Final Fantasy XIII Launches with a Bang

Final Fantasy XIII has not been very well received by reviewers, with most of them criticizing the complete linearity of the initial stages of the game, yet it still managed to have a great first week on sales, reaching the first position in the United Kingdom videogame chart. The Japanese role playing game developed by Square Enix will try to hold off the likes of the Dragon Age expansion The Awakening to protect its position in the coming weeks.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the first person humor-infused shooter from DICE and Electronic Arts, has dropped from first to second place, apparently lacking the staying power of Modern Warfare 2. Just Dance from Ubisoft has also been pushed back one place to third with Heavy Rain, the adventure title developed by Quantic Dream and published by Sony, staying put at number four and continuing its search for the Origami Killer.

Wii Fit Plus is at number five in the chart, climbing up one place from sixth and showing how Nintendo managed to create experiences that sell well even as big titles come out every week. Sixth place went to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which is probably getting a second wind in terms of sales before the March 30 launch of the Stimulus Pack set to bring five maps to the game for the price of 15 dollars.

Seventh place has been occupied by Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing, which dropped two places from fifth, and might take over the mantle of “perennial game in the top ten” from Mario Kart Wii, while Aliens vs. Predator, also from SEGA, saw the biggest drop of the week, from number three to eight. Wii Sports Resort sits at nine, with New Super Mario Bros. for the Wii closing down the top ten.

Meanwhile, FIFA 10 from EA Sports went out of the chart for the first time in quite a few months and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Chaos Rising only managed to rise to 14 in its launch week.