Max Payne shoots to the top

Blizzard's Diablo II: Lord of Destruction role-playing game expansion was knocked out of first place in NPD Intelect's latest list of best-selling games. It was bested by GodGames' latest third-person action game, Max Payne, which lets players assume the role of an undercover cop on the streets of New York City and features an innovative time-control option that gives the character the ability to perform dramatic slow-motion gunfighting. Lord of Destruction, which had enjoyed the top slot on the list continuously since its release in June, slipped to second place, followed by Electronic Arts' wildly popular virtual-life game, The Sims.

Fourth place went to The Sims: House Party, an expansion pack for The Sims that adds a variety of party-related items, decorations, and costumes to the game. Fifth place belongs to Blizzard's action-RPG Diablo II, which has enjoyed increased sales recently due to the release of the Lord of Destruction expansion pack.

A surprise entry on the list is Pearl Harbor: Zero Hour, Simon & Schuster's budget World War II flight combat game, which was released in May to coincide with Memorial Day. The game appeared in 10th place in the latest list, with sales fueled by a low average price of $16.

The list below ranks games according to retail sales. To see a list of games ranked according to GameSpot review score, visit our Top Games page.

Best-selling games for the week of August 5-11, 2001

Rank / Title / Publisher / Average price
1 / Max Payne / GodGames / $39
2 / Diablo II: Lord of Destruction / Vivendi Universal / $36
3 / The Sims / Electronic Arts / $42
4 / The Sims: House Party / Electronic Arts / $29
5 / Diablo II / Vivendi Universal / $40
6 / The Sims: Livin' Large / Electronic Arts / $29
7 / RollerCoaster Tycoon / Infogrames / $27
8 / Age of Empires II: Age of Kings / Microsoft / $41
9 / Flight Simulator 2000 / Microsoft / $28
10 / Pearl Harbor: Zero Hour / Simon & Schuster / $16