Latest UK Charts (w/e 16/05/09)

Wii Fit hits Sweet Sixteen

Nintendo has shown impressive pace with a healthy 7 consecutive weeks at No1 with ‘Wii Fit’ (-26%) which now makes 16 weeks at the top since launch – only 2 more No1’s to equal the all time record holder (‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ / Eidos).

EA’s ‘FIFA 09’ (-13%) moves up the table to No2, with Activision Blizzard’s ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ (-42%) at No3 and ‘Call of Duty: World at War’ (-8%) climbing up to No4. Nintendo’s ‘Mario Kart Wii’ stays at No5 (-29%) and Capcom’s ‘Resident Evil 5’ is also a non-mover at No6 (-17%). Sega climb another 2 places to No7 with ‘Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games’ (-14%), followed by Nintendo’s ‘Professor Layton and the Curious Village’ (-25%) at No8 and ‘Wii Play’ (-49%) at No9. The only New Entry to make the Top 40 this week is Eidos’ ‘Battlestations: Pacific’ on PC and Xbox 360 which sails in at No10.

Rik wrote:Looks like word of mouth did nothing for LKS. The same few Wii games seem to sell I presume to new owners, once they have these games they don't seem to buy anything else after.

Rik wrote:Looks like word of mouth did nothing for LKS. The same few Wii games seem to sell I presume to new owners, once they have these games they don't seem to buy anything else after.

Oxx wrote:The userbase is still going to be mighty tempting. Publishers just have to change their approach. They're just leaving money on the table if they completely turn their back on the Wii.

God help us if EA Sports Active sells a few million...

Codename 47 wrote:I'm glad to see GTA IV still hanging about there. Is Halo 3 being included in 360 bundles or something?

UK market at lowest weekly value since 2007
Lack of major releases responsible for market dip; 2009 down 14 per cent year-on-year

The UK games market’s weekly value has dipped below £15 million for the first time since 2007, MCV can reveal.

According to MCV’s calculations, based on today’s Gfk-ChartTrack/ELSPA weekly report, the UK market has hit £13.7 million for the week ending May 17th, down from £16.6 million the week before. The weekly value hasn’t topped £20 million since the week ending April 18th.

A lack of major new releases is the reason behind the fall, while year-to-date the UK games market is down 14 per cent compared to 2008.

“In 2008 there was Grand Theft Auto IV, Wii Fit and Mario Kart,” commented ChartTrack research analyst Adam Davis.

“We’ve just not seen the same level of releases so far this year. Hopefully the likes of The Sims 3 can help rejuvenate the market.”

On average the UK games market has been on a slow decline since the turn of the year. However, this summer’s release schedule could reverse the trend, with a slew of big name titles set to hit shelves, beginning this Friday (22nd) with Punch-Out!!, Bionic Commando, EA Sports Active and Pokemon Platinum. Sony’s big PS3 hope Infamous is due the following week.

In fact, in contrast to 2008, the summer months features a wealth of triple-A releases, including The Sims 3, Ghostbusters, Wii Sports Resort, Virtua Tennis, EA Grand Slam Tennis, Harry Potter, Fuel, Guitar Hero, Prototype, Virtua Tennis, Indiana Jones Terminator, Transformers, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and much more.