I'm curious to know how this works. Last week, Darksiders II had 36,226 and was 29th on the list. This week the #30 listed game has 32,498 pre-orders.... but Darksiders II for 360 is not on the list.

Did the game lose 4000+ pre-orders in a week? What happened here?

Preorder data around here is notriously unreliable. Preorders in general are hard to determine compare to shipped numbers and sales, so a lot of it is guess work. This means that when new data comes in, you can see some pretty drastic adjustments.

Treat preorders as more of an indicator of upcoming hits and flops than an exact science.

would you be willing to to tell us the top 5 preordered games in gamestop. I know the website has a list, but I assume that list is just daily sales and includes only online preorders.

You should make your own pre-order list, like a weekly thread of sorts.

I know the question was not directed at me, but I also believe that Xenoblade is overtracked so I will answer it. Usually first week sales are 30-40% higher than the preorder numbers and I believe that the final numbers we will get in the preorder chart will be the first week numbers WITHOUT the 30-40% extra. What I am saying is that Xenoblade is overtracked between 30-40% and the real preorder numbers should be around 100.000 and 120.000. Also the game will be VERY front loaded, specially for a Nintendo title.

I hope I am very wrong, because I want the game to do very well in sales, but is better to expect little and get a nice surprise, than to expect too much and be very dissapointed.

Go Xenoblade!

Hope numbers are correct, but I have little faith...

I would but I don't want to come on here and be an asshole and compete with Vgchartz numbers.  Also, while I have given exact specific numbers on pre-orders before I'm certainly not supposed to with my job so I give more general info such as its approximate number of pre-orders.

That being said I can't even believe how far off these estimates are, they are some of the worst I've ever seen.  Creed alone has already topped 500,000 pre-orders across both platforms with Gamestop alone, it is currently one of the quickest pre-ordered games in the history of Gamestop, a big factor being the limited edition case people got with an early pre-order.

Not to mention Resident Evil 6 has more pre-orders than Ghost Recon and Vgchartz has that listed as the number 2 game.

These numbers are just awful.

Xenoblade will do well for what it is, a niche JRPG in the North American market.  It won't be a bomb or anything like that at all unless people have set their expectations Way too high.

And yes we are no longer giving out the art book to pre-order between now and then due to us selling out of the pre-order bonus.  We were allocated a specific amount by the developer and those have sold through.

Wow...I didnt think they would be this off.

Hat tip to NeoGaf for finding this article. Assassians Creed 3 is indeed running much higher than shown here:

SAN FRANCISCO — MARCH 29, 2012 — Ubisoft® announced today that Assassin’s Creed® III, releasing on October 30, 2012 in North America, is on track to become the highest pre-ordered game in the company’s history.

After only three weeks of the game being available for pre-order in North America, Assassin’s Creed III has made history for Ubisoft in North America with reserves for the title being higher than any previous Assassin’s Creed game in the same time period. Assassin’s Creed III has more than 10 times the U.S. pre-order total that Assassin’s Creed Revelations had in the same time period, and the game has already reached Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood’s life-to-date U.S. pre-order total. Assassin’s Creed III is on track to match the life-to-date U.S. pre-order figures for Ubisoft’s previously most pre-ordered game, Assassin’s Creed Revelations, by E3 in June.

“On October 30th players will experience the biggest game launch in Ubisoft’s history with the highly anticipated release of Assassins Creed III,” said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing, Ubisoft. “With a development cycle of three years, Assassins Creed III is the true next-generation experience of the Assassins Creed brand. The production value of the game, combined with the biggest marketing commitment we’ve ever made, will make Assassins Creed III the highest-selling Assassin’s Creed game ever. Additionally, the new setting and hero makes this the perfect time to jump into the series for anyone that has not previously played an Assassin’s Creed game.”

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Assassin-Creed-3-Sets-Pre-Order-Record-40934.html