Animal Crossing closes gap on Lara

By Paul Loughrey Published 25 April, 2006

Vivendi still chilling out in second place.

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.

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About Paul Loughrey

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Comments (21) Latest comment 6 years ago

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  • Blerk #1 6 years ago

    enjoys a meteoric rise from thirteen

    Surely meteors fall? Not rise?

    Still no Lara price drop on the cards, then? Bah.

  • FairgroundTown #2 6 years ago

    Noticed AC-WW being advertised quite heavily on TV - more-so than any previous DS title. (Although this may be just because I watch a lot of "girls" TV, and they are pushing it hard in that market - the ad features a pretty 16-year-old girl using AC to chat to her friends, and they push the chat element more than the game itself.)

  • afray #3 6 years ago

    What about Guitar Hero? How's that doing?

  • Blerk #4 6 years ago

    Down to 35 in the all-formats chart.

  • afray #5 6 years ago

    Gah. Been no advertising for it, though despite Red Octane saying the opp in MCV a few weeks back.

  • Tomo #6 6 years ago

    There are a few Guitar Hero adverts on the tube... if that counts.

  • afray #7 6 years ago

    No!

    Everyone I've shown the game to - non-gamers included - has loved it. Two people have pledged to buy PS2s just to play the game!

    It needs some TV time with decent adverts and it'll sell.

    Maybe it's because of the stock shortages. The same MCV article said that there'll be much more stock after the summer. Maybe they've got a campaign lined up for then.

  • Blerk #8 6 years ago

    It's pretty expensive too, don't forget.

  • afray #9 6 years ago

    aye, that's true.

    *sighs*

  • abeit2 #10 6 years ago

    Animal crossing is truly a franchise in your pocket. It deserves the credit it gets. Simplisity in nature but absolutely compelling and addicting. I play this more than Elder Scrolls Oblivion.

  • symmetry #11 6 years ago

    I'll post the full chart then. Good to see Oblivion back in the top ten. Guitar Hero is still languishing(sp?) at the bottom but that's probably because it's not cheap.


    1 TOMB RAIDER: LEGEND EIDOS
    2 ICE AGE 2: THE MELTDOWN VIVENDI UNIVERSAL GAMES
    3 ANIMAL CROSSING: WILD WORLD NINTENDO
    4 FIFA STREET 2 ELECTRONIC ARTS
    5 THE GODFATHER ELECTRONIC ARTS
    6 THE SIMS 2: FAMILY FUN STUFF ELECTRONIC ARTS
    7 FOOTBALL MANAGER 2006 SEGA
    8 TOM CLANCY'S GHOST RECON: ADV WARFIGHTER UBISOFT
    9 BUZZ! THE BIG QUIZ SONY COMPUTER ENT.
    10 THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: OBLIVION TAKE 2
    11 KING KONG: OFFICIAL GAME OF THE MOVIE UBISOFT
    12 THE SIMS 2 ELECTRONIC ARTS
    13 SINGSTAR ROCKS! SONY COMPUTER ENT.
    14 BATMAN BEGINS ELECTRONIC ARTS
    15 BATTLEFIELD 2: MODERN COMBAT ELECTRONIC ARTS
    16 FIFA 06 ELECTRONIC ARTS
    17 CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER 2006 EIDOS
    18 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 5 KONAMI
    19 DRAGON QUEST: JOURNEY OF THE CURSED KING SQUARE ENIX EUROPE
    20 NEED FOR SPEED: MOST WANTED ELECTRONIC ARTS
    21 THE SIMS 2: OPEN FOR BUSINESS ELECTRONIC ARTS
    22 SOCOM 3: US NAVY SEALS SONY COMPUTER ENT.
    23 NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH & WARDROBE BUENA VISTA GAMES
    24 FIGHT NIGHT ROUND 3 ELECTRONIC ARTS
    25 BLACK ELECTRONIC ARTS
    26 WORMS: OPEN WARFARE THQ
    27 HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE ELECTRONIC ARTS
    28 WWE SMACKDOWN! VS RAW 2006 THQ
    29 CRAZY FROG RACER UBISOFT
    30 DRIVER: PARALLEL LINES ATARI
    31 SONIC RIDERS SEGA
    32 LEGO STAR WARS TT GAMES
    33 TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL: ESSENTIALS UBISOFT
    34 CHICKEN LITTLE BUENA VISTA GAMES
    35 GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS TAKE 2
    36 GUITAR HERO REDOCTANE
    37 OUTRUN 2006: COAST 2 COAST SEGA
    38 SOCOM: US NAVY SEALS FIRETEAM BRAVO SONY COMPUTER ENT.
    39 GRAND THEFT AUTO: LIBERTY CITY STORIES TAKE 2
    40 FINAL FANTASY XI ONLINE UBISOFT

  • Ceatlan #12 6 years ago

    They've already said that they won't be pushing Guitar Hero until later in the year, around September I think, when they've actually got enough stock of the guitar peripherals to satisfy demand. Think of it being in pre-release at the moment, with the real release coming later :-D

  • Scientist #13 6 years ago

    Dragon Quest's performance perhaps underlines the Brits' meh-ness to JRPGs apart from the FF series.

  • Blerk #14 6 years ago

    To be honest, two weeks at number 19 is far, far better than I expected!

  • Daryoon #15 6 years ago

    Have FF games themselves ever really performed that well though?

  • mouse Verified Graphic designer, Eurogamer Network #16 6 years ago

    I am so pleased Animal Crossing sold. Have that NUK.

  • smelly #17 6 years ago

    Im a fanboy apparently, but i just dont get AC

  • lambtron #18 6 years ago

    Stay down there at no.38 SOCOM you _MISERABLE_ excuse for a game! Why DO the yanks love it so much?!?

  • Toonster #19 6 years ago

    'Stay down there at no.38 SOCOM you _MISERABLE_ excuse for a game! Why DO the yanks love it so much?!?'

    Because it has 'US' in the title.

  • jonchoo #20 6 years ago

    ACWW could have been higher if it was released closer to the NA release. I wonder how many sales were 'lost' to importers.

  • mouse Verified Graphic designer, Eurogamer Network #21 6 years ago

    Well they lost my sale for a start. I just couldn't wait!