Spider-Man 2 UK boxed sales beat Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a big success for PlayStation, with enormous opening weekend sales of physical copies here in the UK.

Insomniac's sequel is the fourth-biggest UK boxed game launch of 2023, behind EA Sports FC, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Hogwarts Legacy.

All of this means Nintendo Switch exclusive Super Mario Bros. Wonder had to contend for second place this week, though Nintendo games tend to sell more consistently over the weeks that follow.

Chart analysis from GamesIndustry.biz's Chris Dring shows physical sales of Spider-Man 2 down "significantly" from Spider-Man 1, though the shift in console generations and ongoing push towards digital sales makes proper comparisons difficult.

UK digital sales data will be made available at a later date.

It wasn't all bad news for Mario, either. Launch sales of Wonder were only narrowly behind Super Mario Odyssey and Super Mario 3D All-Stars, making it the UK's third-biggest boxed Mario launch.

Again, comparisons aren't easy here - Switch's install base has grown since both Odyssey and All-Stars arrived, though digital takeup has also increased, even on Switch which has historically skewed more heavily towards physical copies sold.

A better test for Mario will be its sales over time, as it will likely continue to sell consistently over the Christmas period and into next year. But will the arrival of Switch 2 cut that short, perhaps? Or will we be playing it via some form of backwards compatibility next year?