The Sims reclaims the lead

Electronic Arts' popular virtual-life game The Sims returned to first place in NPD Intelect's latest list of best-selling games, knocking Blizzard's Diablo II: Lord of Destruction role-playing game expansion down to number two. EA's latest PC football game, Madden NFL 2002, took third place in its first full week of availability after debuting the week before at fifth place. EA's The Sims: House Party expansion pack climbed to fourth from sixth place the week before. Arcanum, Sierra's latest isometric fantasy role-playing game, slipped from fourth place to fifth place.

Codemasters' squad-based shooter Operation Flashpoint debuted in sixth place despite being released late in the week, followed by GodGames' popular third-person shooter Max Payne in seventh, EA's The Sims: Livin' Large expansion in eighth, and Blizzard's role-playing game Diablo II in ninth. Incredibly, Infogrames' theme park management game RollerCoaster Tycoon continues to hold on in 10th place, a full 29 months after its release in March 1999.

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 26-September 1, 2001:

Rank / Title / Publisher / Average price
1 / The Sims / Electronic Arts / $40
2 / Diablo II: Lord of Destruction / Vivendi Universal / $36
3 / Madden NFL 2002 / Electronic Arts / $30
4 / The Sims: House Party / Electronic Arts / $27
5 / Arcanum / Vivendi Universal / $49
6 / Operation Flashpoint / Codemasters / $44
7 / Max Payne / GodGames / $49
8 / The Sims: Livin' Large / Electronic Arts / $26
9 / Diablo II / Vivendi Universal / $40
10 / RollerCoaster Tycoon / Infogrames / $28