UK Chart Highlights LXXVIII | Mario & Brain Training Keep Nintendo Afloat

The summer lull is upon us and that usually means not only a drought in new game releases, but a downward turn in gaming sales. However, with the Nintendo DS Lite only just being released here in good ol' Blighty, plus a wealth of new titles, things are a bit different at the moment. But can Nintendo keep this upward trend going?

There really seems to be no stopping GTA Liberty City Stories on the PS2 as it enters its fifth week at No.1 on the All Prices Top 40, with Brain Training stuck at No.6 and Big Brain Academy holds at No.17. Back over on the Full Price Top 40, though, Cars claims No.1 a week before the movie's 28th July release, jumping up twelve spots thanks to massive promotional work for it...and it is surprisingly worth it! This means that New Super Mario Bros. remains at No.2, whilst Legend of Jack Sparrow leaps four to No.3 as the PC version launches alongside the PS2 one, Pirates of the Caribbean 2 dips one to No.4 and Prey slides from No.1 to No.5. Animal Crossing falls out of the Top 10 for the first time since launching back in March, slipping one to No.11, Dalmatian & Friends is down two to No.13 and PSP's LocoRoco moves up three to No.22. Super Dragon Ball Z enters at No.26, nintendogs Lab & Friends jumps from No.39 to No.28, with Mario Kart skidding back down eight to No.32. Other than that, Super Monkey Ball Adventure reaches new heights by returning at No.36, whilst Dogz on the GBA scrapes in at No.39.

In a quiet week, Cars on the GameCube hits No.1, up three places, nudging Pok