PC game charts: December 17-23

The Sims 2: Pets beats out World of Warcraft for pole position as older expansions to EA's virtual life simulator return to the charts.

Animal companionship is proving to be exceptionally popular with gamers, as Electronic Arts' The Sims 2: Pets expansion pack for its virtual life simulator once again topped the US retail PC game sales charts for the week of December 17 to 23, according to the latest numbers from the industry-tracking NPD Group.

The add-on has been a regular inhabitant of the top spot on the charts since its October release and was the first of five EA titles to make the charts for the week. The publisher also saw The Sims 2 land in fourth place, with its Open for Business and Glamour Life Stuff expansion packs returning to the charts in the ninth and 10th spots, respectively. Finally, EA's first-person shooter Battlefield 2142 moved up a notch from the week before, landing in seventh.

The week's runner-up is no stranger to the rarified air of the top spot itself, as Vivendi's massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft has seen multiple extended stays in that position since its release in 2004. The game's first expansion pack, The Burning Crusade, is set to be released later this month.

Take-Two's Global Star Software division also made it onto the podium this week with a third-place showing for its Deal or No Deal, based on the Howie Mandel-hosted television show. The deluxe edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator X and THQ's Cars Radiator Springs Adventure ranked sixth and eighth, respectively, while Sega's Medieval II: Total War moved from eighth to fifth thanks in part to a drop in its average selling price, from $48 to $39.

39 Comments

  • _Sam_

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 1:34 pm PT

    call me crazy, but I'm not a sims fan

    I don't see flight sim making many other charts. Not everyone likes simulator games.

  • gbrading Site moderator

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 6:41 am PT

    Suprised that 'Deal or No Deal' made it so high up. I would have expected Medieval II and FSX to beat it by far.

  • mrhankeydinks

    Posted Jan 7, 2007 6:29 pm PT

    to see bf2142 and m2tw on there, WoW, psh...is always on the list.

  • jwj442

    Posted Jan 7, 2007 9:05 am PT

    "Sims and licensed garbage are selling well! PC gaming is dead!" Don't forget, Sims and Deal or no Deal are games that can easily run on most PCs and therefore have a wider potential audience than most other games, PC or console. So it's not surprising that they're selling well, especially since Deal or no Deal costs $20. And they're somewhat like Brain Age and Nintendogs in that they appeal to people who generally don't play games, except they don't require any additional investment (for a DS casual game you obviously have to buy a DS, for casual PC games like The Sims a lot of people can already run the game). I don't see people saying that the great sales of DS casual games mean that the DS is a horrible platform.

    There have been plenty of good PC games this year - about as many good ones as the PS2 and 360, really.

  • Core0

    Posted Jan 6, 2007 1:28 am PT

    The fact that Sims are high on the list, as always, say nothing for PC gaming. PC is the gaming platform with the most market penetration of all, and the fact that Sims are high on the list only tells us that casuals are buying it as always, while consoles have no such casual audience to overwhelm the sales of real games.

  • nick21989

    Posted Jan 6, 2007 12:25 am PT

    Ha I allways laugh when I see The Sims 2 and WOW on the list still even though they came out in 2004. Heck The Sims rock though so no wonder it's still on the list!

  • dcoy8

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 9:59 pm PT

    eww sims, eww WoW, the only REAL game up there is battlefield 2142...good thing i dont plau pc games....they are wack!

  • cyborg100000

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 3:14 pm PT

    Four sims games on the top charts....Yikes.
    I bought the 1st sims but got completly vored with it after a few days. but I guess it selles good because it appeals to a huge audience and WoW appeals to more hardcore gamers. Still...for being an MMO i'd say WoW tops sims in the chart. If WoW was the sims in addiction then WoW would own. ......did that make sense? xD

  • Chief_Kuuni

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 2:20 pm PT

    haven't played sims 2, would love to, loved the first one

  • dark_xaero

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 1:22 pm PT

    Do these charts still exclude the online sales etc.?

  • Punkazz189

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 12:43 pm PT

    The Sims 2 isn't a bad game. It's just not aimed toward hardcore gamers. It's a game anyone can pick up and play easily. That's why it is on the chart.

    Quit your whining.

  • Chainblast

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 12:04 pm PT

    A lot of the games on that chart can be run by more people than games like CoH can. So after the initial spike I wouldn't expect them to stick around. So while CoH is a wicked game and sold well initially, the people who want and can run it probably already have it.

    Still, if you like RTS and can get by with running it you owe it to yourself to grab a copy of that game.

  • kopi2266

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 12:01 pm PT

    The sims series sucks.

  • goddessakasha

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 11:54 am PT

    lol... you'd figure everyone that would possibly want to purchase WOW already has. I can't believe people keep buying that game.

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 11:28 am PT

    still crazy... i don't know ANYONE that even playes the sims... how does it sell so well? guess they're just all inside glued to their pc's...

  • GFofgaming

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 10:36 am PT

    Soon they will come up with Sims 3: Sex Aftermath

  • blacktorn

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 7:55 am PT

    I'm still shaking my head that the sims craze is still here after 7 years,i guess people can't get enough of burning their vertual peps

  • gatsbythepig

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 7:50 am PT

    strange what people enjoy

  • darkfox101

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 5:29 am PT

    Also i expected coh there.. y no company of heroes ? its only one of the most awesome rts in history

  • darkfox101

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 5:27 am PT

    maybe cuz everyone bought all the awsome pc games...? lmao sims pets wtf WTF!? THIS IS NOT PC GAMING!!

  • azad_champ

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 5:20 am PT

    Where's the console chart?

  • GFofgaming

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 5:09 am PT

    Ah comeon, PC gamers r really ambarassing themselves. These 2 games WOW and Sims are ****. Games like BF 2142, Company of heroes, now these are PC gaming is all about. Lets not forget UT 2004, which is old but still fantastic.

  • onehung

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 4:26 am PT

    The Sims has dominated the NPC for 7 years.

  • cjcr_alexandru

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 3:50 am PT

    Too many Sims, again.

  • faizali86

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 2:04 am PT

    wow and burning crusade will be the top two when theyre released.

  • Eye_Indigo

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 11:29 pm PT

    RaiKageRyu>With all these Sims selling. Who needs a SIm3?

    EA and Will Wright do .....

  • Eye_Indigo

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 11:26 pm PT

    The problem is that the really good games have a hard time outselling the trash .... Moms and Dads of morons that want more Sims and Warcraft junkies just have deeper pockets .... Theres a lot of people playing Company of Heroes or Rainbow Six: Vegas ... but it's just not enough

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 11:04 pm PT

    With all these Sims selling. Who needs a SIm3?

  • Charlie2688

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 10:05 pm PT

  • doomed51

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 9:06 pm PT

    still some time until the really good gmes start comin in on the PC, Sims; Pets?!!? wtf??!?!

  • nmandude

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 8:33 pm PT

    cant... wait... for... PORTAL!!

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 7:32 pm PT

    it seems like teh sims and wow have been rivals for a while

  • Timbydude

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 6:11 pm PT

    World of Warcraft, Medieval 2, Flight Simulator X, and BF 2142 are the only games that actually deserve a spot up there.

    The Sims 2 is really crap; the only fun is to do stuff you wouldn't do in real life. Unfortunately, you do all of it in about 10 minutes, then you hate it.

    True, World of Warcraft's 2-year reign might seem unfair, but it really is good enough of a game to deserve it.

  • xmg0

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 6:10 pm PT

    CARS?!! Still!

  • Lanezy

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 5:58 pm PT

    Wow, the PC really needs something new

  • Kensai_Akira

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 5:57 pm PT

    Where's Company of Heroes? They don't deserve a place here????

  • GoldenSilence87

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 5:55 pm PT

    If isnt a sign of the PC demise, I dont know what is. Party game and rehashes all around

  • Batman_Begins

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 5:41 pm PT

    Deal...... or ... No Deal.

  • Re_ensurer

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 5:40 pm PT

    Nothing new.

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