Games Weather Report of Week 49, 2011

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Dreaming of Games in Week 49 of 2011

What were the best-selling games in America, Japan, and Europe this week? Thanks to Amazon online sales data here are the games that are the hottest. Think of it as a games weather report.

Thanks to Christmas shoppers the bestsellers seemed to have mostly been family-friendly and social multiplayer games.

What follows is a listing of the Top 10 bestsellers per region, for all systems combined.

North America’s Top 10 Games:

    1. Just Dance 3 (Wii)
    2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Xbox 360)
    3. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Xbox 360)
    4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (PS3)
    5. Just Dance 3 (Xbox 360 Kinect)
    6. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (PS3)
    7. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword with Music CD (Wii)
    8. Madden NFL 12 (Xbox 360)
    9. Mario Kart 7 (3DS)
    10. Kinect Sports Season Two (Xbox 360 Kinect)

Just Dance 3 has made its debut and finally there’s a game out-shaking Just Dance 2 on the weekly charts! Ubisoft has made quite a splash with the series that’s now gone multiplatform, although the favorite version is still on Wii.

Here’s the launch trailer for the game.

Japan’s Top 10 Games:

    1. Monster Hunter 3G (3DS)
    2. Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
    3. Kirby of the Stars Wii (Wii)
    4. Mario Kart 7 (3DS)
    5. Just Dance Wii (Wii)
    6. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PS3)
    7. PokePark 2: Beyond the World (Wii)
    8. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Xbox 360)
    9. Mobile Suit Gundam: EXTREME VS. (PS3)
    10. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword – Special CD Limited Edition Bundle (Wii)

Capcom brings the Monster Hunter franchise to the 3DS handheld with Monster Hunter 3G. It’s the sequel to the popular Wii game Monster Hunter 3 (Tri) and scored a 38/40 (10/10/9/9) from reviews in the famous Japanese Famitsu gaming magazine. It’s also the first game to have a separate Bundle Pack that includes a copy of the game and the Nintendo 3DS “Slide Pad Extension” accessory.

Here are the game’s Japanese TV commercials.

Europe’s Top 10 Games:

    1. Just Dance 3 – Special Edition (Wii)
    2. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Xbox 360)
    3. Professor Layton and the Spectre’s Call (DS)
    4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Xbox 360)
    5. Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Wii)
    6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (PS3)
    7. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PS3)
    8. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (PS3)
    9. ABBA: You Can Dance (Wii)
    10. Zumba Fitness (Wii)

Activision may have pulled off the biggest media launch ever with 9 million copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 sold worldwide in its first 3 weeks in America alone. But Just Dance 3 still managed to out-sell it online. Crazy as it sounds, that may mean that in the coming year both games are set to have more than 25+ million worldwide sales!

Here’s Modern Warfare 3’s TV commercial.

To recap the top games per system:

  • Just Dance 3 stays #1 on the Wii chart.
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 stays at the top of the Xbox 360 & PS3 charts.
  • Mario Kart 7 debuts at #1 on the 3DS chart.
  • Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim right away captured the top of the PC chart.
  • Monster High: Ghoul Spirit shows up on the DS chart.
  • The Sims 3 Pets remains at the top of the Mac chart.
  • Need for Speed Most Wanted returns at the top spot of the PSP chart.
  • And lastly, Kingdom Hearts II appears on the PS2 chart, where it’s been for 5 years now.

Sales data collected from Amazon’s US, JPN (PC) & UK / DE / FR websites.