CoD hits 1m in 4 weeks

The All Formats Christmas Chart is only two weeks away and Activision Blizzard’s ‘Call of Duty: World at War’ is still very much the gift of choice, holding on to No1 for a 4th consecutive week despite a 15% sales drop.


Last year’s Xmas No1 ‘Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare’ was released a week earlier and only grabbed top spot in Christmas week itself, while this year the popular war game has the potential to hold on to No1 right up until Christmas. It has now sold over 1m units in the UK (it took ‘CoD 4: Modern Warfare’ 8 weeks to reach the same landmark). Nintendo emerges as this week’s strongest competitor as ‘Mario Kart Wii’ receives a power-up from widespread TV advertising, boosting it from No4 to No2 with sales rising by 15%. All four of Nintendo’s All Formats Top 10 games increase in sales with ‘Brain Training’ flexing its puzzle solving muscles, up from No5 to No4, the fluctuating ‘Wii Fit’ back on form with a 43% jump in sales, up from No12 to No8 and ‘Wii Play’ sales up 5% (down one place to No9). EA are not out of the running as ‘FIFA 09’ is a non-mover at No3, ahead of fellow EA contender ‘Need for Speed: Undercover’ which slips 3 places to No5 (sales down 21%). Lara Croft continues to shimmy her way up the All Formats Top 10: ‘Tomb Raider: Underworld’ climbing one place to No6, just in front of ‘Fallout 3’ at No7 which enjoys a 60% surge in sales, benefiting from a retailer price promotion. Activision Blizzard’s ‘Guitar Hero: World Tour’ is still rocking the Top 10 despite falling from No9 to No10, but Konami’s ‘Pro Evolution Soccer 2009’ and Sony’s ‘Resistance 2’ are both All Formats Top 10 casualties, falling to No’s 16 and 20 respectively. Another retailer promotion helps Microsoft’s ‘Fable II’ achieve an 81% increase in sales, rising from No35 to No19, while retailer promotion on ‘GTA IV’ coupled with the release of the PC version means Rockstar/Take 2’s record-breaker is back in the Top 40 at No22 (sales up 160%). There are two All Formats Top 40 new entries: ‘Animal Crossing: Let’s Go To The City’ on Wii at No26 and the latest ‘Prince of Persia’ on Xbox 360/PS3 at No30.