WWE Takes On The Force in UK Charts

It's one band of imaginary characters versus another in an all-out battle for supremacy.

The spandex-clad warriors of the WWE pulled in massive crowds this past weekend, helping to take their latest game, WWE SmackDown! Vs RAW 2006, to the head of the UK sales chart, edging it ahead of Star Wars: Battlefront II.

It's another No. 1 debut for the WWE Superstars

The weekend saw several new releases but they, perhaps surprisingly, had little impact on the top rankings.

Not even the Potter name was enough to push Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire into the top 5, though the movie's opening on Friday will almost surely gift Harry the top spot next week.

Ditto for The Matrix: Path of Neo, which despite finally giving fans a chance to play as Keanu Reeves' Neo character still barely managed to squeeze into the top 10. The previous Matrix game, Enter The Matrix, was slammed by critics for its bad gameplay but it still went on to sell impressively.

Another poorer-than-expected opener was Tony Hawk developer Neversoft's new Western game Gun. Despite a heavy TV advertising campaign, the violence-fuelled take on the Wild West (already an underutilised setting in games) could only manage a 14th place debut.

Activision will be hoping for a better showing for the Xbox 360 version when it arrives alongside Microsoft's hardware early in December.

Below are the top 10 games in the UK for the week ending 12 November, as determined by Chart Track:

1. WWE SmackDown! Vs Raw 2006 (THQ)
2. Star Wars: Battlefront II (Activision)
3. FIFA 06 (EA)
4. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar)
5. Pro Evolution Soccer 5 (Konami)
6. Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire (EA)
7. The Sims 2 (EA)
8. Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
9. The Matrix: Path of Neo (Atari)
10. The Warriors (Rockstar)

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games