'Mario Kart Wii' storms to number one

Published Tuesday, Apr 15 2008, 12:30 BST | By David Gibbon

Mario Kart Wii has enjoyed the most successful launch of any first party Nintendo game ever released after it stormed to the top of the latest all-formats games chart.

The title was also revealed as the eighth biggest launch ever in the UK, topping the first week sales of all five other Mario Wii games combined, including: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario, Mario Strikers: Charged Football and Mario Party 8.

The success of Mario Kart Wii saw the acclaimed Gran Turismo 5: Prologue fall one place to this week's number two, while sales of last week's top ten new entry Condemned 2 dropped by 20% as the game slipped one place to number six.

Outside the top ten, Nintendo DS title Assassin's Creed failed to equal the success of the console versions, but its release still helped the game's previous placing at number 27 rise up to 15 in the all-formats chart.

The top ten games in full:

1. (-) Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo)
2. (1) Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (Sony)
3. (2) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega)
4. (4) Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami)
5. (3) Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (Ubisoft)
6. (5) Condemned 2 (Sega)
7. (8) Wii Play (Nintendo)
8. (6) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Activision)
9. (10) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision)
10. (13) Carnival: Funfair Games (2K Play)

Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2008 ELSPA Ltd