UK Charts: EA's Black in first
Publisher secures first all-formats hit with original IP since 1997.
Following an exceptional chart run with Need for Speed: Most Wanted, EA's reign has survived yet another challenge, as the publisher returns to the throne with its first all-formats number one based on original IP in almost a decade.
Appearing on PS2 and Xbox, and aiming to do for the first-person-shooter what Burnout did for the racing genre, Criterion's full-on frenetic shooter, Black, has stormed straight in to first place on the back of some pretty strong reviews and heavy marketing activity.
Last week's champion, Sony's Shadow of the Colossus, has been pushed down three places to number four, unable to surpass Need for Speed: Most Wanted. NFSMW remains locked in third place after fourteen weeks at the top end of the all-formats charts - ten of which were spent in first place.
Codemasters has entered the chart in second place with the latest in its multi-platform driving franchise, TOCA Race Driver 3, pushing LucasArts' real-time strategy PC title Star Wars: Empire At War down three places to this week's number five.
The remainder of the top ten holds few surprises with FIFA 06 gripping sixth place for another week, while The Sims 2 falls two places from five to seven. Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 5 still pushing forward with a single place climb from nine to eight and animated movie tie-in Chicken Little steps up from ten to nine, whilst 2K Sports' Torino 2006 thaws out a little and drops three places from seven to ten.
Activision's Call of Duty 2 has climbed three places to the top of the Xbox 360 charts, pushing the title up five places from 17 to 12 in the all-formats. The remainder of the next-gen chart listings fairly static, in spite of significant improvements in the availablity of the hardware as Microsoft finally begins to resolve its component shortage issues.
Elsewhere in the charts, beleagured publisher Atari receives a little positive news as Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Under Pressure climbs from 25 to number 15. Codemasters Online Gaming's flagship MMOG, RF Online, debuts at number 16, entering the PC full price chart in second place.