X-Men Fall to Footballers on Chart

No surprises as attention turns to the World Cup.

There are just days to go now until England begins its campaign to wrest control of the Cup once more and already the nation is in a tizzy. For the fourth week in a row, EA's official World Cup tie-in game, FIFA World Cup Germany 2006, has landed on top of the UK's weekly game sales chart for the fourth week in a row.

Understandably there's plenty more football in the Top 5. Konami's ever-popular Pro Evolution Soccer 5 is more so now thanks to a price drop, which has propelled the game back into the No. 2 spot. The management side of the sport is represented this week by Eidos's Championship Manager 2006, which peeps into the Top 5.

As this summer's blockbuster flicks start landing, their video games are trickling into stores too. The latest arrival is X-Men: The Official Game. The game made it into the Top 10 on its opening weekend and Activision will be watching closely to see whether the movie's opening this Friday will boost sales. The Da Vinci Code did less well, though it still managed to crack the Top 20.

The continued success of Animal Crossing: Wild World on the DS is an endorsement of Nintendo's new strategy of reaching out to non-gamers. The game has been a consistent placer on the charts, and this week it comes in at No. 4. Nintendo will be hoping for similar success for its Prof. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain?, which is due next month.

Below are the top 10 games in the UK for the week ending 20 May, as determined by Chart Track:

1. FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 (EA)
2. Pro Evolution Soccer 5 (Konami)
3. Tomb Raider: Legend (Eidos)
4. Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo)
5. Championship Manager 2006 (Eidos)
6. X-Men: The Official Game (Activision)
7. Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (Ubisoft)
8. The Sims 2 (EA)
9. Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (VU Games)
10. The Godfather (EA)

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games