Animal Crossing closes gap on Lara Article

No change at the top of the charts this week, as Tomb Raider Legend clings on to first place for the third consecutive week, despite sales dropping by more than half over the Easter break.

Vivendi's Ice Age 2: The Meltdown remains frozen in second place, with a significant margin of sales keeping it from claiming the throne this week. However, the theatrical debut may help push sales even further this week, and with the steady decline in purchases of Tomb Raider, we could well see a new leader at the start of May.

Nintendo's quirky DS title, Animal Crossing: Wild World enjoys a three step jump into third, knocking the consistently strong performers from EA down a peg, with FIFA Street 2 and The Godfather slipping to fourth and fifth respectively.

EA needn't be too concerned however, as The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff - the highest seller of the three Sims 2 titles in the top forty - enjoys a meteoric rise from thirteen to enter the top ten at number six.

The lower end of the top ten sales chart suffers from a bit of a see-saw effect, with Sega's Football Manager 2006 down two to seven, Ubisoft tipping the balance with Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter up one to eight. Relentless lose points with Buzz: The Big Quiz dropping two places to nine, and Bethesda enjoys a top ten re-entry with Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, up one place and back in the game at ten.

Elsewhere in the charts, Sony's Karaoke quest continues, with SingStar Rocks climbing five places from eighteen to thirteen, while the latest in the popular SOCOM series, SOCOM 3: US Navy SEALs debuts at number twenty-two.

Square Enix makes a positive mark on the Xbox 360 charts, debuting at number five with Final Fantasy XI Online - the first MMOG for the next-gen console. It's impact is somewhat dampened in the all-formats chart however, just managing to sneak into the top forty at number forty.

New releases for the end of the month include Nintendo's surgical simulation, Trauma Center: Under the Knife on DS, Black and White 2: Battle of the Gods from EA, and NCsoft's much anticipated MMO expansion, Guild Wars Factions.