UK Charts: DOA4 kicks EA off top spot
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.