UK Charts: WWE lays SmackDown
On the rest of the chart.
THQ's latest wrestling title, WWE SmackDown Vs. Raw 2006, has gone straight in at number one in the UK charts this week, knocking Star Wars: Battlefront 2 off the top spot and becoming the fastest-selling wrestling title ever on PS2.
The PS2-exclusive title, developed by THQ's regular wrestling title partner Yuke's, displaced Lucasarts' Pandemic-developed multi-format title Battlefront II, which dropped a single place to number two but shed 35 per cent of its sales in the process.
Electronic Arts clocked up the next highest new entry, with movie tie-in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at number six this week - expect it to rise even higher next week as the movie goes on general release - while another movie licensed title rounded off the list of new entries in the top ten, with Atari's The Matrix: Path of Neo at number nine.
Further down the ranking, Activision has two new entries, with Neversoft's new franchise GUN at number 14 - the firm will probably be hoping that strong worth of mouth will lift the performance of the game in the run-up to Christmas - while Lionhead's The Movies has a slightly disappointing start at number 28.
Sony's Eye Toy Play 3 also enters the chart for the first time this week, coming in at number 34 in its second week on release, and there are chart successes for the firm's other "social gaming" franchises as well, with SingStar 80s seeing its sales rise 44 per cent (although it drops one place to number 23) while Buzz! The Music Quiz is up 48 per cent in sales, and also up one place in the chart to number 16.
Looking back at the top ten, there's no clear leader among the big hitters at this early stage of the pre-Christmas sales game - FIFA 06 continues to do well, and is up one place to number three, while Pro Evolution Soccer 5 drops two places to number five, and PSP title Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories drops two places to number four.
The Sims 2 continues to enjoy the second wind afforded to it by its release on console platforms, and is up three places to number seven this week - while Capcom's PS version of Resident Evil 4 drops a single place to number eight, and Rockstar's The Warriors slumps five places to number ten.
The November barrage of releases continues unabated next week, with EA launching both Battlefield 2: Modern Combat on PS2 and Xbox and James Bond 007: From Russia With Love on Xbox, Cube and PS2, as well as publishing Half-Life 2 on Xbox on behalf of Valve.
Ubisoft rolls out Peter Jackson's King Kong on Xbox, Cube, PS2 and PC - with the game hotly tipped as one of the finest film tie-ins of all time - while one of Nintendo's big Christmas hopes for the Cube, in the absence of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, appears in the form of Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, and Namco's SoulCalibur III arrives on PS2.