Kristan Reed (Page 3)

EA continued its reign at the top of the chart this week, with the US giant’s James Bond 007: Everything Or Nothing making its debut at the top of the UK All Formats and single-formats charts in its first week on sale.

Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) will not be released in the USA and Europe in time for Christmas, with the company confirming yesterday that the release date has been pushed back into the first quarter of 2005.

Post Christmas sales helped demand for the main three consoles jump by over nine percent, according to the latest figures released by ChartTrack, but sale pricing meant that the value of the market was down.

Leading publisher Electronic Arts is set to publish the third instalment in the popular TimeSplitters franchise, after Nottingham-based Free Radical Design signed a global deal with the US giant.

Nintendo's mystery game hardware has been unveiled after months of speculation, with the Kyoto-based giant planning to bring out a radically different type of portable game system at the same time as the PSP next Christmas.

There was no change at the top of the UK chart this week, as the 700,000-selling Need For Speed: Underground stayed firmly ahead of the GTA Double Pack at number two and the half million-selling Simpsons: Hit & Run at number three.

The founders of the company behind the 32 million-selling Tomb Raider series have announced their return to the games industry under the guise of Circle Studio, and have hired 35 former Core Design employees to work on two prototype titles.

Sales of videogames consoles in the UK edged downwards by 1 per cent during 2003 according to ChartTrack's annual hardware figures - a fairly significant slowdown in growth, which may well represent the peak of the current generation.

EA has maintained its unbroken streak at the top of the UK charts, as Need For Speed: Underground held on for its third straight week at number one despite a strong challenge from Rockstar's GTA Double Pack.

UK game console sales are on the wane despite the reduction in price in all three formats, with the total units sold over the crucial Christmas period down by over 10 per cent year on year, ChartTrack figures have revealed.

Sony comprehensively trounced the opposition in the console hardware market once again last week, with the PlayStation 2 selling at its highest level all year - ahead of its nearest home console rival by almost four to one.

Sony celebrated the third anniversary of the PS2's UK launch last week, and next week seems likely to break past the five million unit mark in terms of UK sales, despite a general year-on-year decline in console sales.

Medal Of Honor: Rising Sun was the UK's best selling game last week, as EA continued to dominate the pre-Christmas best sellers list, with the top four titles all bearing the publisher's name.

Nintendo's Cube revival has continued in impressive fashion in time for the Christmas rush, with Chart-Track figures released today placing the console ahead of the Xbox for the first time in weeks.

FIFA 2004 fought off a posse of new releases this week to maintain its headlock on the nation's top slot, making it three straight weeks at number one for EA and extending FIFA's lead over Pro Evolution Soccer 3.

The recent upsurge in Cube sales has reached a plateau already according to this week's ChartTrack hardware report, while Microsoft's Xbox has improved its sales by some 65 per cent in the same period.

GameCube's much-publicised sales recovery in the UK has slowed already according to the latest set of ChartTrack hardware figures which reveal that Xbox has once again overtaken Nintendo's console.

EA scored another No.1 success this week following the PS2, Cube and Xbox debut of FIFA Football 2004, deposing Konami's rival footy title Pro Evolution Soccer 3 to No.2 in the process.

There was cause for cautious celebration at Nintendo of Europe this morning when it emerged that GameCube sales in the UK have dramatically overtaken the Xbox by a ratio of almost two to one.

Konami scored its first All Formats No.1 for a year this week, following the storming success of Pro Evolution Soccer 3 on PS2 which displaced EA's Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 after its two-week stint at the top.

Sony is to cut the price of its flagship console to £139 next Wednesday, with the limited edition silver version sinking to £149. Will Microsoft respond?

As X03 dawns, Bioware gives Xbox its first chart topper of the year, throwing Eye Toy off the pace, while EA continue to mop up further down and SCi enjoy another Pivotal moment.

Sony's all-conquering Eye Toy continues to blaze a trail at the top of Chart-Track's UK All Formats chart this week, but several big name new releases failed to attract punters despite an end to the summer drought.