ChartSpot: March 2005

Though analysts are still debating whether or not the launch of the PSP met expectations, the new format certainly made an impact on the software charts last month. Even though the PSP was just released on March 24, five of the top portable games sold in the US in March were for the Sony handheld. Perhaps more impressive was that three PSP games (Twisted Metal: Head On, Need for Speed: Underground Rivals, and Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade) cracked the top 20 best-selling non-PC games in March--a feat not a single GameCube game could manage.

Indeed, only two Nintendo games--WarioWare: Touched! for the DS and Robots for the Game Boy Advance--managed to crack the top 20. The rest of the chart was mostly Sony's show, with the top four games--Gran Turismo 4, MVP Baseball 2005, Fight Night Round 2, and Devil May Cry 3--being PlayStation 2 games. God of War also made an impressive debut at number six, while Tekken 5 disappointed somewhat, arriving at number 11.

The Xbox also made a strong showing in the console charts, with Star Wars: Republic Commando debuting at number five. The Xbox versions of Fight Night Round 2 and Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 also made it into the top 10, followed by MVP Baseball 2005 (number 10) and Major League Baseball 2K5 (number 13). Perhaps the most impressive Xbox debut was Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, which made it to number 12 despite being on the market only three days before the end of the month.

Over on the PC charts, it was much the same story. You wouldn't need a college degree to know that the first Sims 2 expansion, University, was going to finish atop the heap, followed by perennial favorites World of Warcraft and The Sims 2. The top debut was Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, which came in at number four. Bringing up its rear was Star Wars: Republic Commando (number seven), the Matrix Online (number eight), and MVP Baseball 2005 (number 14).

ALL CONSOLES
Last Month	Rank	Title	Platform	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
1	1	Gran Turismo 4	PS2	Sony	Feb '05	$49
4	2	MVP Baseball 2005	PS2	Electronic Arts	Feb '05	$29
**	3	Fight Night Round 2	PS2	Electronic Arts	Mar '05	$49
**	4	Devil May Cry 3	PS2	Capcom	Mar '05	$49
**	5	Star Wars: Republic Commando	Xbox	LucasArts	Mar '05	$50
**	6	God of War	PS2	Sony	Mar '05	$50
**	7	Fight Night Round 2	Xbox	Electronic Arts	Mar '05	$49
**	8	Major League Baseball 2K5	PS2	Take-Two Interactive	Feb '05	$19
**	9	Brothers In Arms: Road To Hill 30	Xbox	Ubisoft	Mar '05	$46
17	10	MVP Baseball 2005	Xbox	Electronic Arts	Feb '05	$29
**	11	Tekken 5	PS2	Namco	Feb '05	$50
**	12	Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory	Xbox	Ubisoft	Mar '05	$50
**	13	Major League Baseball 2K5	Xbox	Take-Two Interactive	Feb '05	$20
**	14	Twisted Metal: Head On	PSP	Sony	Mar '05	$40
**	15	Need For Speed: Underground Rivals	PSP	Electronic Arts	Mar '05	$49
**	16	MX vs. ATV Unleashed	PS2	THQ	Mar '05	$40
16	17	Warioware: Touched!	DS	Nintendo	Feb '05	$34
3	18	Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas	PS2	Take-Two Interactive	Oct '04	$47
**	19	Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade	PSP	Sony Online Ent.	Mar '05	$40
**	20	Robots	GBA	Vivendi Universal	Feb '05	$28

PC
Last Month	Rank	Title	Publisher	Average Price
**	1	The Sims 2 University	Electronic Arts	$34
1	2	World of Warcraft	Vivendi Universal	$50
4	3	The Sims 2	Electronic Arts	$48
**	4	Brothers In Arms: Road To Hill 30	Ubisoft	$46
3	5	Half-Life 2	Vivendi Universal	$51
5	6	The Sims Deluxe	Electronic Arts	$19
**	7	Star Wars: Republic Commando	LucasArts	$46
**	8	Matrix Online	Sega of America	$49
6	9	Halo: Combat Evolved	Microsoft	$28
2	10	Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords	LucasArts	$46
8	11	Roller Coaster Tycoon 3	Atari	$38
10	12	Seaworld Adventure Parks Tycoon	Activision	$16
**	13	The Sims: Unleashed	Electronic Arts	$13
**	14	MVP Baseball 2005	Electronic Arts	$29
12	15	Zoo Tycoon 2	Microsoft	$37
11	16	Lemony Snicket: Series of Unfortunate Events	Activision	$25
**	17	The Sims: Superstar	Electronic Arts	$13
15	18	Flight Simulator 2004: Century of Flight	Microsoft	$30
7	19	Call of Duty	Activision	$30
13	20	Rome: Total War	Activision	$46

PLAYSTATION 2
Last Month	Rank	Title	Publisher	Average Price
1	1	Gran Turismo 4	Sony	Feb '05	$49
4	2	MVP Baseball 2005	Electronic Arts	Feb '05	$29
**	3	Fight Night Round 2	Electronic Arts	Mar '05	$49
**	4	Devil May Cry 3	Capcom	Mar '05	$49
**	5	God of War	Sony	Mar '05	$50
**	6	Major League Baseball 2K5	Take-Two Interactive	Feb '05	$19
**	7	Tekken 5	Namco	Feb '05	$50
**	8	MX vs. ATV Unleashed	THQ	Mar '05	$40
3	9	Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas	Take-Two Interactive	Oct '04	$47
**	10	Brothers In Arms: Road To Hill 30	Ubisoft	Mar '05	$47

XBOX
Last Month	Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
**	1	Star Wars: Republic Commando	LucasArts	Mar '05	$49
**	2	Fight Night Round 2	Electronic Arts	Mar '05	$50
**	3	Brothers In Arms: Road To Hill 30	Ubisoft	Mar '05	$30
3	4	MVP Baseball 2005	Electronic Arts	Feb '05	$48
**	5	Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory	Ubisoft	Mar '05	$50
**	6	Major League Baseball 2K5	Take-Two Interactive	Feb '05	$49
4	7	Halo 2	Microsoft	Nov '04	$50
**	8	MX vs. ATV Unleashed	THQ	Mar '05	$19
1	9	NBA Street V3	Electronic Arts	Feb '05	$20
**	10	Narc	Midway	Mar '05	$29

GAMECUBE
Last Month	Rank	Title	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
2	1	Star Fox: Assault	Nintendo	Feb '05	$49
1	2	Resident Evil 4	Capcom	Jan '05	$50
4	3	Super Mario Sunshine	Nintendo	Aug '02	$19
**	4	MVP Baseball 2005	Electronic Arts	Feb '05	$29
3	5	NBA Street V3	Electronic Arts	Feb '05	$49
5	6	Mario Party 6 W/Microphone	Nintendo	Dec '04	$50
**	7	Donkey Kong: Jungle W/Bongos	Nintendo	Mar '05	$54
6	8	Super Smash Bro Melee	Nintendo	Dec '01	$30
**	9	Robots	Vivendi Universal	Feb '05	$40
**	10	Pokemon Colosseum	Nintendo	Mar '04	$22

PORTABLE
Last Month	Rank	Title	Platform	Publisher	Release Date	Average Price
**	1	Twisted Metal: Head On	PSP	Sony	Mar '05	$40
**	2	Need For Speed: Underground Rivals	PSP	Electronic Arts	Mar '05	$49
3	3	Warioware: Touched!	DS	Nintendo	Feb '05	$34
**	4	Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade	PSP	Sony Online Ent.	Mar '05	$40
**	5	Robots	GBA	Vivendi Universal	Feb '05	$28
6	6	The Incredibles	GBA	THQ	Nov '04	$28
**	7	Yoshi Touch & Go	DS	Nintendo	Mar '05	$31
2	8	Super Mario 64 DS	DS	Nintendo	Nov '04	$30
**	9	Metal Gear Acid	PSP	Konami	Mar '05	$39
**	10	Wipeout Pure	PSP	Sony	Mar '05	$39