Mighty Vice storms back to claim Xmas No.1
You can't keep a good man down
Rockstar North's all-conquering Grand Theft Auto: Vice City has returned to the top of the All Formats chart to claim the coveted Christmas No.1 slot, knocking Sony's challenger to No.2, after just one week at the top.
Given that the PS2 title had shifted over 600,000 units up to the end of November, the race is now on for the game to become the fastest million selling game ever - and no one would bet against it happening very soon. Figures will become available towards the end of next week, so the wait to find out won't be long.
Electronic Arts continued to mop up the lion's share of the upper echelon of the chart, with Harry Potter, FIFA, Bond and Lord Of The Rings still occupying positions three to six. In fact, the rest of the chart closely resembles last week's, with only minor movement across the entire Top 40.
Elsewhere in the listings, there was just one new entry - Activision's Minority Report at No.17, which actually came out five weeks ago. Its sudden arrival in the charts is presumably down to some hefty discounting after its initial quiet debut, coupled with the boost resulting from the DVD's recent release.
Budget conscious gamers this Christmas have been buying the lacklustre Crash Bandicoot - Wrath Of Cortex, Gran Turismo 3 and THQ's Scooby Doo And The Cyber Chase, while the truly awful London Racer II is the fourth best selling budget game. Sometimes the general public really worries us.
Rather unexcitingly, the charts are likely to remain exactly the same for the next four weeks, while publishers count their evil winnings, or lick their wounds. Normal service will be resumed sometime in February.
However, given the amount of high profile flops this Christmas, there are more than a few publishers out there in all sorts of trouble thanks to you lot not buying their expensively made games…