UK Charts: EA races back to the top tagopt_brief-feature_type-

Electronic Arts' Need for Speed: Most Wanted is back in pole position in the UK sales ranking this week, displacing Dead or Alive 4 after just a week at the top to take its ninth week at number one.

The game, which was the UK's Christmas number one, is now just one week short of the total of ten weeks at the top which was set by its predecessor, Need for Speed Underground 2, at the beginning of last year.

Microsoft's Dead or Alive 4, meanwhile, falls to number six in the chart from last week's number one, having been the first Xbox 360 exclusive title ever to top the charts in the UK.

The rest of the top ten is mostly made up of familiar names, with The Sims 2 up two places to number two, Pro Evolution Soccer 5 up two places to number three, and FIFA 06 up two places to number four.

The only new entry in the top ten - or indeed in the entire top 40 - is Ubisoft's Rugby Challenge 2006, which was developed by UK firm Swordfish Studios and debuts at number seven in the chart.

Another sports title is the single biggest riser in the char this week - namely Take Two's Torino 2006 Winter Olympics game, which rises a massive 25 places to number 13.

One game which is notably absent from this week's ranking is EA's long-awaited European release of Namco's quirky cult classic We Love Katamari, which is widely reported to have failed to show up in many retailers for its Friday release date.