The long awaited release of The Sims 3 leads a wave of new additions to retail this week

It’s a week of threes for games retailers this week as the third iterations in two popular franchises arrive on shelves.

The Sims 3 marks the latest evolution of Will Wright’s casual phenomenon, granting players even more control over their virtual citizens lives and expanding the game’s scope with a virtual neighbourhood.

Meanwhile, THQ’s Red Faction: Guerrilla is the third in the publisher’s ambitious FPS series, unleashing players on fully destructible environments. Gamers can bash through walls and destroy anything in their mission to liberate Mars.

Other notable releases include Walk With Me! Do You Know Your Walking Routine? (Nintendo), King Of Pool (Nordcurrent), and Fuel (Codemasters).

EA’s ever-popular Sims franchise returns this week with ‘The Sims 3’ and it goes straight in at No1. It’s been nearly five years since the previous instalment and the game can claim the fourth biggest UK opening week ever for a PC title – behind the two World of Warcraft expansion packs and Championship Manager 4.

Another third instalment of a franchise is at No2 with new entry ‘Red Faction: Guerrilla’ from THQ. Previous No1 and also a THQ title is ‘UFC 2009: Undisputed’ down two places to No3. Fitness titles hold the next two places with ‘EA Sports Active’ moving down a place to No4 followed by Nintendo’s ‘Wii Fit’ moving up a place to No5. Sony’s PS3 exclusive ‘inFamous’ moves down one to No6 after debuting at No5 last week and Nintendo’s ‘Pokemon Platinum’ drops five places to No7. Activision Blizzard’s ‘Guitar Hero: Metallica’ also sees a drop from No4 to No8. Sega’s ‘Virtua Tennis 2009’ and Warner’s ‘Terminator Salvation’ round off the Top 10 at No9 and No10 respectively. Also new this week we have Codemasters’ racing title ‘Fuel’ at No12, Koch Media’s ‘Sacred 2: Fallen Angel’ now released on PS3 and Xbox 360 at No15 and Square Enix’s ‘Star Ocean: The Last Hope’ at No18. Further down the list we have GSP/Avanquest’s DS ‘Mystery Stories’ new at No20 and another Koch Media title ‘Jillian Michael’s Fitness Ultimatum’ on Wii at No27.