Splinter Cell still top
Fights off Sims challenge
Sam Fisher remained the nation’s favourite stealth hero, clinging onto the No.1 slot for a second straight week, fighting off the All Format might of The Sims, which crept back up to No.2. The record breaking CM4 slipped to No.3, while the heavily-discounted Primal remained at No.4 for a second week.
The week’s new releases failed to get off to a spectacular start, with Gathering’s long delayed jungle FPS Vietcong debuting at No.10, while Activision’s X-Men 2: Wolverine’s Revenge got a similarly muted response, only managing No.11 across multiple formats – and in a quiet week that’s not much to shout about.
The only other new release to report in the All Formats was Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh! Worldwide Edition on the GBA – a massively popular franchise in Japan, but not quite the new Pokémon it has been pimped as. The GameCube version of Conflict Desert Storm debuted at No.9 in the Cube chart, but as far as new releases went, that was it. What happened to NovaLogic’s Devastation and Sony’s excellent War Of The Monsters, eh?
Thus, the rest of the chart was much the same as last week’s, with FIFA 2003, Vice City and The Getaway still refusing to leave the Top 10, while Harry Potter 2 snuck back in on the back of some discounting.
Other fast movers – but in the wrong direction – included Devil May Cry 2, which plummeted from No.5 to No.19, while Freelancer dive bombed from No.7 to No.22.
On a per format basis, Halo is yet again the only Xbox-exclusive to get anywhere near the top sellers, while Metroid Prime, the Cube’s No.1 game, made a fairly miserable No.33 on the Full Price chart. Unsurprisingly, the PS2 has a stack of exclusive titles in the Top 40. The PC, meanwhile, fares better than usual, with six exclusive games currently present in the Top 40. The GBA’s SP fuelled resurgence sees four of its titles currently in the All Formats, but is this enough?
Next week is likely to be an exceptionally quiet week, with just Pride FC and Tropico 2 likely to make it to the Top 40. Only 10 days 'til The Wind Waker though, people…