Need for Speed on Track for Chart Record

EA's racer breaks into double figures, leaving newcomers and other incumbents to scurry for scraps.

Microsoft and other companies making games for the Xbox 360 will have to be satisfied with disappointing chart performance for their games until the hardware problems can be resolved. The latest victim is Sega's Full Auto, which despite healthy buzz barely managed to squeeze into the Top 20 in its debut weekend.

It was another racer, Need for Speed: Most Wanted by EA, that took the top spot on the charts, for the tenth time. This equals the time spent at the top by its predecessor, Need for Speed Underground 2 and also means that the game is verging on equalling the previous record for most top finishes set by Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

There weren't too many other changes in the Top 10, though you will notice that there are two rugby games in the upper ranks of the chart, both getting a boost from the ongoing Six Nations competition.

Nintendo popped into the Top 10 too with its latest DS game, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. The humour might not hit as well as its predecessor on the Game Boy Advance, but at least the game did fairly well. The same can't be said of the company's other game, Mario Party 7, which didn't even make it into the Top 40.

Below are the top 10 games in the UK for the week ending 11 February, as determined by Chart Track:

1. Need for Speed: Most Wanted (EA)
2. The Sims 2 (EA)
3. Pro Evolution Soccer 5 (Konami)
4. FIFA 06 (EA)
5. Rugby 06 (EA)
6. King Kong (Ubisoft)
7. Rugby Challenge 2006 (Ubisoft)
8. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar)
9. Star Wars: Battlefront II (LucasArts)
10. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (Nintendo)

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games