Nintendo Starts 2010 with a Bang in UK

Nintendo has started the New Year with Wii games taking the top four placings on the UK chart. The latest Chart Track UK listings still have Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 sitting atop the combined formats lists, with Assassin's Creed II right behind it. However, looking at how single format games are performing, it is clear to see the Wii is definitely a hot property right now, with six of the Top 10 games in the UK Individual Formats Top 40 and four of those taking the top spots. Ubisoft must be cheering about the fact that Just Dance is still causing a storm lately, now becoming the third best-selling game of the week in this country, beating off Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. Nintendo itself, though, claims victory as Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit Plus continue to prove to retailers everywhere that the Wii is nowhere near on its last legs yet, as some predicted when both Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City and Wii Music failed to be the smash hits Nintendo had hoped.

Check out the official Chart Track UK blurb regarding the all prices, all formats chart below, followed by the Top 20 multi-format list, plus the Top 20 individual formats list:

Activision Blizzard finish the year on top with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (-41%) chalking up its 8th consecutive week at No1. It is the longest unbeaten run at No1 in the All Formats Chart since Need for Speed: Underground 2 five years ago. Ubisoft's Assassin’s Creed II (-36%) sneaks back up the chart to No2 and Sega's Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (-39%) also shows great pace moving up to No3. Nintendo then follow close behind with Wii Sports Resort (-42%) and Wii Fit Plus (-44%). EA's FIFA 10 (-61%) slips down the table to No6 followed by Ubisoft's Just Dance (+10%) claiming it's highest position at No7. It's a Mario double with New Super Mario Bros. Wii (-45%) at No8 and Mario Kart Wii (-30%) at No9. Movie blockbuster tie-in James Cameron's Avatar: The Game (-31%) rounds off the Top 10 at No10.

TOP 20 ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE - INDIVIDUAL FORMATS (UNITS), WEEK ENDING 2 January 2010
1.) WII SPORTS RESORT (WII) NINTENDO
2.) WII FIT PLUS (WII) NINTENDO
3.) JUST DANCE (WII) UBISOFT
4.) NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII (WII) NINTENDO
5.) CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2 (360) ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
6.) MARIO & SONIC AT OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES (WII) SEGA
7.) MARIO KART WII (WII) NINTENDO
8.) ASSASSIN'S CREED II (360) UBISOFT
9.) FORZA MOTORSPORT 3 (360) MICROSOFT
10.) CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2 (PS3) ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
11.) ASSASSIN'S CREED II (PS3) UBISOFT
12.) UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES (PS3) SONY COMPUTER ENT.
13.) LEFT 4 DEAD 2 (360) ELECTRONIC ARTS
14.) WII PLAY (WII) NINTENDO
15.) GRAND THEFT AUTO EPISODES - LIBERTY CITY (360) TAKE 2
16.) MARIO & SONIC AT OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES (DS) SEGA
17.) FIFA 10 (360) ELECTRONIC ARTS
18.) NEED FOR SPEED: SHIFT (PS3) ELECTRONIC ARTS
19.) JAMES CAMERON'S AVATAR: THE GAME (360) UBISOFT
20.) FIFA 10 (PS3) ELECTRONIC ARTS

Additionally, many Wii and DS games so a rise as people eagerly snapped up as many bargains in the January sales as possible. Disney Pixar's Up shoots up from No.34 to No.10 on the DS-specific Top 40, with Nintendo Presents: Crossword Collection snapping at its heels, leaping from its poor debut position of No.33 to a much more respectable No.11, and the Professor Layton-a-like mystery game Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders jumping an impressive fifteen places to No.17 (C3's recent positive review can be read here). Other notable entries, after several weeks up making no dent on the chart at all, include Star Wars: Clone Wars Republic Heroes, in at No.26, and World of Zoo, in at No.29.

On the Wii front, Call of Duty 4 continues to fare well despite its late release, back up two to No.7, Guitar Hero: Metallica storms up eleven spots to No.8 and James Cameron's Avatar: The Game finally breaks the Top 10, up six to No.9, with a re-entry for Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince at No.10. A few other strong performers include Ashes Cricket 2009, up from No.39 to No.13, Colin McRae DiRT 2, up from No.27 to No.16, EA Sports Active, up eight to No.17, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles holding steady at its peak position of No.20, and Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage, which finally mounts a decent surge, leaping ten to No.22.