Games Weather Report of Week 50, 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 in the West.

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. Kinect Sports Season Two (Xbox 360 Kinect)
    3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Xbox 360)
    4. Dance Central 2 (Xbox 360 Kinect)
    5. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Xbox 360)
    6. Kinect Disneyland Adventures (Xbox 360 Kinect)
    7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (PS3)
    8. Just Dance 3 (Xbox 360 Kinect)
    9. Batman: Arkham City (Xbox 360)
    10. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword with Music CD (Wii)

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. Mario Kart 7 (3DS)
    2. Monster Hunter 3G (3DS)
    3. Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3)
    4. Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
    5. Kirby of the Stars Wii (Wii)
    6. Just Dance Wii (Wii)
    7. PokePark 2: Beyond the World (Wii)
    8. Mario Kart Wii Bundle With Wii Steering Wheel (Wii)
    9. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword – Special CD Limited Edition Bundle (Wii)
    10. Rhythm Heaven for Everyone (Wii)

In Japan, neither Final Fantasy XIII-2’s #3 debut nor PlayStation Vita’s Saturday launch, made a dent in the Nintendo-ruled charts. The only portable Sony games that came close to showing up were “Everybody’s Golf 6” and “Uncharted: The Beginning of an Adventure Without a Map”. But with 700,000 units shipped, this may simply mean PS Vita owners are downloading their games instead.

Nintendo brings the Mario racing series to the 3DS handheld with Mario Kart 7. Nintendo EAD who developed the game, previously made Mario Kart DS & Mario Kart Wii. And it shows in this cross between all previous six Mario Kart games.

Here are the game’s Japanese TV commercials.

Europe’s Top 10 Games:

    1. Just Dance 3 – Special Edition (Wii)
    2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Xbox 360)
    3. Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Wii)
    4. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Xbox 360)
    5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (PS3)
    6. Professor Layton and the Spectre’s Call (DS)
    7. Moshi Monsters: Moshling Zoo (DS)
    8. Assassin’s Creed Revelations (Xbox 360)
    9. Zumba Fitness (Wii)
    10. Mario Kart 7 (3DS)

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’s stardom stays #1 on the Wii chart.
  • Kinect Sports Season Two ranks highest on the Xbox 360 chart
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 stays at the top of the PS3 chart.
  • Mario Kart 7 finishes on 1st place on the 3DS chart.
  • Star Wars: The Old Republic is now at 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 appears on the PS2 chart, where it’s been for 9 years now.

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