Little bit of note here. For those of you greatly wondering how it is that something like Desp Housewives could ever be on a gaming list, keep in mind that it's basically The Sims as well. Hence why The Sims expansion pack and that game both sold moderately well. Throw in the bargain price and that basically sells itself to the casual gamer. Dont get me wrong though, as a person who has been playing videogames since the first nintendo was released, I am in no way condoning it (lol) but for the handful of you that cant wrap your minds around why this is, just think: Cheap price + mass advertising = sales. Stay-at-home and work-from-home parents need something to do for entertainment as well you know. I also would assume that while many people were out starting their christmas shopping on black friday, they most likely picked up the budget priced time eaters for themselves. Notable Titles on there: Medieval 2, NWN2, and Comp of Heroes.

  • Kholdstare_fire

    Posted Dec 9, 2006 4:21 pm PT

    Chart please. I still don't understand why people buy Sims games, they are terrible. It's not even orignal anymore.

  • killerfist

    Posted Dec 9, 2006 10:11 am PT

    desperate housewife's: the game??? oh my god jesus christ....why? to sink that deep. ok I know the series are a uge hit in the us and also in europe and the rest of the world...but to make a game out of it??? what's the reason? money?..no they are allready loaded... i just don't understand. we allready got the sims wich isn't a superb game also in my opinion.

  • XandZero

    Posted Dec 8, 2006 2:13 pm PT

    to Chazzx21...Uhhh...see in the original Sims, there was the pet expansion pack. Which came out like 2 or 3 years before nintendogs, so basically your argument has no merit.

  • chazzx21

    Posted Dec 8, 2006 12:13 am PT

    To the parents of the world: EA is not actually a babysitting service. Please stop buying their games.. gamers don't buy EA games (except Madden for some strange reason) and so we are letting you know not to buy them either. Although SIms pet edition may seem cool, it's really just a nintnedo DS rip off of their dog game. And not a good rip off at that. NFS, SIMS, sports games, they may seem cool and hipster like... but they are crappy games and you are only supprting the production of crappy license friendly games. STOP IT!!

  • ekisom

    Posted Dec 7, 2006 11:46 pm PT

    I dunno what the deal is but a lot of the my most anticipated pc games of the year are getting lower in quality in many aspects: gameplay, animation, storyline, hardware playability, etc. Take for example neverwinter nights 2, a lot of the gameplay features of neverwinter nights 1 are more logical than the sequel; transparent map, inventory system, camera control, quickslot allocation for skills.. Mark of Chaos could'v impressed more had its combat been animated as properly as at least Rome Total War is. evilness, heroes of might and magic 2d gameplay is better than in 3d. Chronicles of Riddick had outstanding graphics compared to a handful of more recent FPS games. On the other hand, we'v had a good number of breakthrough games also for this year. Company of heroes, oblivion, warhammer 40k, total war, fear... i hope devs would continue innovating games outside the traditional rather than stick with the medeocre..

  • ThugNMe

    Posted Dec 7, 2006 2:36 pm PT

    I couldnt have said that better my self... indigoAK200

  • indigoAK200

    Posted Dec 6, 2006 9:33 pm PT

    SunnySimantov

    They buy it and like it until they find out that The Sims 2's technical aspects are years behind the curve, they find out that the each expansion is progressively more riddled with bugs than the last, they find out that what they're getting isn't worth $30. The Sims 2 franchise is not about great games and a strong community, it's a lesson in what a company can accomplish when they take advantage of the fact that they have millions of exploited customers under their thumbs.

    Pets added nothing for the Sims themselves and they still charged $30. It's pathetic. And not to mention that fact that hardly any of it works off install (glitchy, teleporting cats anyone?)

  • mgsninja

    Posted Dec 6, 2006 3:10 pm PT

    I see that GameSpot has not yet reviewed Desperate Housewives. Now that will be one interesting read.

  • Angelspit_CH

    Posted Dec 6, 2006 12:25 pm PT

    Where's my Dark Messiah?

  • finnjohn

    Posted Dec 6, 2006 9:20 am PT

    SunnySimantov, there are lots of games that are good but didn't sell well such as Beyond Good & Evil, Psychonauts and Oddworld Stranger's Wrath.

  • cjcr_alexandru

    Posted Dec 6, 2006 8:48 am PT

    Nothing surprising.

  • Mooshu92887

    Posted Dec 6, 2006 8:42 am PT

    You're wrong, GFofgaming. BF2142 is Battlefield 2 with a new coat of paint. Battlefield 2 is clearly superior to 2142... Heck 1942 is still better than that game, and 1942 came out in, what? 2001? 2002? and dont get me started on the in-game ads.

    "2142 Battlefield" is a disgrace to the entire Battlefield series.

    KingofTrolls, please. Bratz: Diamonz r 4eva.

  • fahad2mail

    Posted Dec 6, 2006 8:18 am PT

    not good.

  • Dante565

    Posted Dec 6, 2006 8:09 am PT

    I must admit EA as a company is getting very boring in their game production lately and I believe they are secretly trying to take over the world.

  • slickr

    Posted Dec 6, 2006 8:06 am PT

    wooow, arent people geting bored with all those sims 2 expansions?
    I gues they are mostly lifeless persons, that live their life in virtual Sims world!
    And no this is not an insult or anything GAMESPOT STAFF this is FAQ and sadly it's soooo true!

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Dec 6, 2006 7:46 am PT

    sims....meh.

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