`Quantum of Solace` makes UK Christmas top 10 videogame chart

27-Dec-2008 • Gaming

Thanks to a price promotion from Activision, their debut 007 title "Quantum of Solace: The Game" crept from #13 to #7 to make the Christmas week top ten videogame sales chart in the UK.

EA's FIFA 09 has become UK's all-format Christmas number one following an eleventh-hour sales surge at the retailers, reports CVG.

The highly successful sports title, which has hovered around the top half of the charts since its October release, snatched the accolade from the bookies' odds-on favorite Call Of Duty: World At War.

Treyarch's war shooter had held number one in the charts for nearly a record-breaking six successive weeks, yet promotion at the retailers saw sales in FIFA 09 mushroom 89% overnight, sending World At War to second spot.

It's been an incredibly successful year for EA's acclaimed soccer sim, in which its Christmas accolade marks the troubled publisher's sixth all-format Christmas number one in eight years.

World At War fell to second despite a sales climb, while Nintendo's Mario Kart Wii sits a mere 3,000 sales behind Activision's flagship title, negating the heartbreaker that would have been if not for FIFA 09's dominant week. The last time Nintendo took a Christmas number one of this kind was over a decade ago with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a game which was swiftly helicoptered into the UK as the Christmas deadline drew to a close.

Nintendo will surely be delighted with its presence on the Christmas chart, however, as five of its titles feature in the top-ten. Mario Kart's 40% boost in sales takes it to third, ahead of EA's Need for Speed which holds fourth. The Brain Training dinosaur holds fifth despite a 1% sales dip, while Wii Play moves up one place to sixth and Wii Fit takes tenth. Yet Professor Layton and the Curious Village made the biggest eyebrow raise for Nintendo, as the DS riddler returns from its drop out of the top 40 straight back into eighth, largely due to renewed stock meeting strong demand.

Activision's price promotion sent Quantum of Solace up from thirteenth to seventh, while Tomb Raider: Underworld climbs to ninth.

Full list according to Chart-Track:

1. FIFA 09
2. Call Of Duty: World At War
3. Mario Kart Wii
4. Need for Speed: Underground
5. Brain Training
6. Wii Play
7. Quantum of Solace
8. Professor Layton and the Curious Village
9. Tomb Raider: Underworld
10. Wii Fit