via Eurogamer


Call of Duty: World at War has charged to the top of the UK all-formats chart this week, becoming the third fastest-selling game ever in the region.

The shooter beat off competition from World of Warcraft expansion Wrath of the Lich King (in at two), which became the fastest-selling PC game in the UK of all time - a record previously held by Championship Manager 4.

But apparently football management games still draw the crowds. Football Manager 2009 enters the chart at three, proving that strategically placed adverts between big televised football matches pay dividends.

Last week's leader, Gears of War 2, falls to four - the spot previously held by Sony's system seller, LittleBigPlanet. That game, unfortunately, tumbled all the way down to 19. Oh dear.

And there were similar stories for other high profile releases, as Wii Music bucks the trend and enters at 16; sitting behind three other platform stalwarts: Mario Kart Wii, Wii Play and Wii Fit.

Perhaps more shocking, however, was a first-week entry for DICE eye-catcher Mirror's Edge at 20.

Their struggles make the rest of the top 10 spots all the more valuable. FIFA 09 sold well to take five, followed by Guitar Hero World Tour up from 17 to six, thanks to the arrival of the instrument bundles.

Bizarrely, to us at least, charming DS adventure Professor Layton and the Curious Village managed to drop just one spot to seven, ahead of Mario Kart Wii at eight, PES 2009 at nine, and WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2009 at 10.

Other big movers and shakers this week were Fallout 3 down from three to 14, Quantum of Solace down from eight to 18, Far Cry 2 down from 14 to 26, and Fable II down from 16 to 27.

Quickly: LEGO Indiana Jones managed to burst back into the list at 21, as did Viva Piñata, albeit at 37.

This week waves goodbye to Saints Row 2, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Dead Space.

(Update: As a few of you have noticed, the chart this week is also noteworthy for the absence of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, which came out on Friday. Poor old Rare made 15th in the Xbox 360 chart, but couldn't dent the top 40, which you can see below. Ouch.)

1. Call of Duty: World at War (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS)
2. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (PC)
3. Football Manager 2009 (PC, PSP)
4. Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360)
5. FIFA 09 (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS)
6. Guitar Hero: World Tour (Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii)
7. Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS)
8. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
9. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)
10. WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, DS, PS2)
11. Wii Play (Wii)
12. Wii Fit (Wii)
13. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (DS)
14. Fallout 3 (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)
15. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii, DS)
16. Wii Music (Wii)
17. LEGO Batman (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS)
18. Quantum of Solace (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS)
19. LittleBigPlanet (PS3)
20. Mirror's Edge (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)
21. LEGO Indiana Jones (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS)
22. Carnival: Funfair Games (Wii)
23. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (Wii)
24. Kung Fu Panda (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS)
25. Midnight Club: Los Angeles (Xbox 360, PS3)
26. Far Cry 2 (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)
27. Fable II (Xbox 360)
28. More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima (DS)
29. Ben 10: Protector of Earth (Wii, DS, PS2, PSP)
30. MySims Kingdom (Wii, DS)
31. Disney's High School Musical 3: Senior Year DANCE! (Wii, PS2)
32. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (PC)
33. More Touchmaster (DS)
34. More Game Party (Wii)
35. MotorStorm: Pacific Rift (PS3)
36. WALL-E (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS)
37. Viva Piñata (Xbox 360)
38. High School Musical 3: Senior Year (DS)
39. Tom Clancy's EndWar (PS3, Xbox 360)
40. Mario Kart DS (DS)

...

via Eurogamer


Call of Duty: World at War has charged to the top of the UK all-formats chart this week, becoming the third fastest-selling game ever in the region.

The shooter beat off competition from World of Warcraft expansion Wrath of the Lich King (in at two), which became the fastest-selling PC game in the UK of all time - a record previously held by Championship Manager 4.

But apparently football management games still draw the crowds. Football Manager 2009 enters the chart at three, proving that strategically placed adverts between big televised football matches pay dividends.

Last week's leader, Gears of War 2, falls to four - the spot previously held by Sony's system seller, LittleBigPlanet. That game, unfortunately, tumbled all the way down to 19. Oh dear.

And there were similar stories for other high profile releases, as Wii Music bucks the trend and enters at 16; sitting behind three other platform stalwarts: Mario Kart Wii, Wii Play and Wii Fit.

Perhaps more shocking, however, was a first-week entry for DICE eye-catcher Mirror's Edge at 20.

Their struggles make the rest of the top 10 spots all the more valuable. FIFA 09 sold well to take five, followed by Guitar Hero World Tour up from 17 to six, thanks to the arrival of the instrument bundles.

Bizarrely, to us at least, charming DS adventure Professor Layton and the Curious Village managed to drop just one spot to seven, ahead of Mario Kart Wii at eight, PES 2009 at nine, and WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2009 at 10.

Other big movers and shakers this week were Fallout 3 down from three to 14, Quantum of Solace down from eight to 18, Far Cry 2 down from 14 to 26, and Fable II down from 16 to 27.

Quickly: LEGO Indiana Jones managed to burst back into the list at 21, as did Viva Piñata, albeit at 37.

This week waves goodbye to Saints Row 2, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Dead Space.

(Update: As a few of you have noticed, the chart this week is also noteworthy for the absence of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, which came out on Friday. Poor old Rare made 15th in the Xbox 360 chart, but couldn't dent the top 40, which you can see below. Ouch.)

1. Call of Duty: World at War (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS)
2. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (PC)
3. Football Manager 2009 (PC, PSP)
4. Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360)
5. FIFA 09 (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS)
6. Guitar Hero: World Tour (Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii)
7. Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS)
8. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
9. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)
10. WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, DS, PS2)
11. Wii Play (Wii)
12. Wii Fit (Wii)
13. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (DS)
14. Fallout 3 (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)
15. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii, DS)
16. Wii Music (Wii)
17. LEGO Batman (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS)
18. Quantum of Solace (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS)
19. LittleBigPlanet (PS3)
20. Mirror's Edge (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)
21. LEGO Indiana Jones (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS)
22. Carnival: Funfair Games (Wii)
23. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (Wii)
24. Kung Fu Panda (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS)
25. Midnight Club: Los Angeles (Xbox 360, PS3)
26. Far Cry 2 (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)
27. Fable II (Xbox 360)
28. More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima (DS)
29. Ben 10: Protector of Earth (Wii, DS, PS2, PSP)
30. MySims Kingdom (Wii, DS)
31. Disney's High School Musical 3: Senior Year DANCE! (Wii, PS2)
32. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (PC)
33. More Touchmaster (DS)
34. More Game Party (Wii)
35. MotorStorm: Pacific Rift (PS3)
36. WALL-E (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS)
37. Viva Piñata (Xbox 360)
38. High School Musical 3: Senior Year (DS)
39. Tom Clancy's EndWar (PS3, Xbox 360)
40. Mario Kart DS (DS)

...

Spanish magazine Hispana has published a new preview of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars in which it discloses that the gameplay won't be limited to, well, Chinatown. In fact, the mag states that the full areas of Duke, Bohan, Broker, and Algonquin from GTA IV will be part of the handheld title's game world, although Alderney (New Jersey in "real life") won't.

The magazine also offers a few more nifty details, such as the ability to whistle (or, we're guessing, yell irately) into the DS microphone to hail cabs, and that the PDA, GPS, and radio are all touch-screen based. On the topic of selling drugs, Hispana reports that It will be a "good way to make money in the game." Oh lordy.

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/17/gt...-liberty-city/ ...

Those of you still keen on Metal Gear Online's multiplayer scene take note: The MEME expansion pack will officially careen onto servers on Nov. 25 (pre-order it on Nov. 18, if you wish), priced at a not-too-obscene $9.99. It'll also be bundled with the previous GENE pack for $14.99, ideal for players still lean on downloadable content for Hideo Kojima's epic most Byzantine.

Joining the battlefield (as seen in three new maps) are Mei Ling and perpetual source of mean, Liquid Ocelot. We look forward to shooting him in the, uh ... spleen?

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/17/me...ene-on-nov-18/ ...

via Computer and Video Games


Sony has come under fire for allegedly copying Sackboy costume designs from non-winning entries to a design competition held before the game was released.

Posters on the official PS forums pointed out uncanny similarities between their own submitted Sackboy designs and the new Sackboy costumes recently released for download.

Check out the similarities on the forum.

According to a Sony community man, it's all just a coincidence: "this was always going to be a possibility when we ran the costumer competition - releasing new costumes which are similar in theme to ones that were entered," said the rep under the alias Sam_Protagonist.


Sounds reasonable to us. ...

Still obsessing over sales statistics, Gamasutra has crafted a report on 2008's five top-selling games in the US -- so far. Though some figures are approximated, there's assurance that "the maximum possible error in each figure should not affect the rankings." All consoles considered, the rankings are as follows:

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (3.5 million, estimated)
Mario Kart (3.4 million)
Grand Theft Auto IV (3.2 million, estimated)
Wii Play (3 million)
Wii Fit (2.8 million)
Be sure to check out the report for further details, several of which are likely to fuel the fanboy fires for, oh, the next fifteen minutes at least. We look forward to entertaining your "Wii games don't sell," "GTA IV is overrated" and "Wii Play is just a controller in disguise" arguments. We do not, however, want anything to do with your "Why isn't Golden Axe: Beast Rider on there?" madness.

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/17/re...-in-08-so-far/ ...

Still obsessing over sales statistics, Gamasutra has crafted a report on 2008's five top-selling games in the US -- so far. Though some figures are approximated, there's assurance that "the maximum possible error in each figure should not affect the rankings." All consoles considered, the rankings are as follows:

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (3.5 million, estimated)
Mario Kart (3.4 million)
Grand Theft Auto IV (3.2 million, estimated)
Wii Play (3 million)
Wii Fit (2.8 million)
Be sure to check out the report for further details, several of which are likely to fuel the fanboy fires for, oh, the next fifteen minutes at least. We look forward to entertaining your "Wii games don't sell," "GTA IV is overrated" and "Wii Play is just a controller in disguise" arguments. We do not, however, want anything to do with your "Why isn't Golden Axe: Beast Rider on there?" madness.

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/17/re...-in-08-so-far/ ...

Oh, semantics. Although it may have been believed that Sonic Unleashed was hitting retail tomorrow for all consoles, apparently those dates weren't "official." Sega has rectified that by announcing official launch dates today (via IGN) stating that the Wii and PS2 versions will be available tomorrow, while the Xbox 360 gets its werehog on next week. As for the PS3's Sonic Unleashed, it has been relegated to an indeterminate December date.

Yes, we know, dear Xbox 360 and PS3 owners, whatever else shall you play while waiting for Sonic Unleashed?!

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/17/so...release-dates/ ...

In preparation for the NXE launch this Wednesday, Xbox.com and the Xbox forums will go offline for about four hours starting at 12:01AM Pacific today, Nov. 18.

According to Major Nelson, this will "NOT" affect Xbox Live and service should remain (relatively) reliable. If things do go wrong with the Live service, be sure to leave little love letters to Microsoft in the comments below.

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/18/ps...r-maintenance/ ...