UK Gaming Charts | 17th May, 2003

VIP (GC) Ubi Soft 20/5/2003
Def Jam Vendetta (GC) EA 23/5/2003
Ikaruga (GC) Atari 23/5/2003
Skies of Arcadia: Legends (GC) Atari 23/5/2003
The Revenge of Shinobi (GBA) Atari 23/5/2003
Wario Ware Inc, Minigame Mania (GBA) Nintendo 23/5/2003
BloodRayne (GC) Majesco 23/5/2003
Speed Kings (GC) Acclaim 23/5/2003
GT Advance 3: Pro Concept Racing (GBA) THQ 23/5/2003

Well, would you look at that: Zelda has been out for three weeks now, and finally the slew of new releases is picking up again. This coming week we have the pleasure of multi-format Def Jam Vendetta, which should do well thanks to the advertising scheme and accompanying DMX track, X Gon' Giv' It To Ya! The most difficult GC game to date finally receives a UK launch and the resurrected Atari (Infogrames in disguise!) will be hoping Ikaruga can perform as well as it did in Japan, at least. Sega's Skies of Arcadia: Legends will be looking to mop up the excess RPG fans that haven't yet bought Zelda: The Wind Waker, whilst Nintendo's wonderful-looking micro-games collection, Wario Ware, should hopefully match the enormous Japanese sales as it shows more of Nintendo's innovation at full flow. Finally, also of interest are the pinnacle of handheld racing, GT Advance 3, and the return of Sega's Revenge of Shinobi. Get buying folks, you won't be disappointed!

ENDING 17TH MAY

LW TW TITLE PUBLISHER

(N) 1 ENTER THE MATRIX ATARI

(9) 2 GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY ROCKSTAR

(2) 3 MIDNIGHT CLUB II ROCKSTAR

(N) 4 RETURN TO CASTLE WOLFENSTEIN: TIDES... ACTIVISION

(4) 5 THE SIMS EA GAMES

(1) 6 THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE WIND WAKER NINTENDO

(3) 7 TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL UBISOFT

(5) 8 CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER 4 EIDOS INTERACTIVE

(8) 9 BURNOUT 2: POINT OF IMPACT ACCLAIM

(6) 10 FIFA 2003 EA SP
ORTS

(7) 11 X-MEN 2: WOLVERINE'S REVENGE ACTIVISION

(N) 12 MOTO GP: ULTIMATE RACING TECHNOLOGY 2 THQ

(10) 13 DANCING STAGE PARTY EDITION KONAMI

(11) 14 THE GETAWAY SONY COMPUTER ENT.

(13) 15 TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 2003 EA SPORTS

(12) 16 HARRY POTTER - CHAMBER OF SECRETS EA GAMES

(22) 17 TOM CLANCY'S GHOST RECON RED STORM

(18) 18 RAYMAN 3 UBISOFT

(16) 19 ZELDA 3 - LINK TO THE PAST NINTENDO

(21) 20 YU-GI-OH! WORLDWIDE EDITION KONAMI

(17) 21 LORD OF THE RINGS - THE TWO TOWERS EA GAMES

(15) 22 MEDIEVAL: TOTAL WAR - VIKING INVASION ACTIVISION

(N) 23 BLITZKRIEG CDV

(24) 24 THE SIMS: UNLEASHED EA GAMES

(26) 25 DANCING STAGE EUROMIX KONAMI

(23) 26 JAMES BOND 007: NIGHTFIRE EA GAMES

(32) 27 SONIC ADVANCE 2 SEGA

(19) 28 VIETCONG GATHERING

(29) 29 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2 KONAMI

(14) 30 PRIMAL SONY COMPUTER ENT.

(25) 31 METAL GEAR SOLID 2 - SUBSTANCE KONAMI

(38) 32 CRASH BANDICOOT 2: N-TRANCED UNIVERSAL INTERACTIVE

(N) 33 NORTON ANTIVIRUS/FIREWALL 2003 NORTON

(31) 34 COMMAND AND CONQUER: GENERALS EA GAMES

(27) 35 FREELANCER MICROSOFT

(34) 36 MEDAL OF HONOR: FRONTLINE EA GAMES

(20) 37 BLOODRAYNE MAJESCO

(35) 38 HALO - COMBAT EVOLVED MICROSOFT

(33) 39 NORTON ANTIVIRUS 2003 NORTON

(N) 40 YU-GI-OH! FORBIDDEN MEMORIES KONAMI

For reference: Three GameCube games and four GameBoy Advance titles feature in this week's charts. Where they embarrassingly failed with E.T. many moons ago, Atari has managed to pull off a major coup by storming straight to the top of the All Formats Chart with Enter the Matrix across multiple platforms. This means that after only two weeks on top, Zelda: The Wind Waker - Nintendo's GC saviour - has been toppled...all the way down to No.6! Grand Theft Auto: Vice City shoots back up seven to No.2, just ahead of fellow Rockstar game, Midnight Club II thanks to its PC release last week. The XBOX sees its version of Enter the Matrix enter the Top 3, Return to Castle Wolfenstein in at No.4 and Moto GP enter at No.12 - so not a bad week for Microsoft then! Burnout 2 on the GC and XBOX keeps the game in the Top 10 at No.9, whilst multi-platform X-Men 2 slides four to No.11.

Back down at No.19 is Zelda III on the GBA, and nipping at its heels is Konami's Yu-Gi-Oh! Worldwide Edition, which climbs one this week to No.20. Blitzkrieg on the PC screeches in at No.23, Sega's Sonic Advance is up five to No.27 and Sony's extremely weak Primal collapses and nose-dives to No.30. Crash Bandicoot 2 on the GBA moves up from No.38 to No.32, and there are two PC Utility entries from Norton - Firewall 2003 in at No.33 and Antivirus 2003 down to No.39. Isn't that just marvellous?

ENDING 17TH MAY

LW TW TITLE PUBLISHER

(1) 1 THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE WIND WAKER NINTENDO

(N) 2 ENTER THE MATRIX ATARI

(2) 3 BURNOUT 2: POINT OF IMPACT ACCLAIM

(4) 4 SUPER SMASH BROS: MELEE PLAYERS' CHOICE

(3) 5 METROID PRIME NINTENDO

(5) 6 SUPER MONKEY BALL 2 SEGA

(8) 7 RESIDENT EVIL ZERO CAPCOM

(9) 8 SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE NINTENDO

(6) 9 THE SIMS EA GAMES

(N) 10 WWE CRUSH HOUR THQ

(10) 11 LUIGI'S MANSION PLAYERS' CHOICE

(7) 12 WWE WRESTLEMANIA X8 THQ

(12) 13 STAR WARS: ROGUE LEADER LUCASARTS

(N) 14 JAMES BOND 007: NIGHTFIRE EA GAMES

(16) 15 RESIDENT EVIL CAPCOM

(19) 16 PIKMIN PLAYERS' CHOICE

(11) 17 X-MEN 2: WOLVERINE'S REVENGE ACTIVISION

(18) 18 STAR WARS: CLONE WARS LUCASARTS

(N) 19 LORD OF THE RINGS - THE TWO TOWERS EA GAMES

(17) 20 ROCKY RAGE SOFTWARE

Out of all the homes consoles, Nintendo's is the only one that managed to avoid letting
Enter the Matrix top its chart...and it's all thanks to the little fairy-boy, Link. Yes, Zelda is at No.1 for the third week in a row, although sales are beginning to dip now. Atari's Matrix cash-in enters at No.2, bumping the cheek-flappingly fast Burnout 2 down to No.3. Holding strong at No.4, and only just lingering outside the All Format Top 40, is the Players' Choice edition of Super Smash Bros Melee. But where are the other two from the range? Well, Luigi's Mansion drops one to No.11 and Pikmin gathers some steam, rising from No.19 to No.16. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle will be out soon as well, so watch out for that!

Metroid Prime is down to No.5, but Nintendo's plumber sees an increase in interest, moving up one to No.8. In at No.10 this week is the budget-priced, and apparently appallingly poor, WWE Crush Hour from THQ, whilst WWE Wrestlemania X8 drops five to No.12. James Bond 007: Nightfire re-enters at No.14, X-Men 2 plummets to No.17 from last week's No.11 and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers makes another appearance in the charts, this time at No.19.

ENDING 17TH MAY

LW TW TITLE PUBLISHER

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

(2) 2 YU-GI-OH! WORLDWIDE EDITION KONAMI

(3) 3 SONIC ADVANCE 2 SEGA

(4) 4 CRASH BANDICOOT 2: N-TRANCED UNIVERSAL INTERACTIVE

(5) 5 WWE ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA X8 THQ

(7) 6 HARRY POTTER - CHAMBER OF SECRETS EA GAMES

(6) 7 CRASH BANDICOOT: XS UNIVERSAL INTERACTIVE

(8) 8 SUPER MARIO ADVANCE 2 NINTENDO

(10) 9 LORD OF THE RINGS - THE TWO TOWERS EA GAMES

(9) 10 SPYRO 2: SEASON OF FLAME UNIVERSAL INTERACTIVE

(12) 11 MARIO KART: SUPER CIRCUIT NINTENDO

(11) 12 RAYMAN 3 UBISOFT

(18) 13 STAR WARS EP II: NEW DROID ARMY THQ

(13) 14 SUPER MONKEY BALL SEGA

(15) 15 LARA CROFT TOMB RAIDER: THE PROPHECY UBISOFT

(14) 16 JAMES BOND 007: NIGHTFIRE EA GAMES

(16) 17 YOSHI'S ISLAND - SUPER MARIO ADVANCE 3 NINTENDO

(17) 18 FIFA 2003 EA SPORTS

(N) 19 THE SCORPION KING: SWORD OF OSIRIS UNIVERSAL INTERACTIVE

(20) 20 RUGRATS: I GOTTA GO PARTY THQ

As with last week, the GBA Chart is extremely dire. The Top 5 show no signs of budging at all for the moment, although next week's Wario Ware release might changes things slightly. Chamber of Secrets and Crash Bandicoot: XS switch postions, now at No.6 and No.7 respectively. Star Wars Ep II shoots up five to No.13, whilst The Scorpion King re-enters at No.19...perhaps because it has Osiris in the title and people mistook it for a Matrix-related game?? Surely people didn't buy it thinking it would be good?! NEXT!

ENDING 17TH MAY

LW TW TITLE PUBLISHER

(1) 1 SHREK TDK

(3) 2 SCOOBY DOO - CLASSIC CREEP CAPERS THQ

(2) 3 POKEMON CRYSTAL NINTENDO

(4) 4 POKEMON TRADING CARD GAME NINTENDO

(8) 5 MONSTERS, INC. DISNEY INTERACTIVE

(5) 6 POKEMON SILVER NINTENDO

(6) 7 HARRY POTTER - CHAMBER OF SECRETS EA GAMES

(9) 8 YU-GI-OH! DARK DUEL STORIES KONAMI

(7) 9 SUPER MARIO BROS NINTENDO

(15) 10 NYR: NEW YORK RACE WANADOO

(14) 11 HARRY POTTER - PHILOSOPHER'S STONE EA GAMES

(12) 12 POKEMON GOLD NINTENDO

(13) 13 M&M'S: MINIS MADNESS JOWOOD

(16) 14 WWF: BETRAYAL THQ

(11) 15 LEGEND OF ZELDA: ORACLE OF AGES NINTENDO

(20) 16 TWEENIES: DOODLE'S BONES BBC MULTIMEDIA

(10) 17 LEGEND OF ZELDA: ORACLE OF SEASONS NINTENDO

(19) 18 DRAGON BALL Z INFOGRAMES

(N) 19 WENDY: EVERY WITCH WAY TDK

(N) 20 ALIENS: THANATOS ENCOUNTER THQ

In the run-up to the GBA Pok