Vice hangs onto top slot

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City continued to hog the number one slot in the UK ELSPA chart in the first Top 40 of the New Year, and has been confirmed as the fastest selling title in the country ever, having already broken the one million barrier - even outselling GTA 3 in the process.

Take-Two's blockbusting release hit the shelves less than two months ago, and has shifted an eye bulging 1.25 million copies already - meaning around one in three PS2 owners bought the game.

GTA 3 also broke the one million unit barrier in the run up to Christmas for sales on the PS2 alone - although it was unclear whether GTA 3 or Vice City became the first single format title to achieve this worthy feat. To put it in perspective, GTA 3 took around 14 months to sell one million on the PS2, while Vice City managed the million in around six weeks.

Sam Houser and the gang at Rockstar North are going to be very rich indeed - at its average selling price of £35.99, Vice City alone has already grossed over £44 million in the UK alone; and you can times that figure by at least 15 for its worldwide sales to date.

Meanwhile, the rest of this week's chart showed little or no movement, with EA's quartet of biggies still lining up patiently behind Vice City, with FIFA, Potter, Bond and Lord Of The Rings occupying numbers two to five.

Sony's controversial The Getaway appears to be in freefall already, tumbling ten places to number 15, but considering it has already shifted around 400,000 units in the UK, Team Soho won't be overly concerned. As a single format title it was Vice City's nearest contender in unit sales terms, with even FIFA on PS2 notching up less than 300,000.

The highest placed Xbox title was again Ubi Soft's Splinter Cell, down to No.12 this week, while the poor old GameCube was not represented by one exclusive title in the whole Top 40 - the first time this has happened since the console launched back in May last year. Similarly, there was not one standalone GBA title in the Top 40 either, despite the installed base having hit 1.5 million over the Christmas period.

With little or no new releases coming for a few weeks yet, the charts are likely to remain top heavy with the big Christmas releases, and the odd discounted flop. For the full breakdown format by format, head for Chart-Track's own website at www.chart-track.co.uk.