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Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

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FIFA 09 is first UK No.1 of 2009

Although Wii sales are predictably stellar.

EA and Activision continue to trade places at the peak of the UK All-Formats Top 40, with FIFA 09 ahead of Call of Duty: World at War for the first recorded week of 2009, which ended on 3rd January.

Interestingly (or not), Call of Duty topped both of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 charts, but FIFA held it off anyway thanks presumably to extra sales on Wii, DS, PS2 and PSP.

Both games nonetheless dropped off over the New Year, with FIFA experiencing a 41 per cent weekly decline in sales and Call of Duty a drop of 50 per cent - still 5,000 more units than Need For Speed: Undercover, which remains third.

Otherwise the Top 40 is the usual reshuffle, with Guitar Hero: World Tour up to fourth (its highest-ever position according to compiler Chart-Track), and various Wii games scattered about including Mario & Sonic, Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii in the top ten.

Mario Kart Wii sales were down 60 per cent, apparently, but that was still enough to give it 8th spot, and the units-sold chart says the Wii exclusive was the second best-selling single unit of software, behind the evergreen Wii Play and ahead of Call of Duty: World at War on 360.

Returning to the All-Formats list, there are a few re-entries lower down, but the only new entry is Nintendo's 100 Classic Book Collection, which arrives at 27 following its Boxing Day launch.

Here's the full UK All-Formats Top 40 for the week ended 3rd January 2009:

This Week Last Week Title Platform(s)
1 2 FIFA 09 PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS
2 1 Call of Duty: World at War PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS
3 3 Need for Speed Undercover PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS
4 7 Guitar Hero: World Tour Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii
5 9 Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Wii, DS
6 5 Wii Play Wii
7 11 Far Cry 2 PC, Xbox 360, PS3
8 4 Mario Kart Wii Wii
9 8 Quantum of Solace PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS
10 10 Sonic Unleashed Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii
11 17 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC
12 19 Carnival: Funfair Games Wii
13 12 Gears of War 2 Xbox 360
14 6 Tomb Raider: Underworld PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS
15 16 Prince of Persia Xbox 360, PS3
16 21 Mirror's Edge PC, Xbox 360, PS3
17 14 LEGO Indiana Jones PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS
18 13 Dr Kawashima's Brain Training DS
19 33 Wii Fit Wii
20 15 Fallout 3 PC, Xbox 360, PS3
21 20 LEGO Batman: The Videogame PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS
22 30 WALL-E PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS
23 18 Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 PC, Xbox 360, PS3
24 27 Shaun White Snowboarding Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, Wii, DS
25 31 Football Manager 2009 PC, PSP
26 25 WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, DS, PS2
27 New! 100 Classic Book Collection DS
28 26 Grand Theft Auto IV Xbox 360, PS3, PC
29 32 Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party DS, Wii
30 22 LittleBigPlanet PS3
31 23 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP, PS2
32 Re-entry Big Beach Sports Wii
33 36 NEW Super Mario Bros. DS
34 Re-entry Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP
35 24 Kung Fu Panda PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS
36 28 More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima DS
37 Re-entry Midnight Club: Los Angeles Xbox 360, PS3
38 Re-entry Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Xbox 360, PS3, PC, DS
39 Re-entry Mario Kart DS DS
40 34 Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City Wii

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