The Sims makes a comeback

The Sims once again demonstrated its lasting appeal this week as it regained the lead in NPD Intelect's latest list of best-selling games. Electronic Arts' popular virtual life game and its expansion packs had dominated the top slots on the list almost continuously since before the new year, but Ubi Soft's Myst III: Exile managed to outsell The Sims for most of the month of May. This week, Myst III slipped from first place to third place, behind The Sims and The Sims: House Party, the latest expansion pack for The Sims. Lionhead's Black & White, also published by EA, came in at fourth place this week, down from second place the week before.

Simon & Schuster's Pearl Harbor: Zero Hour landed in fifth place, riding a wave of World War II enthusiasm around Memorial Day and the release of the Pearl Harbor movie. The arcade-style flight combat game lets players go on bombing runs and dogfight with Japanese forces.

The list below ranks games according to sales figures. To see a list of games ranked according to GameSpot review score, visit our 6013054Top Games page .

Top-selling games for the week of May 27-June 2, 2001:

Rank / Title / Publisher / Average Price
1 / The Sims / Electronic Arts / $42
2 / The Sims: House Party / Electronic Arts / $29
3 / Myst III: Exile / Ubi Soft / $41
4 / Black & White / Electronic Arts / $42
5 / Pearl Harbor: Zero Hour / Simon & Schuster / $17
6 / The Sims: Livin' Large / Electronic Arts / $29
7 / RollerCoaster Tycoon / Infogrames / $27
8 / Age of Empires II: Age of Kings / Microsoft / $44
9 / Diablo II / Vivendi Universal / $39
10 / Tropico / GodGames / $35