ChartSpot: June 2006

When Take-Two Interactive announced it was bringing Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories to the PlayStation 2, many were skeptical. After all, the game would be the first title ever to be ported to a console from the PlayStation Portable. Furthermore, its stock plot and reuse of Grand Theft Auto III's setting had been cited as sore points by critics.

Sure enough, reviewers weren't exactly thrilled with the PS2 LCS. But the current GTA drought and the game's $20 price tag overcame the lukewarm press, making the game the second-bestselling title of June 2006, according to sales-volume rankings from NPD Funworld. It was just one of 12 PS2 games in the June top 20 and was joined by its sibling Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which parked itself in 18th place.

But while Liberty City Stories came close to the top, the number-one slot remained in Nintendo's hands. For the second month in a row, New Super Mario Bros. was the top non-PC game in the land, further demonstrating the success of the Nintendo DS. The portable's popularity was underlined by the fact that the number-three game, Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day, also has not fallen in the rankings since May.

The top Xbox 360 game for June was Hitman: Blood Money, debuting in fifth place. It led the trio of next-gen games on the top 20, which also included Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (16th) and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (20th). No original Xbox games cracked the top 20 in June.

Meanwhile, in the PC top 20, another newcomer also nearly took the top slot, with Half-Life 2: Episode One taking the silver. The second-place finish was even more impressive given the fact that the NPD rankings are based only on volume of boxed copies sold at retail and don't count Valve Software's direct online sales of the game via its Steam download service.

However, the top PC prize belonged to Blizzard Entertainment and Vivendi Games' megapopular massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft. A fixture on the chart since its fall 2004 release, it joined a series of returnees in the top 20, such as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (seventh) and last month's top finisher, Guild Wars Factions. Naturally, the Sims franchise was well represented, taking the third (The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff), fifth (The Sims 2: Open for Business), and sixth (The Sims 2) slots.

ALL CONSOLES
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Platform	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
1	1	New Super Mario Bros.	DS	Nintendo	May-06	$35
**	2	Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories	PS2	Take-Two	Jun-06	$20
3	3	Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day	DS	Nintendo	Apr-06	$18
**	4	Cars	PS2	THQ	Jun-06	$39
**	5	Hitman: Blood Money	Xbox 360	Eidos	May-06	$60
**	6	Cars	GBA	THQ	Jun-06	$29
14	7	FIFA World Cup 2006	PS2	Electronic Arts	Apr-06	$30
**	8	Big Brain Academy	DS	Nintendo	Jun-06	$19
**	9	Hitman: Blood Money	PS2	Eidos	May-06	$39
**	10	Cars	GC	THQ	Jun-06	$39
4	11	God of War	PS2	Sony	Mar-05	$20
8	12	Guitar Hero Bundle	PS2	Red Octane	Nov-05	$69
10	13	Kingdom Hearts II	PS2	Square Enix Inc	Mar-06	$48
**	14	NFL Head Coach	PS2	Electronic Arts	Jun-06	$40
12	15	Over the Hedge	PS2	Activision	May-06	$37
5	16	Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	Xbox 360	Take-Two	Mar-06	$60
7	17	MLB '06: The Show	PS2	Sony	Mar-06	$39
9	18	Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas	PS2	Take-Two	Oct-04	$20
11	19	X-Men: The Official Game	PS2	Activision	May-06	$37
6	20	Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter	Xbox 360	Ubisoft	Mar-06	$60

PC
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Average Price
3	1	World of Warcraft	Vivendi	$36
**	2	Half-Life 2: Episode One	Electronic Arts	$18
2	3	The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff	Electronic Arts	$20
**	4	Cars: Radiator Springs Adventures	THQ	$18
5	5	The Sims 2: Open for Business	Electronic Arts	$31
6	6	The Sims 2	Electronic Arts	$40
4	7	Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	Take-Two	$49
1	8	Guild Wars Factions	NCsoft	$48
18	9	Heroes of Might & Magic V	Ubisoft	$50
11	10	Age of Empires III	Microsoft	$49
14	11	Zoo Tycoon 2	Microsoft	$26
7	12	Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends	Microsoft	$49
16	13	Zoo Tycoon: Complete Collection	Microsoft	$26
8	14	Star Wars: Empire At War	LucasArts	$49
**	15	Hitman: Blood Money	Eidos	$39
12	16	Civilization IV	Take-Two	$50
10	17	Battlefield 2	Electronic Arts	$42
17	18	Warcraft III Battle Chest	Vivendi	$39
13	19	The Sims 2 Nightlife	Electronic Arts	$31
20	20	Sim City 4 Deluxe	Electronic Arts	$22

PLAYSTATION 2
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
**	1	Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories	Take-Two	Jun-06	$20
**	2	Cars	THQ	Jun-06	$39
9	3	FIFA World Cup 2006	Electronic Arts	Apr-06	$30
**	4	Hitman: Blood Money	Eidos	May-06	$39
2	5	God of War	Sony	Mar-05	$20
4	6	Guitar Hero Bundle	Red Octane	Nov-05	$69
1	7	Kingdom Hearts II	Square Enix Inc	Mar-06	$48
**	8	NFL Head Coach	Electronic Arts	Jun-06	$40
8	9	Over the Hedge	Activision	May-06	$37
3	10	MLB '06: the Show	Sony	Mar-06	$39

XBOX
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
**	1	Cars	THQ	Jun-06	$39
7	2	FIFA World Cup 2006	Electronic Arts	Apr-06	$30
**	3	Hitman: Blood Money	Eidos	May-06	$40
3	4	Halo 2	Microsoft	Nov-04	$29
2	5	Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Version 2.0	Take-Two	Sep-05	$21
4	6	Fable	Microsoft	Sep-04	$21
**	7	NFL Head Coach	Electronic Arts	Jun-06	$40
**	8	Jaws Unleashed	Majesco	May-06	$29
5	9	X-Men: The Official Game	Activision	May-06	$37
1	10	Major League Baseball 2k6	Take-Two	Apr-06	$39

XBOX 360
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
**	1	Hitman: Blood Money	Eidos	May-06	$60
1	2	Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	Take-Two	Mar-06	$60
2	3	Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter	Ubisoft	Mar-06	$60
10	4	FIFA World Cup 2006	Electronic Arts	Apr-06	$59
3	5	Fight Night Round 3	Electronic Arts	Feb-06	$60
7	6	Table Tennis	Take-Two	May-06	$40
**	7	Moto GP 06	THQ	Jun-06	$60
8	8	Call of Duty 2	Activision	Nov-05	$57
4	9	Battlefield 2: Modern Combat	Electronic Arts	Apr-06	$60
**	10	Burnout Revenge	Electronic Arts	Mar-06	$39

GAMECUBE
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
**	1	Cars	THQ	Jun-06	$39
1	2	Over the Hedge	Activision	May-06	$36
3	3	Naruto: Clash of Ninja	D3publisher	Mar-06	$40
4	4	Paper Mario: the Thousand Year Door	Nintendo	Oct-04	$21
8	5	Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix W/Mat	Konami Digital Ent.	Oct-05	$49
7	6	Super Smash Bro Melee	Nintendo	Dec-01	$30
5	7	Mario Kart: Double Dash !!	Nintendo	Nov-03	$30
**	8	Teen Titans	Majesco	May-06	$20
10	9	Super Mario Sunshine	Nintendo	Aug-02	$20
9	10	Lego Star Wars	Eidos	Oct-05	$29

GBA
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
**	1	Cars	THQ	Jun-06	$29
1	2	Super Mario Advance	Nintendo	Jun-01	$20
2	3	Over the Hedge	Activision	May-06	$28
4	4	Pokemon Emerald	Nintendo	Apr-05	$35
6	5	Mario & Luigi Saga	Nintendo	Nov-03	$20
5	6	Yoshi's Island : Mario 3	Nintendo	Sep-02	$20
8	7	Dogz	Ubisoft	Nov-05	$30
**	8	Mega Man Battle Network 6: Cybeast Gregar	Capcom	Jun-06	$30
10	9	Mario Bros. 3: Mario 4	Nintendo	Oct-03	$31
3	10	Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories	Square Enix Inc	Dec-04	$20

DS
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
1	1	New Super Mario Bros.	Nintendo	May-06	$35
2	2	Brain Age: Train Your Brain In Minutes a Day	Nintendo	Apr-06	$18
**	3	Big Brain Academy	Nintendo	Jun-06	$19
**	4	Cars	THQ	Jun-06	$29
5	5	Mario Kart	Nintendo	Nov-05	$35
4	6	Animal Crossing: Wild World	Nintendo	Dec-05	$34
3	7	Metroid Prime: Hunters	Nintendo	Mar-06	$34
8	8	Tetris	Nintendo	Mar-06	$30
9	9	Over the Hedge	Activision	May-06	$28
10	10	Nintendogs: Dachshund & Friends	Nintendo	Aug-05	$31

PSP
Last Month	Current Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
**	1	Cars	THQ	Jun-06	$39
3	2	Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories	Take-Two	Oct-05	$40
6	3	Monster Hunter: Freedom	Capcom	May-06	$40
1	4	MLB '06: the Show	Sony	Mar-06	$40
4	5	Field Commander	Sony Online Ent.	May-06	$40
2	6	Daxter	Sony	Mar-06	$40
**	7	FIFA World Cup 2006	Electronic Arts	May-06	$40
**	8	Need for Speed: Most Wanted	Electronic Arts	Nov-05	$40
**	9	NBA Live 06	Electronic Arts	Oct-05	$30
9	10	SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo	Sony	Nov-05	$40