UK Charts: Sonic Heroes dominates
Another boring week, with no sign of I-Ninja, Maximo or Castlevania.
Sega's Sonic Heroes has taken the top spot across all console platforms in the UK for a second week running, as the small selection of new releases last Friday failed to dent the Full Price Top 40.
New releases from Konami (Castlevania: Lament of Innocence), Sony (I-Ninja), Capcom (Maximo Vs. Army of Zin) and Acclaim (Urban Freestyle Soccer) are all down as missing in action this week, with not a single one of them appearing anywhere in the charts.
Aside from Sonic Heroes (and, er, Norton Internet Security 2004, but let's not talk about that), the only 2004 titles in the top ten as we head into week eight of the year are Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II, down one place to number six, and the console versions of Mafia, down four places to number seven.
Other 2004 contenders include EA's Looney Tunes: Back In Action, which rises two places to number 13 this week, Eidos' Legacy of Kain: Defiance, down six places to number 17, and Koch Media's X2: The Threat which slips one place to number 18.
Apart from that, it's all familiar titles from the Christmas line-up, with Need for Speed Underground holding firm at number two, The Simpsons Hit & Run up two places to number four, FIFA 2004 up two to number five, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King steady at eight, Medal of Honor: Rising Sun up four to number nine, and The Sims: Bustin Out down a place to number ten. Once again, five EA titles make it into the top ten ranking.
It's not just Christmas 2003 titles that are outselling the new releases either - Sony's EyeToy: Play, which was the biggest title of last summer, is at number 11 this week, and Grand Theft Auto Vice City, which was the top dog for Christmas 2002, is holding steady at number 14.
Next week will probably see the late arrival of some of this week's MIA games into the charts - we find it hard to believe that Castlevania won't chart given a full week on sale, and it'll be a huge shame if the game-buying public completely overlooks I-Ninja - along with some genuinely big releases due out this Friday, with Square Enix' Final Fantasy X-2 (published here by EA) being the obvious candidate for the top spot.