UK Charts: Mafia II takes top spot

By Tom Bramwell Published 31 August, 2010

All the obvious jokes already don.

Mafia II has taken over from Kane & Lynch 2 at the top of the UK Charts.

According to chart compiler GfK Chart-Track, it's the biggest UK game launch since Red Dead Redemption, which must be music to the ears of 2K - especially since RDR was one of mother-publisher Take-Two's, albeit as part of the Rockstar label.

The Xbox 360 version did 52 per cent of the business in Mafia II's first week, while PS3 was responsible for 41 per cent of sales and PC just seven per cent.

Kane & Lynch 2 continues to do well, holding at number two with sales up 33 per cent in the game's second week of availability.

Chart-Track reckons Wii pricing of £129.99 is responsible for Wii Sports Resort's surge to number five - it was 16th last week - while Just Dance continues to dance between fifth and sixth, this week in the latter position.

Other movers include a top 10 re-entry for the execrable Sniper: Ghost Warrior and an apparent nosedive for Art Academy, which was in the top five last week and now doesn't appear to be in the top 40 at all.

This Week Last Week Title Platform(s)
1 New entry Mafia II PC, PS3, Xbox 360
2 1 Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days PC, PS3, Xbox 360
3 2 Toy Story 3 PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
4 3 Red Dead: Redemption PS3, Xbox 360
5 16 Wii Sports Resort Wii
6 5 Just Dance Wii
7 7 Super Mario Galaxy 2 Wii
8 4 LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
9 13 Sniper: Ghost Warrior PC, Xbox 360
10 8 Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands DS, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
11 10 Battlefield: Bad Company 2 PC, PS3, Xbox 360
12 18 Modern Warfare 2 PC, PS3, Xbox 360
13 17 New Super Mario Bros. DS
14 12 Mass Effect 2 PC, Xbox 360
15 9 Dance on Broadway Wii
16 19 Wii Fit Plus Wii
17 14 FIFA 10 PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
18 15 Need for Speed: Shift PC, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360
19 11 Dragon Quest IX DS
20 25 New Super Mario Bros. Wii Wii
21 21 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 Wii, PS3, Xbox 360
22 24 UFC Undisputed 2010 PS3, Xbox 360
23 22 StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty PC
24 30 SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection PS3, Xbox 360
25 27 Just Cause 2 PC, PS3, Xbox 360
26 23 Aliens vs. Predator PC, PS3, Xbox 360
27 Re-entry Mario Kart Wii Wii
28 28 BioShock 2 PC, PS3, Xbox 360
29 37 Mario Kart DS DS
30 34 Football Manager 2010 PC
31 Re-entry Crackdown 2 Xbox 360
32 Re-entry Blur PC, PS3, Xbox 360
33 38 GTA Episodes: Liberty City Xbox 360, PS3 PC
34 20 Madden NFL 11 PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
35 40 2010 FIFA World Cup PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
36 Re-entry Halo 3 Xbox 360
37 Re-entry Grand Theft Auto IV PC, PS3, Xbox 360
38 29 Forza Motorsport 3 Xbox 360
39 33 Hidden Mysteries: Titanic DS
40 Re-entry Club Penguin: Herbert's Regret DS

Leisure software charts compiled by Gfk Chart-Track, ©2008 ELSPA (UK) Ltd.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (52) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • darkmorgado #1 1 year ago

    So, one 4/10 game has taken over from another 4/10 game at the top of the charts, which also contain loads of wii shovelware.

    Ever get the feeling that quality isn't an issue for a lot of people?

  • bad09 #2 1 year ago

    Great game well deserved top spot IMO, although it's a shame so many shifted at launch as it's looking like 2K are whoring out Mafia 2 with a heap of "DLC" incoming so everyone should really have waited for a cheaper opening price.

    Edit _ @ darkmorgado

    TBH both Mafia 2 and Kane & Lynch 2 are pretty good games well worth a punt. Not without issues sure but then what game isn't? I'm actually looking forward to the next EG 4/10 game!
    Edited by 1 at 31/08/10 @ 12:13

  • Darren #3 1 year ago

    @darkmorgado - Well both those games are sub-par if you trust ONLY EG. Edge magazine gave both 6/10 I believe and the average for both games is around 7.5 on GameRankings and Metacritic so EG are certainly the exception here.

    Although I thought Kane & Lynch 2 was pretty average (OK I hated it to tell the truth), I think Mafia II is good and certainly not sub-par in any way, shape or form. Each to their own though.

  • Paperghost #4 1 year ago

    well i don't think i'll be buying any DLC for it. horribly slow and predictable story, bland as hell "missions" for the first 9 or so chapters, seemingly gaping holes in the story (wonder if that's where the DLC comes in), at least one game breaking glitch popping up on all formats that prevents completion of chapter 14 (did i just put 12 hours into a game I cannot now currently complete? oh good, I did) and some of the worst checkpoint spacing I've ever seen (accidentally dying due to the game doing something stupid or glitching should not mean i have to go back anything up to 15 minutes, then run up the same set of stairs, sit through unskippable dialogue, run back to the car, drive for miles, get out, die again and repeat until my eyes start bleeding).

    at least it has chuck berry on the radio :\

  • darkmorgado #5 1 year ago

    @Darren

    Yeah I know, but the comment was too tempting to resist.
    From the demo I played, K&L2 is terrible IMO. Mafia2 looks better, though I am put off by all the comments regarding an empty world and some have said the story is a bit duff. Might grab it when the price drops, but I'm not risking spending £40 when there's so much other stuff to pick up soon (Metroid! Reach! Civ V!)

  • Ryboy #6 1 year ago

    Top because of all the advertising that was EVERYWHERE!

  • bad09 #7 1 year ago

    @ darkmorgado

    Forget the "empty world" complaints, Mafia is not (and never has been) GTA. It's not an openworld sandbox game it's story led missions with incredibly detailed backdrops for eye candy.

  • Shwing #8 1 year ago

    @darkmorgado - or it could be (like @Darren touched on) that Eurogamer was away off mark with scoring both titles.

    I don't have either game (but have played their respective demos), and feel that based on what I played / video footage I have seen that 4/10 for both seemed harsh - especially for Mafia II which I intend to buy when the price drops.

  • Eraysor #9 1 year ago

    Toy Story 3 should have the top spot to be honest!

  • Hix15 #10 1 year ago

    Nice to see Blur re-entering the top 40

  • tachometer #11 1 year ago

    I'm guessing a lot of these sales are from parents desperate to keep the kids busy through the summer hols

  • Cheapshot #12 1 year ago

    I get the impression that a major part of the Eurogamer job description is genuinely to be able to come up with all of these ridiculous puns, I love 'em! :D

  • Shinetop #13 1 year ago

    But I thought UNICO was succesful? They said so themselves!

  • TopKatt #14 1 year ago

    Surely that should be Herbert's Revenge at number 40?

    Also, why the hell do I even know that????

  • Shinetop #15 1 year ago

    @darkmorgado: Maybe eurogamer's twisted review scores don't mean that much to a lot of people?

  • menage #16 1 year ago

    Well, there is fuck all to buy at this moment, so not that surprising.

  • Yuroko #17 1 year ago

    Really enjoying mafia at the moment. Sorely underrated, particularly on this site. I have no problem with it being linear because I didn't go in expecting GTA. The car handling is excellent and the combat is fun. Only thing I can say is that it feels like it could have done with another 6 months work to iron out the creases.

  • DB2k #18 1 year ago

    im surprised devs can make money out of games released on consoles and PC.

  • ZizouFC #19 1 year ago

    Ok, im not looking to start a war of words here.... but can someone explain to me how PC gaming is keeping up in sales? I know people post stats showing how well PC sales are doing whenever they are brought up; but how can they be doing well if they only account for 7% of the top selling game and didn't even get other high selling games like Red Dead Redemption?

    This is an honest question. I really don't get it. Just skimming through the list, I can't imagine the PC version of any of these games accounting for more than 10% of the overall sales (besides the 2 PC exclusives of course). Is this a piracy problem?

    Or am I being stupid - doesn't this list include Steam sales?

  • arcam #20 1 year ago

    @ZizouFC

    EG doesn't say the source for those figures, but I assume they come from Gfk Chart-Track so download sales aren't included.

    If you're interested, Chart-Track have announced they are soon to start publishing a PC download-only chart. Whether you'll see actual sales figures from that though is another matter.

  • makeamazing #21 1 year ago

    The charts are full of games that have had massive price cuts over the last 1-12 months. So i guess alot of bored gamers are looking at deals and snapping them up (which is a good thing to do when bored). Though surprised at the K&L price drop so quick though.

    Can someone answer me this, I noticed on the PSN there was a DLC for Mafia already, i was under the impression that the game came with that DLC already? or am i mixing the two up?

  • ZizouFC #22 1 year ago

    @arcam

    Thanks, I was pretty sure that PC games must sell more than that.

  • NotSoSlim #23 1 year ago

    Chapter 14 glitch that meant I had to restart 4 times as well as other glitches resulting in deaths.

    The game is good but needs sorting

  • eiocreative #24 1 year ago

    I do not get the amount of attention the save points get on Mafia? I almost never needed redo any long sections. I found them to be really well balanced and the review suggests you can't skip the cutscenes which you can.

  • Yuroko #25 1 year ago

    @makeamazing

    Think the dlc is a timed exclusive on psn.

  • makeamazing #26 1 year ago

    Ah ok, so thats not the same as the Extra content that the PS3 got right? or am i mistaken

  • darkmorgado #27 1 year ago

    @ZizouFC

    These charts don't take into account download sales, and Steam don't even release their sales data (IIRC), so the charts are indeed misleading as downloads make up a much greater proportion of game sales on PC than they do on consoles. You also need to keep in mind that these are UK charts, which is really one of the smallest gaming markets and different regions see different levels of sales for different platforms (PC tends to take up far more space in areas like Russia and Germany, for example, and let's not forget the massive amount of MMOs in Asia)

  • Diogo_Ribeiro #28 1 year ago

    "Ever get the feeling that quality isn't an issue for a lot of people? "

    When Sniper: Ghost Warrior is ahead of titles likeDragon Quest IX, it's definitely not an issue.

  • Goodfella #29 1 year ago

    Sony need to get some more exclusives out there, not one in the top 40!

    I guess Gran Turismo will change that for a while.

  • Moribundman #30 1 year ago

    @Makeamazing The DLC is totally separate from the plot - another character etc. Interestingly, the next DLC planned is another adventure with "Jimmy" and that one's advertised in the Xbox pack. No idea if the PS3 exclusive DLC will end up out on the 360 and PC...

    I also think the pre-order exclusive outfits and cars will be out as DLC for all at the end of October (based on some crafty small print reading on the pre order sign in GAME - said content was "exclusive" until 29/10/10 or something). Sounds good because I quite fancy that jeep in the war hero pack but I pre-ordered the GAME edition.

    edit: BOOOOOOOOO! You have different opinion from Eurogamer reviewer! BOOOOOOO! Negnegnegnegneg...

    EG, I have to say this one was rather staggeringly marked down... I really can't see how you could give this game less than 5/10 - the graphics, voice acting, soundtrack, plot and atmosphere make it at least a 6/10 and the set piece mostly linear plot doesn't allow you to free roam, but you can jump back into any chapter whenever you like and those set piece gun battles are pretty outstanding.
    Edited by 1 at 31/08/10 @ 13:50

  • SAMagic #31 1 year ago

    @ZizouFC: Here's food for thought:
    http://ne ws.filefront.com/report-shows-a...

  • Haloboy #32 1 year ago

    Lordy lordy. Fantastic news, After piling over 20 hours into Mafia 2 and still only reaching Act 10 I think it's fully deserved of the number one spot. Didn't that Pachter arsehole predict the game wouldn't sell?

  • sfp_noodle #33 1 year ago

    I don't know if its mentioned yet, but who else finds it odd that Fifa 10 is still so high in the charts when the new one is out in exactly 1 month? O.o

    Unless there's been a nationwide price drop I really can't see why people wouldn't just wait. It's most likely going to be £25 in supermarkets at launch anyway!

  • laudy #34 1 year ago

    Can anyone explain what on earth the car customisation is for? you don't need half the bells and whistles to outrun the police so what's the point?

  • Haloboy #35 1 year ago

    All I hear about this game constantly is 'you can't free roam' and 'ffs there's no freeride mode!'. Some are already playing a released mod that gives you freeride mode but completely strips the game of everything while you do eg stores etc.

    And yet in Mafia II vanilla I can start a mission at my house, get dressed, pull a car out of my arse...sorry garage, slap a way point way over at the other side of the city and drive there without any boundaries whatsoever. I can have cop chases. I can eat. Get shozzled. Sell import only cars. Crush cars. Find blatantly hidden wanted posters and raz mags. And gnerally do what the hell I feel like doing for as long as I feel like doing it. That little red and white dot calling me doesn't distract me from having loads of frantic or soothing fun before I take on missions.

    But these guys have to use a hastily put together buggy as hell mod? Does not compute.

    I guess I must have purchased Mafia II: The Open Minded What you talkin' about, Willis? Edition. Fucking awesome it is too.

  • EthanWoods #36 1 year ago

    The Eurogamer UK review is a joke.

    You'd think that after they had that moron Gestalt (whatever happened to him?) review the first game they'd have realised that Mafia doesn't want to be GTA, so maybe they should stop bloody comparing the two.

    "2K Czech's developers have dressed up their latest title to masquerade as a vast, Rockstar-style open world, and a pretty masquerade it is, too."

    Alright John Teti: find me one developer interview where they said they wanted to create an open sandbox game instead of a linear, story-driven one (with an open-world to support the missions).

  • Haloboy #37 1 year ago

    Jimmy's Vendetta DLC next week chaps!

    http://ww w.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/65373

  • Goodfella #38 1 year ago

    Awesome game. Still utterly baffled by the 4/10 Eurogamer gave it.

  • Paperghost #39 1 year ago

    @eiocreative

    its not the skippable cutscenes that are the problem. its when you're forced to repeat stuff in the gameworld thats punctuated by unskippable phonecalls, knocking on doors to get characters to respond (then listen to them waffle), going to pick up a car then drive to the next bit to (again) listen to people talk, then go to your main objective.

    then you die, and instead of the devs putting the checkpoint at the LAST ingame conversation directly before the shootout (or main objective or whatever), the game will place you back right at the start of said proceedings.

    by all means, put a load of ingame talking, phone picking up and driving from A to B before heading out for objective C. but if you're not gonna let me save manually, you better believe those savepoints have to go in logical places. it smacks of "we think our game is so awesome it'd be a shame to miss out this bit...and that bit...and that one too. watch it again".

    no thanks.

  • BobsUncle #40 1 year ago

    Jesus christ, how the fuck is the Sniper shit fest of a game still selling?

    Even with an update the AI is still a woeful, awful gamebraker.

  • Haloboy #41 1 year ago

    There has been many times I've got to certain points while playing and thought 'any other dev would have a checkpoint right...fucking...here'. I soon die and repeat the same notion over until I reach the end and the game saves. But I've yet to get frustrated as I tend to change tact or my approach if I die.

    True story, I had two mates over who both had turns playing the game for the first time on hard during a greasers shootout, both being console owners I handed them my wireless 360 gamepad which I assumed they'd be more comfortable with. After several attempts each neither could do it, nor even come close. I took over with the very same controller (although I always use the mouse and keyboard) and did it on my first attempt. I know, I was like er ok then woo!

    Mafia II. It's harsh as sin on friends who are console owners. :p

  • Quixz #42 1 year ago

    Halo 3 back in the charts?!

  • eiocreative #43 1 year ago

    @Paperghost

    I understand that I just don't feel Mafia 2 is particularly guilty of it than any other game of it's type I have played. It's certainly no worse than GTA in that respect. Most drives to a mission result in a save and all large indoor levels have more than two or three save points.

    I also don't get the complaints that it's not an open world game. As I get older I don't have the time to play games as much as I did and I found I got bored of GTA long before I ever finished it. I really enjoyed that the city was there as a rich layer to connect the missions together. It gave each a sense of place and time and if the developer was happy to develop the city as a means of adding to the atmosphere then I am more than happy with that. I have no desire to spend large parts of my life in it, but as a backdrop to the missions it was superb.

  • Reliwonga #44 1 year ago

    Has anyone else found that you can't actually buy art academy anywhere? Probably why that has free fallen out the charts. Guess it's been fairly popular. Also Mafia 2 is awesome from what I have played so far.

  • coomber #45 1 year ago

    Eurogamer always provides links to their reviews of games in stories like these. No mention of it here though. I wonder if they are embarrassed by their colleague's review? (I haven't played the game so I have no opinion on his review one way or the other.)

  • EthanWoods #46 1 year ago

    @ tigerstyle

    Most PC gamers use digital distribution instead of retail. This doesn't count for digital sales.

    To measure how well a game has done on the PC by the number of retail copies it's sold is pointless.
    Edited by 1 at 31/08/10 @ 19:07

  • bad09 #47 1 year ago

    @ EthanWoods

    Don't bother he's just trolling.

  • Goodfella #48 1 year ago

    Yep, tigerstyle is a well know cock of the highest order.

    Why he feels the need to put down Sony or PC gaming all the time is not even worth thinking about. He's a fucking prick, plain and simple.

  • EthanWoods #49 1 year ago

    Sounds like that grasshopper guy on CVG :L

  • darkmorgado #50 1 year ago

    @EthanWoods

    You mean SVD_Grasshopper?

    He's on here, with the same handle I think (PC GAMING IS DEAD! BRING OUT YOUR DEAD! etc)

  • EthanWoods #51 1 year ago

    @ darkmorgado

    Uuh, you're shitting me? -.-

  • sfp_noodle #52 1 year ago

    Erm tigerstyle?

    FUCK OFF

    I own a 360, my gamertag is even linked to my EG profile and I still think your silly cunt.