UK Charts: DOA4 kicks EA off top spot

By Paul Loughrey Published 31 January, 2006

Xbox 360 titles shift an otherwise static sales chart.

After an astonishing reign at the top of the sales chart, EA's Need for Speed: Most Wanted has been pushed into second place by Microsoft's latest Xbox 360 exclusive, Dead or Alive 4.

The latest instalment in Tecmo's highly acclaimed beat-em-up franchise has stormed straight into first place in the all-formats chart, pushing the next five games down one place. It's definitely a positive sign for Microsoft after the much publicised hardware shortages for the new console made a significant impact on software sales.

Games for the first next-generation console are beginning to pick up across the board, and the top three titles in the charts are all available for the console. More importantly, four Xbox 360 exclusives have broken into the top 20 for the first time since the console's December 2005 launch.

Call of Duty 2 (also available on PC) climbs two places from nine to seven, while Project Gotham Racing 3 overtakes seven titles to reach number nine. One of the console's heavily marketed launch titles, Perfect Dark Zero, makes a dramatic leap from 27, re-entering the top twenty at number 14.

SEGA's Condemned: Criminal Origins has also made a jump back into the top 40, re-entering the chart at number 18 and adding fuel to the rumour that Microsoft's console shortages could finally be coming to an end.

The movement of Xbox 360 titles has managed to mobilise an otherwise stagnant sales chart, with the remainder of the console and handheld formats largely falling victim to the traditional seasonal void of new releases.

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Comments (45) Latest comment 6 years ago

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

  • RabidMonkey #1 6 years ago

    The latest instalment in Tecmo's highly acclaimed beat-em-up franchise

    We're talking about Dead or Alive here, right?

  • Dizzy #2 6 years ago

    Acclaimed?

  • Shinji #3 6 years ago

    /prods Paul over definition of "highly acclaimed" :)

  • Xerx3s #4 6 years ago

    "heavily marketed launch titles"

    I dunno about you guys, but i havent seen any of that :\

    When H2 & co where launched, they showed so many adverts & commercials over here, even me granny knew it was comming. Hell, at one point they actually ran the same commercial twice in a row :\

  • Darren #5 6 years ago

    Although I don't think the game is all that great, it's still nice to see DOA 4, an Xbox 360 game no less, sitting at the top of the UK all-formats chart!

  • abigsmurf #6 6 years ago

    there are enough people with 360's to get a game to no.1? Impressive even if it's a dead time for game releases

  • Netfreak #7 6 years ago

    I'm glad most gamers didn't give a shit about Eurogamer's review on DOA4.

  • Scientist #8 6 years ago

    "I'm glad most gamers didn't give a shit about Eurogamer's review on DOA4."

    I'm upset that most gamers base their purchases on mainstream advertising or co-promotions with the Sun, hence explaining the usual pap which dominates the higher reaches of the chart.

  • captain-future #9 6 years ago

    \o/ \O/ yah! first interesting game for X360.

  • RabidMonkey #10 6 years ago

    Aren't you forgetting Ridge Racer 6?

  • tengu #11 6 years ago

    Tits and ass at the top of the UK charts. Well, makes a change from cars I suppose :)

  • Helios #12 6 years ago

    How are there enough people in the UK with 360s for there to be an X360 game topping the charts?

    Did people buy it to look at the cover or something?

  • BartonFink #13 6 years ago

    Yea that must have been it to look at the cover .... jaysus some people if you are going to troll at least make it a decent attempt :)
    Edited by 1 at 31/01/06 @ 17:36

  • Helios #14 6 years ago

    Sorry, I felt it was more interesting than typing 'Wow. I am amazed that an X360 title can top the charts considering the number of them in the UK.'

    To be honest, i'd rather be sarcastic than be boring :p

  • BartonFink #15 6 years ago

    Nah the trolling bit was more aimed at the last part of the post :p

  • IronGiant #16 6 years ago

    Any ideas how many units it shifted to get to number 1?

  • Talha #17 6 years ago

    "Looks like Shinji's little piece of creative writing has had quite an impact "

    One would think it is totally pointless coming to this site, when you refuse to give any credibility to the reviewers here? And since when reviews stopped average games topping the chart ?

  • Hog-lumps #18 6 years ago

    Looks like Shinji's little piece of creative writing has had quite an impact

    /sniggers

    Well that's the equivalent of saying 'nah, nah-nah, nah nah!' - How mature of you………

  • captain-future #19 6 years ago

    @RabidMonkey: I haven't played RR 6 yet - but it's on my list.

  • Talha #20 6 years ago

    Hog-lumps: Lately, all of his comments can be roughly translated as 'nah-na-na-na-nah". Doesn't bode well for X360 target demographic ;-).

  • Mirkan #21 6 years ago

    Er, yes, when something scores 10,10,9,10 in famitsu it's "highly acclaimed", make no mistake.

  • Genji #22 6 years ago

    Really? In Famitsu? Is that the weekly Famitsu, or another one? I know there's more than one, and only one is the notoriously hard marker.

  • Netfreak #23 6 years ago

    Famitsu Xbox gave it 37/40 while Famitsu multiplatform gave it 39/40

    It says a lot about Eurogamer's review, eh?

  • Feanor #24 6 years ago

    Yeah, that Famitsu are teh bias! :)

  • Dizzy #25 6 years ago

    Well we all know that Japanese always over-score everything!

  • redd #26 6 years ago

    2d beat em ups > 3d beat em ups.

    ill wait for my sweet sweet street fighter 2 to hit arcade... oh the nostalgy!

  • Bates #27 6 years ago

    "Hog-lumps: Lately, all of his comments can be roughly translated as 'nah-na-na-na-nah". Doesn't bode well for X360 target demographic ;-)"

    LeDildo only posts to troll and/or abuse anyone who doesn't agree with him and/or criticises Microsoft, everyone knows that. Complete hypocrite.

  • Mirkan #28 6 years ago

    "It says a lot about Eurogamer's review, eh?"

    Indeed, EG in another scoring-360-games-lower-than-everybody-else shocker!!!

  • Pirotic #29 6 years ago

    I'm just glad eurogamer wrote a review, when most other sites just re-used the DoA3 review with a couple of word replacements. 6/10 is almost spot on.

  • Genji #30 6 years ago

    How does seeing a respectable magazine like Famitsu give it such a high score lessen the value of the EG review?

  • #31 6 years ago

    i really don't expect any 360 review on this site to be useful.

    they're good for a laugh though, especially when a slated title on a slated console takes the #1 spot in a country EG claim the console can't be bought in.

    please don't flame me fanboys, that's reaction, not bias.

  • Mirkan #32 6 years ago

    Yeah, this site is still excellent for interviews and sort of europe/pal related game info. Even if the questions are sometimes rubbish, for instance Michel Ancel managed to make the response very interesting regardless.

    It's just the opinions of EG that hold little to no value anymore. The whole mentality towards what the "next generation" "should" do is just rediculous, and quite frankly something I expect to be dropped soon enough when it sort of dawns that it's just not gonna happen that way.

  • The-Bodybuilder #33 6 years ago

    >"Well we all know that Japanese always over-score everything!"

    Yes, because we all know the japanese love the xbox and microsoft.
    /rolleyes

    Really, is it so hard to think that maybe, just maybe, DOA4 is better than what EG believe (not to say they aren't entitled to thier own opinion).

  • The-Bodybuilder #34 6 years ago

    >"It's just the opinions of EG that hold little to no value anymore. The whole mentality towards what the "next generation" "should" do is just rediculous, and quite frankly something I expect to be dropped soon enough when it sort of dawns that it's just not gonna happen that way."

    Indeed.

  • Genji #35 6 years ago

    "Really, is it so hard to think that maybe, just maybe, DOA4 is better than what EG believe (not to say they aren't entitled to thier own opinion)."

    Impossible to know unless you play the game yourself. Then, you can come to your OWN opinion, which is just as valid as anyone else's.

  • Mirkan #36 6 years ago

    So reviewers are paid to state their opinion, equal in value to everyone else's? No.

    Reviewers, through proffessional experience, should be able to look beyond their own fickle opinions and break the game down into different aspects that each are judged objectively. If such a thing as personal opinion has to factor in, make that a separate variable instead, like Gamespot's "Tilt" meter.

    EG fans continously state that the best thing about this site is that the reviewers feel like normal blokes speaking their mind, like any circle of friends. I think that's more or less accurate. I never trust "normal blokes" to be able to dissect a game and offer any kind of insight in its actual quality either.

  • Dizzy #37 6 years ago

    ">"Well we all know that Japanese always over-score everything!"

    Yes, because we all know the japanese love the xbox and microsoft.
    /rolleyes "

    I was being sarcastic mate! ;)

  • Ranger101 #38 6 years ago

    Mirkan, heres an easy solution to the issue you raise, and the problem you have with EG:


    DONT COME HERE ANYMORE.

  • Mirkan #39 6 years ago

    I really don't need a solution, as it doesn't bother me so much. I'm simply stating my opinion on the matter, and it's hardly a lament at that.

    I come here for fresh PAL/Europe based news, all of which is reported with a good amount of wittyness, and the interviews that more often than not are landed with people I actually care about. Not like IGN where they interview EA people for every NFL released.

    I come here because I like the site, but on the topic raised here about EG's DOA4 score I simply make points based on my opinions and experience with this site's reviews.

    But thanks for the concern.

  • The-Bodybuilder #40 6 years ago

    >"I was being sarcastic mate! ;)"

    Well it's a bit hard to sense that through text. I may be a man with super powers, but I'm not superman you know. ;)

    >"DONT COME HERE ANYMORE."

    Ah yes, good ol' communism.
    Lets all give games a bashing, especially games that EG rate poorly. But the minute a person disagrees, he should leave?

    Besides, I doubt the editor wouldn't take to kindly to low bandwidth to the site. Face it, EG NEEDS people to come here, otherwise like the old saying goes, "there really is no point".

  • Genji #41 6 years ago

    "Reviewers, through proffessional experience, should be able to look beyond their own fickle opinions and break the game down into different aspects that each are judged objectively."

    Wow... you're joking, right? By that reasoning, every review of every game would end up with the same score.

    "I really, really hate this game, but because I'm going to review this objectively, I will give it a 9."

    Yeah, that's a great solution.

  • ImGameCube #42 6 years ago

    Can someone give me a shout when these comments threads start to become interesting again?

    Thanks!

    A.

  • Shinji #43 6 years ago

    Reviewers, through proffessional experience, should be able to look beyond their own fickle opinions and break the game down into different aspects that each are judged objectively.

    That's only partially true. It's simply not possible for a person to consider something like a piece of media in an "objective" way, because there IS no objective way to write about it - other than simply listing the features, which admittedly is what some US sites choose to do in place of actually reviewing things.

    A reviewer should certainly be able to percieve something past their own personal bias, simply because they are expected to back up everything they say. A man down the pub can say "that was shite," a professional reviewer needs to say "that was shite BECAUSE of these reasons". That's the difference.

    No reviewer should be entirely subjective, but any reviewer claiming to be objective doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.

  • Mirkan #44 6 years ago

    Anyone who really thinks badly of a game knows why. The difference between a guy who backs up his opinions with arguments and one that just blurts something out with no reasoning behind it is just that the latter is either an idiot or just can't be bothered to elaborate.

    I don't like Final Fantasy 7 and I can give you a load of reasons why, including stuff most people would consider valid. The animations (or lack thereof) in battles, the random encounters and the summons that take way too much time to sit through. That doesn't mean that the game isn't awesome, it means I don't like it and I just don't "get" it.

    Now I said that in a comments thread on a games site, but if I was part of the staff and got paid for it, all of that (minus the "I don't get the game" bit, cause that'd be suicide in an official review) would claim to be a proffessional statement, and one that people would take to heart even before touching the game themselves and realising that "oh boy, that guy just didn't get it".

    I don't believe for a second that a reviewer can't be objective, but it certainly means playing a game for a different reason than a "normal" gamer does. I can play a game and simply tell you what I think about it, in which case subject matter can weigh up poor controls to an extent (although it never would for me, but for arguments sake) but does that mean I should put a high score on it? Definitely not.

    In order to rate the game objectively, you look at design/design flaws, the flow of the game, controls, menu system, etc etc. I mean christ, you know all this stuff.

    If you build a bridge and someone tries walking over it, it breaks and they fall in the water, that's a crappy bridge even if the guy likes swimming.

  • miiiguel #45 6 years ago

    Hello.
    Bodybuilder: what communism has to do with this issue, diddn't get it - I just completed a paper on Communism/Marxism, and I left DOA4 out... - silly me!!!
    Anyway, completetly agree on EG review on DOA4, but I can consider that this games would please a foreign culture more. Those who are shouting "Famitsu this, Famitsu that..." have you played the game ?