Need For Speed Leads in the UK

But it's 18-month-old Brain Training for the DS that's the most popular single-format title.

EA's Need For Speed ProStreet is the bookmakers' favourite to be the No. 1 game at Christmas, a slot the racer is settling into already.

In its second week of release, Need For Speed ProStreet managed to overtake Ubisoft's Crusades spectacle Assassin's Creed. ProStreet can be grateful, though, that it's available on several systems.

By sales per platform, the most popular game in the UK last week was Dr Kawashima's Brain Training.

Nintendo's DS marvel, which was released in June 2006, has parlayed solid construction and a generous advertising budget into continued success. According to research group Chart Track, more than a quarter of all DS owners have bought a copy.

That success is spilling over into the series offshoots too, with two more Brain games placing in the Top 20 last week.

Some have wondered whether Super Mario Galaxy will have anything like the legs of Dr Kawashima's Brain Training, something no Wii game - save Wii Play, which is bundled with an extra controller - can claim. For now, the plumber is hanging tough, ending its third week in stores at No. 12.

The Top 20 games across all formats for the week ending 1 December, as determined by Chart Track, are below:

1. Need For Speed: ProStreet (EA)
2. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo)
3. The Simpsons Game (EA)
4. FIFA 08 (EA)
5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision)
6. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft)
7. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo)
8. WWE SmackDown Vs Raw 2008 (THQ)
9. More Brain Training From Dr Kawashima (Nintendo)
10. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami)
11. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Activision)
12. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo)
13. High School Musical: Sing It! (Disney)
14. Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Eidos)
15. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (Nintendo)
16. Ratatouille (THQ)
17. Cooking Mama (505)
18. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts)
19. The Sims 2: Castaway (EA)
20. Halo 3 (Microsoft)

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo