Game prices rise as holiday sales end

The latest PC Data list of best-selling games looks a lot like last week's list, except that the average price of almost every game is a few dollars higher. The list covers the week of January 28-February 3, 2001. While The Sims, The Sims: Livin' Large, and Roller Coaster Tycoon remained in first, second, and third places, respectively, the average prices for all three games rose by at least 4 percent, and in the case of Roller Coaster Tycoon, the increase was almost 17 percent. All but two of the nine games on the list that appeared in last week's list registered increases in their average prices of between $1 and $5. The end of several post-holiday sales at major retailers might be the cause of this phenomenon.

The other notable addition to the list this week is Gathering of Developers' third-person action game Oni, which debuted at ninth place after its release at the end of January.

The list below includes the best-selling games for the week of January 28-February 3, 2001. To see a list of the top-rated games according to GameSpot, visit our Top Games page.

Rank / Title / Publisher / Average price this week / Average price last week
1 / The Sims / Electronic Arts / $43 / $40
2 / The Sims: Livin' Large / Electronic Arts / $29 / $28
3 / Roller Coaster Tycoon / Hasbro Interactive / $28 / $24
4 / Hoyle Casino 2001 / Havas Interactive / $28 / $28
5 / Age Of Empires II: Age of Kings / Microsoft / $44 / $42
6 / Diablo II / Havas Interactive / $40 / $35
7 / Roller Coaster Tycoon: Loopy Landscapes / Hasbro Interactive / $28 / $27
8 / Command & Conquer Red Alert 2 / Electronic Arts / $43 / $39
9 / Oni / Gathering of Developers / $40 / $40
10 / Sim Theme Park / Electronic Arts / $19 / $18