Need for Speed Takes UK Christmas No. 1

EA's popular driving series makes it two in a row, backrupting those who had bet heavily on Gunstar Super Heroes in the process.

For the second year in a row, EA's Need for Speed series has driven off with the Christmas No. 1 title by coming in on top of the UK charts last week. Need for Speed Most Wanted follows up on last year's Need for Speed Underground 2, making it four No. 1s in the last five years for EA.

It wasn't easy though. With King Kong opening in cinemas across the country, demand for the official game of the movie surged, but it wasn't enough for it to catch up with the bookies' favourite.

Outside of the race for the top, the UK charts are reflective of the stoppage of new releases. The only real movers on this week's chart are Activision's titles, including Gun and True Crime: New York City.

Activision has angered retailers and delighted shoppers by giving its current crop of games a massive price cut for the Christmas season. The company has also worked hard at promoting its games with an omnipresent TV ad campaign.

The lack of Xbox 360 hardware (despite second and even third shipments at some stores) has hit the console's games hard. Not one of Microsoft's highly touted and well-reviewed first-party games (Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo: Elements of Power and Project Gotham Racing 3) made it into the Top 40 for the week.

Below are the top 10 games in the UK for the week ending 17 December, as determined by Chart Track:

1. Need for Speed: Most Wanted (EA)
2. King Kong (Ubisoft)
3. Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (Activision)
4. FIFA 06 (EA)
5. Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire (EA)
6. Pro Evolution Soccer 5 (Konami)
7. Chronicles of Narnia (Buena Vista)
8. Star Wars: Battlefront II (LucasArts)
9. True Crime: New York City (Activision)
10. The Sims 2 (EA)

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games