UK Gaming Charts | 29th March, 2003

By Adam Riley 01.04.2003 1

Article Contents
Here's a glimpse of what you can find in today's update:

Page One:
This week's new releases

Page Two:
Top 40 All Formats Chart

Page Three:
Top 20 GameCube Chart

Page Four:
Top 20 GameBoy Advance Chart

Page Five:
Top 20 GameBoy Colour Chart

On this page, below, you will find the latest releases that will be hitting the shop shelves at the end of the week. Please remember that all dates are subject to change, whether we like it or not!

Nintendo Release Dates

Monsters, Inc. Scream Arena (GC) THQ 4/4/2003
Super Monkey Ball Jr. (GBA) Infogrames 4/4/2003
The Sims (GC) EA 4/4/2003
Vexx (GC) Acclaim 4/4/2003
Vexx (GBA) Acclaim 4/4/2003

Not too many big releases this week - but The Sims on the GameCube should shake things up slightly. Also the oft-delayed Vexx from Acclaim comes out on all formats, and the company will be hoping that it performs better than some of their latest under-achievers. With renewed interest in the GBA, thanks to the arrival of the front-lit SP, there is a possibility that those that have so far skipped buying Super Monkey Ball 2 on the GC will, instead, plump for the Junior version on the handheld. But, then again, Phantasy Star Online didn't manage to rousel interest in Phantasy Star Collection on the GBA, so you never know what's going to happen!

Other format releases that should be noted? Well, after the hype of State of Emergency on the PS2 last year, it should follow that this week's launch of an improved XBOX version may be one to watch...

[pagebreak]
TOP 40 ALL SOFTWARE (FULL PRICE) WEEK 13 YEAR 2003

ENDING 29TH MARCH

LW TW TITLE PUBLISHER

(N) 1 CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER 4 EIDOS INTERACTIVE

(13) 2 TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL UBISOFT

(N) 3 DEVIL MAY CRY 2 CAPCOM

(N) 4 ZELDA 3 - LINK TO THE PAST NINTENDO

(1) 5 METROID PRIME NINTENDO

(2) 6 THE SIMS EA GAMES

(30) 7 METAL GEAR SOLID 2 - SUBSTANCE KONAMI

(N) 8 DELTA FORCE: BLACK HAWK DOWN NOVALOGIC

(3) 9 RAYMAN 3 UBISOFT

(4) 10 THE GETAWAY SONY COMPUTER ENT.

(5) 11 GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY ROCKSTAR

(N) 12 INDIANA JONES & THE EMPEROR'S TOMB LUCASARTS

(6) 13 LORD OF THE RINGS - THE TWO TOWERS EA GAMES

(8) 14 FIFA 2003 EA SPORTS

(N) 15 SONIC ADVANCE 2 SEGA

(N) 16 TOCA RACE DRIVER CODEMASTERS

(10) 17 COMMAND AND CONQUER: GENERALS EA GAMES

(7) 18 TENCHU: WRATH OF HEAVEN ACTIVISION

(N) 19 JURASSIC PARK: OPERATION GENESIS UNIVERSAL INTERACTIVE

(11) 20 DANCING STAGE PARTY EDITION KONAMI

n
(N) 21 DEAD OR ALIVE XTREME BEACH VOLLEYBALL MICROSOFT

(23) 22 TIMESPLITTERS 2 EIDOS INTERACTIVE

(9) 23 MORTAL KOMBAT: DEADLY ALLIANCE MIDWAY

(18) 24 TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 2003 EA SPORTS

(16) 25 HARRY POTTER - CHAMBER OF SECRETS EA GAMES

(28) 26 JAMES BOND 007: NIGHTFIRE EA GAMES

(22) 27 TOM CLANCY'S GHOST RECON RED STORM

(14) 28 TOM CLANCY'S RAINBOW SIX 3 RAVEN SHIELD RED STORM

(N) 29 CRASH BANDICOOT 2: N-TRANCED UNIVERSAL INTERACTIVE

(12) 30 SUPER MONKEY BALL 2 SEGA

(N) 31 GRAND THEFT AUTO 3 PLATINUM

(17) 32 PANZER DRAGOON ORTA SEGA

(38) 33 CONFLICT: DESERT STORM SCI

(27) 34 THE SIMS: UNLEASHED EA GAMES

(26) 35 MEDAL OF HONOR: FRONTLINE EA GAMES

(32) 36 LORD OF THE RINGS-FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING BLACK LABEL

(29) 37 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2 KONAMI

(31) 38 RATCHET AND CLANK SONY COMPUTER ENT.

(21) 39 FINAL FANTASY ORIGINS SQUARESOFT

(15) 40 SHENMUE 2 SEGA

In a week where PC fans went Championship Manager crazy, the official fourth game in Sports Interactive's hit the back of the net, slamming home at No.1 this week. Hot on its heels, though, was the PS2 release of Splinter Cell, which still hasn't been launched on the GC and GBA yet. Another big new entry on the PS2 in the past seven days is the heavily-marketed Devil May Cry 2 at No.3. Also of note, the GBA: SP launched on Friday, and this its impact is clearly evident as there are four GBA titles in the Top 40 - The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past / The Four Swords at No.3, Rayman 3 at No.9, Sonic Advance 2 at No.15 and Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced at No.29 in its third week of release. After a superb week last week for the GameCube, things went slightly downhill in terms of software sales, with only two games in the chart - Metroid Prime, which slips from the top down to No.5 and Super Monkey Ball 2, which slides eighteen to No.30.

Indiana Jones on the PC and XBOX arrives at No.12, and is the XBOX's highest selling game of the week, surprisingly topping the titillating Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball, proving that UK gamers are not as perverse as those cheeky Japanese! The previous week's XBOX games take a pasting this week, as do Sega games in general, with Panzer Dragoon Orta down to No.32 and Shenmue 2 down to No.40, whilst the company's GC games Sonic Mega Collection and Phantasy Star Online: Ep. I & II drop out of the forty, and its GBA games Virtua Tennis and Phantasy Star Collection still fail to crack the chart. Clearly there is a long, long way to go before the once-mighty console King manages to usurp Electronic Arts' Third Party Crown.


[pagebreak]
TOP 20 NINTENDO GAMECUBE WEEK 13 YEAR 2003

ENDING 29TH MARCH

LW TW TITLE PUBLISHER

(1) 1 METROID PRIME NINTENDO

(2) 2 SUPER MONKEY BALL 2 SEGA

(4) 3 SONIC MEGA COLLECTION SEGA

(6) 4 RESIDENT EVIL ZERO CAPCOM

(3) 5 SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE NINTENDO

(7) 6 LORD OF THE RINGS - THE TWO TOWERS EA GAMES

(10) 7 PHANTASY STAR ONLINE: EP 1 & 2 SEGA

(15) 8 SUPER SMASH BROS: MELEE NINTENDO

(13) 9 STAR FOX ADVENTURES NINTENDO

(14) 10 STAR WARS: ROGUE LEADER LUCASARTS

(19) 11 BURNOUT ACCLAIM

(17) 12 WWE WRESTLEMANIA X8 THQ

(N) 13 TIMESPLITTERS 2 EIDOS INTERACTIVE

(16) 14 RAYMAN 3 UBISOFT

(12) 15 RESIDENT EVIL CAPCOM

(5) 16 LUIGI'S MANSION NINTENDO

(18) 17 MARIO PARTY 4 NINTENDO

(N) 18 FIFA 2003 EA SPORTS

(9) 19 ETERNAL DARKNESS: SANITY'S REQUIEM NINTENDO

(N) 20 CRAZY TAXI ACCLAIM

As expected, Metroid Prime sits atop the pack for the second week in a row, with those cheeky monkeys sticking at No.2. In a rather unusual turn of fortunes, Luigi's Mansion (No.5 down to No.16), Et
ernal Darkness (No.9 down to No.19), Pikmin (out of the twenty this week) and Wave Race: Blue Storm (ditto) take a hefty kick to the stomach, leaving them completely flat on their faces, with their trousers round their ankles. But this has led to a resurgence in some other titles, which is still pleasing. Obviously the influx of new GameCube owners that Metroid and the Argos price-cut have brought along decided to widen their horizons rather than go for the games currently being banded around. Therefore we see Crazy Taxi re-enter at No.20, FIFA 2003 in again at No.18, the four-player fest Timesplitters 2 back at No.13, Burnout shooting up eight to No.11 and everyone's favourite, Super Smash Bros Melee bouncing back into the ten at No.8. There has also been renewed interest in Star Wars: Rogue Leader (No.10) and Rare's final GC title, Starfox Adventures (No.9).

The high-profile Wrestlemania X9 event has come and gone now, but it and the talk of the X9 GC game has had a positive knock-on effect for the dismal Wrestlemania X8 game that is exclusive to the GameCube - jumping from No.17 to No.12. Other than that, Phantasy Star Online shuffles up three to No.7, shifting a few more modem adapters, and Capcom's release of Devil May Cry 2 has encouraged a few more people to sample its other games, such as Resident Evil 0, which creeps up two to No.4.


[pagebreak]
TOP 20 NINTENDO GAMEBOY ADVANCE WEEK 13 YEAR 2003

ENDING 29TH MARCH

LW TW TITLE PUBLISHER

(N) 1 ZELDA 3 - LINK TO THE PAST NINTENDO

(N) 2 SONIC ADVANCE 2 SEGA

(1) 3 CRASH BANDICOOT 2: N-TRANCED UNIVERSAL INTERACTIVE

(2) 4 RAYMAN 3 UBISOFT

(14) 5 WWE ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA X8 THQ

(3) 6 LORD OF THE RINGS - THE TWO TOWERS EA GAMES

(12) 7 METROID FUSION NINTENDO

(N) 8 JAMES BOND 007: NIGHTFIRE EA GAMES

(4) 9 YOSHI'S ISLAND - SUPER MARIO ADVANCE 3 NINTENDO

(N) 10 STAR WARS EP II: NEW DROID ARMY THQ

(16) 11 CRASH BANDICOOT: XS UNIVERSAL INTERACTIVE

(8) 12 SUPER MARIO ADVANCE 2 NINTENDO

(13) 13 MARIO KART: SUPER CIRCUIT NINTENDO

(18) 14 COLUMNS CROWN SEGA

(6) 15 SPYRO 2: SEASON OF FLAME UNIVERSAL INTERACTIVE

(7) 16 HARRY POTTER - CHAMBER OF SECRETS EA GAMES

(5) 17 SONIC ADVANCE SEGA

(15) 18 BUBBLE BOBBLE EMPIRE

(11) 19 LORD OF THE RINGS-FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING BLACK LABEL

(9) 20 RUGRATS: I GOTTA GO PARTY THQ

In the strongest week since the launch of the of the GBA, mainly due to the actual launch of the front-lit, and generally 'swish' GBA: SP, two new entries take up the top slots. The long-awaited Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past / The Four Swords brings it home at No.1, whilst Sega's revival of its mascot continues with the sequel to last year's Sonic Advance in at No.2. Despite dropping to No.3, though, Crash Bandicoot's latest fun and frolics manages to greatly increase in sales in its third week on the shop shelves (and his first adventure climbs five to No.11). Remember what I said two weeks ago about how it would do what Rayman 3 did? Told you...Anyway, speaking of the devil, the limbless-one slips from No.2 to No.4 and the re-interest in wrestling sees Road to Wrestlemania X8 catapult up to No.5. Also racing back up the charts, as was obvious to all, is Metroid Fusion. The great word-of-mouth, and the temptation of a free NES game when hooking-up to the GC has been more than enough to convince people to flock towards Intelligent Systems' sublime piece of gaming, bumping it from No.19 to No.12 and now No.7 over the past few weeks.

Slightly dissapointing this week are the new entries for EA's Bond licensed Nightfire at No.8 and THQ / Lucas Arts' Star Wars Ep.II at No.10. Expect 007 to at least rally up some more sales over the next few days...The hectic activity at the top end of the chart has left some games out in the
cold, and certainly out of the Top Ten. Specifically: Spyro 2 down to No.15, Harry Potter 2 down to No.16, Sonic Advance to No.17 and Rugrats bombing down to No.20, from No.9 last week.


[pagebreak]
TOP 20 NINTENDO GAMEBOY COLOUR WEEK 13 YEAR 2003

ENDING 29TH MARCH

LW TW TITLE PUBLISHER

(1) 1 POKEMON SILVER NINTENDO

(2) 2 POKEMON CRYSTAL NINTENDO

(4) 3 POKEMON GOLD NINTENDO

(3) 4 YU-GI-OH! DARK DUEL STORIES KONAMI

(5) 5 HARRY POTTER - CHAMBER OF SECRETS EA GAMES

(7) 6 SUPER MARIO BROS NINTENDO

(6) 7 SHREK TDK

(8) 8 NYR: NEW YORK RACE WANADOO

(10) 9 POKEMON TRADING CARD GAME NINTENDO

(9) 10 TOKI TORI CAPCOM

(11) 11 SABRINA ANIMATED: SPOOKED SIERRA ONLINE

(14) 12 DRAGON BALL Z INFOGRAMES

(12) 13 WENDY: EVERY WITCH WAY TDK

(13) 14 LEGEND OF ZELDA: ORACLE OF SEASONS NINTENDO

(18) 15 TETRIS DELUXE NINTENDO

(20) 16 WWF: BETRAYAL THQ

(17) 17 HARRY POTTER - PHILOSOPHER'S STONE EA GAMES

(N) 18 SCRABBLE: NEW EDITION UBISOFT

(16) 19 MEGAMAN XTREME 2 CAPCOM

(19) 20 TWEENIES: DOODLE'S BONES BBC MULTIMEDIA

Not much is happening here this week - Pok

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