This Wii had a lot of software representation in the top ten this week, with a third-party game taking the highest honors -- Namco Bandai's Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. Japan's Wii RPG love wasn't enough to put the newest Tales game into first place, though; a DS title about horse racing, Derby Stallion, took that coveted position. Yet, Symphonia's first week sales are pretty impressive.
The other Wii games that found themselves in the top ten were Mario Super Sluggers, and of course Wii Fit and Mario Kart. As for hardware, the Wii dropped to third place, falling behind the DS by a minuscule margin: To see the top ten software sales numbers and rankings, just clicky clicky on the "continue reading" link below.
Even though Wii Fit continues to be as common as chicken teeth everywhere, Nintendo finally seems to be sorting out its Mario Kart Wii stock issues in Europe. After dipping in recent weeks, the racer (which nearly made this blogger sob with frustration at our last Game Night) has risen in Ireland, Holland, and the UK. Wii Play had a fine few days, sensationally nabbing second spot in Britain, while Sports Island is raking in the euros in the Netherlands. Those crazy Dutch.
Not much on the horizon next week, except for some beat-'em-up. Super Crash Bros. Fighter, or something. We forget. Charts follow the break, folks.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Well, except for the PSP, that is. Sony's handheld is still as mighty as ever. Even so, the Wii toppled all the other home consoles once again last week, reclaiming its second-place spot:
The new Wii kid on the block in the charts is Mario Super Sluggers, which didn't sell as well as we thought it would, considering that it's a baseball game -- one published by Nintendo, no less. That's why we love Japanese sales so much, though. Just when we think we have the country all figured out, it goes and surprises us again.
Everything else Wii related is pretty much just business as usual, but check past the break to see where the games ranked in the top thirty and how much the top tenners sold.
You don't have to be a gas mask-wearing, telepathic oddball to know what dominated Europe this week. Metal Gear Solid 4's ascent to numero uno throughout most of Europe was thoroughly predictable, though that's not to suggest that Wii titles had it rough.
Most managed to maintain high spots (seriously, Britain, what is it about LEGO and Indiana Jones?), while there was a heartwarming comeback for Wii Fit, which finally seems to be getting restocked here. It's reappeared in the Irish and Dutch top tens, and made 11th in the UK.Sports Island debuted in European countries that aren't Britain this week, and for the most part had a storming start, with a third place in Holland and eighth in Germany. Yet there is also sad news, reader: Okami -- beautiful, stunning, endlessly gorgeous Okami -- only reached 20th. In Sweden. Gah.
Last week in Japan was all about Sony dominance, as Metal Gear Solid 4 rocketed the PS3 into first. The Wii still did pretty well for itself, though, nabbing the third spot in hardware and nine of the top thirty in software: Shiren the Wanderer 3 managed to remain in the top ten despite the Metal Gear bullying, but everything else was as we expected. Just click past the break if you want to check out the software rankings and sales numbers.
Having watched the in-the-flesh Harrison Ford creak and grimace his way through Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on the big screen, this week European consumers got a chance to give the LEGO version a leg-up to the top of the charts.
And mostly, that's just what they did. The Wii edition of LEGO Indiana Jones: Original Adventures showed Grand Theft Auto IV who was boss in the UK by nabbing top spot, and versions for other consoles charted well elsewhere on the continent. It's no surprise that LEGO Indy did so well in Blighty -- we still recall the whole country tripping over itself in the rush to pick up the LEGO Star Wars games. Evidently, the titles have that oft-discussed crossover appeal that most marketing types would slaughter their entire families for.
On a sadder note, Mario Kart Wii bowed out of the Dutch and UK top tens, Deca SportsSports Island only reached 15th in Britain, and Wii Fit is keeping up its disappearing act ... everywhere but Germany. So much for your empty, empty promises, Nintendo! Oh, and the Spanish charts failed to materialize this week, probably because they're all busy gawking at the footy.
Check out what Europe is buying past the break, and don't forget to join us next week, when we'll be sulking about how nobody bought Okami.
The top Wii game last week wasn't Mario Kart, or even Wii Fit. Rather, beloved roguelike Shiren got the coveted title, as Shiren the Wanderer 3 debuted in second behind the PS3's new Dragon Ball Z. The previously mentioned Nintendo games did show up in the top ten, though, along with Family Trainer.
We're happy to see both Smash Bros. Brawl and Battalion Wars 2 hanging tough in the top thirty; the previous week had us a bit worried. In hardware, though, the Wii remains sandwiched between the PSP and the DS: Just click on past the break if you'd like to see how Wii software fared.
Finding a copy of Wii Fit has become increasingly similar to a particularly frustrating edition of Where's Waldo? here in Europe. After totally disappearing from the UK's top 40 last week, it's now also vanished from the Dutch charts, and dropped several places in Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, and Spain. The only place that is getting the title seems to be Germany, where it sits at the top of the charts. Way to distribute evenly, Nintendo of Europe!
Away from the Wii Fit famine, Sega Superstars Tennis continues to yo-yo its way through the British charts (up this week from 24th to 9th), Wii Play is still flying high in Spain, Ireland, and Britain, while the rest of the Wii games to have charted all feature Mario, and include Galaxy, Kart, and that Olympics one that will never, ever, ever, ever go away.
Wii Fit gained some competition last week, as Family Trainer finally made its debut in Japan. Even so, Namco Bandai's game couldn't overtake Nintendo's six-month-old fitness title. Many Wii games were also pushed to the bottom of the top thirty in this week's chart, with Smash Bros. Brawl in danger of falling off completely.
Despite less than stellar software sales, Wii hardware performed well. Yet, once again, the Wii fell behind the currently dominating PSP: The software figures are located after the break, so click on.
Stock shortages cruelly deprivedWii Fit of a Top 40 spot in the UK this week (which constitutes one heck of a drop, considering it was third last week), but the rest of Europe seems to have plentiful supplies of the title, thanks very much. Wii Fit bumped Grand Theft Auto IV off of top spot in Germany and Spain, and reached fourth place in Ireland and Holland.
In fact, don't be surprised to see desperate Brits in the coming weeks smuggling the thing back to the UK from mainland Europe, much like what happened with the Wii itself before Christmas. Then again, maybe they're happy to get fleeced -- some quick browsing reveals that the game is already going for waaaay over its recommended retail price on eBay's UK site -- just takealook for yourselves. Yowza!
Wii Fit fever aside, Mario Kart Wii is showing no signs of running out of steam, while Mario and Sonic and Wii Play are also keeping the Wii flag flying high.
No new Wii games debuted last week; at least, none that ended up in the top thirty. There was one teensy weensy title that was introduced into the Japanese market, though. You may have heard of it: Guitar Hero III.
To put it bluntly, sales for the game were low. In fact, it didn't even make the top fifty in Media Create's charts, and Famitsu reports that the title only sold 1,300 copies. Compared to sales in other regions (like North America and Europe, for example), where Guitar Hero III performed fiercely, you can see that tastes often differ between western and eastern gamers.
Other than that, there's not to much to report about the software charts. Battalion Wars 2 managed to hang in the top ten, while Mario Kart Wii slipped into third place. Meanwhile, Smash Bros. Brawl might be in danger of falling out of the top thirty soon.
In hardware, the gap between the Wii and the PSP lessened as sales for Nintendo's console rose, while sales for Sony's handheld fell. Still, the PSP had a lead of about 15,000 units last week, keeping the Wii locked in its second place spot: The software numbers are located after the break, so go on and take a look.
Grand Theft Auto IV continues to show up the competition across Europe this week, with either the PS3 or Xbox 360 edition claiming top spot everywhere. Wii pair Wii Fit and Game Night favorite Mario Kart Wii are close behind in most places (because we're optimists, we're now going to consider third as the new first), though yours truly would love to know where anybody is finding Mario Kart in the UK -- I hit the high street to find a copy for a friend a few days back, with zero success.
Further down the charts, Boom Blox made (what could almost be described as) an impact in its second week on sale, soaring from outside the Top 40 to 19th in the UK, while Super Mario Galaxy and Guitar Hero III rejoined the top ten in Holland and Sweden respectively. No Irish charts this week, we're afraid, but here's a hunch we had: Grand Theft Auto IV probably sold a lot.
The new kid on the Japanese Wii software block last week was Battalion Wars 2, which faired well enough in its debut to hit the top ten. Will it stay there? Our guess is no, sadly. Still, it's nice to see the game get some recognition in Japan.
Once again, the only non-Nintendo title for the Wii that made the top thirty was Deca Sports, which dropped thirteen spots from the week before. Ouch. We're not sure what made Japan fall so out of love with Deca Sports in one week, but the game seems to have lost some of its legs. Smash Bros. Brawlalso took a spill, falling from tenth place to nineteenth.
The other noticeable drop was Mario Kart Wii, which only fell one spot, but an important spot -- from first to second -- and finally succumbed to the frightening power of Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G. Hardware was also a PSP victory, as the handheld beat all other systems by a convincing margin. Now that you've seen the hardware numbers, check past the break for the software sales.
Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii continue to fly the flag for the Wii in Europe, with the former appearing in every European top ten this week. Mario & Sonic also put in a characteristically strong performance, while Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 (ninth in the UK) and Mario Party 8 (tenth in Holland) seem to be enjoying a second burst of shelf life after their release last year.
But heck, you can tell all that simply by inspecting the charts after the post break. What you probably won't remember is that Boom Blox launched in Europe this week, yet never threatened any of Europe's top tens/twenties/forties; looks like this Spielbergian gem has been given the same frosty reception by consumers that it experienced in the U.S. Weaksauce (as my American colleagues might say)! It's sadly ironic, really -- EA's best game for donkey's years, and it's not even charted.
The gap between Wii and PSP sales is slowly but surely decreasing, making us wonder if the Wii might be able to overtake Sony's handheld once the Monster Hunter hype dies down:
PSP: 89,884
Wii: 67,308
Nintendo DS: 51,228
PlayStation 3: 8,054
PlayStation 2: 7,464
Xbox 360: 1,298
Yet, the true triumph for the Wii last week was in software. Nintendo scored big all-around, but the Wii claimed six of the top ten spots in the chart. Keep in mind, though, that all the Wii games that made it to the top thirty are first-party titles, with the exception of Deca Sports.
In other news, Smash Bros. Brawl managed to hop up five spots, showing us that it won't be disappearing any time soon. Meanwhile, Mario Kart is inching nearer to Brawl's total sales, making it a close race between the two games. To see how they're currently fairing against each other, just click past the break.
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You don't have to be a gas mask-wearing, telepathic oddball to know what dominated Europe this week. Metal Gear Solid 4's ascent to numero uno throughout most of Europe was thoroughly predictable, though that's not to suggest that Wii titles had it rough.
Having watched the in-the-flesh Harrison Ford creak and grimace his way through Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on the big screen, this week European consumers got a chance to give the LEGO version a leg-up to the top of the charts.
The top Wii game last week wasn't Mario Kart, or even Wii Fit. Rather, beloved roguelike Shiren got the coveted title, as Shiren the Wanderer 3 debuted in second behind the PS3's new Dragon Ball Z. The previously mentioned Nintendo games did show up in the top ten, though, along with Family Trainer. 
Stock shortages cruelly deprived Wii Fit of a Top 40 spot in the UK this week (which constitutes one heck of a drop, considering it was third last week), but the rest of Europe seems to have plentiful supplies of the title, thanks very much. Wii Fit bumped Grand Theft Auto IV off of top spot in Germany and Spain, and reached fourth place in Ireland and Holland. 
Grand Theft Auto IV continues to show up the competition across Europe this week, with either the PS3 or Xbox 360 edition claiming top spot everywhere. Wii pair Wii Fit and Game Night favorite Mario Kart Wii are close behind in most places (because we're optimists, we're now going to consider third as the new first), though yours truly would love to know where anybody is finding Mario Kart in the UK -- I hit the high street to find a copy for a friend a few days back, with zero success.
The new kid on the Japanese Wii software block last week was Battalion Wars 2, which faired well enough in its debut to hit the top ten. Will it stay there? Our guess is no, sadly. Still, it's nice to see the game get some recognition in Japan.
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