UK Charts: EA locks down the top spot as Christmas looms

Top publisher Electronic Arts looks set to take the coveted Christmas number one spot in the UK, with Need for Speed Most Wanted well out in front this week, while FIFA 06 steps up one place to number two.

This year's Need for Speed iteration clocked up almost twice the sales of nearest rival FIFA in the past week, despite seeing a week on week decline of 24 per cent in its unit sales, and unless there are any major upsets, looks likely to remain in the top spot over the holiday season.

Further down the top ten, however, there's plenty of jostling for position - with major success for both Activision's Call of Duty: Big Red One, up three places to number three, and Ubisoft's King Kong, up four places to number four.

EA's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the third title from the publisher to make it into the top ten, falling one place to number five despite a baseline increase in sales, and also seeing a rise in sales are Lucasarts' Star Wars: Battlefront II, holding firm at number seven, and Buena Vista Games' Narnia movie tie-in, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, which is up six places to number eight.

Faring less well this week - but still racking up impressive sales given the strength of the market overall - are Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 5, which falls four places from last week's number two to this week's number six, and Vivendi Universal Games' 50 Cent: Bulletproof, down four places to number nine.

Looking outside the top ten, there are strong performances from titles such as Ubisoft's Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, which is up 14 places to number 15, and Sony's UK-developed social gaming title Buzz! The Music Quiz, up nine places to number 18.

Turning to some of the individual platforms, Xbox 360 titles are still represented in the top 40 in the second week on sale, with Perfect Dark Zero remaining the best-selling title on the platform but dropping 20 places to number 32 in the chart, while Call of Duty 2 swaps places with Project Gotham Racing 3 to take the number two spot, with PGR down to number three.

The Nintendo DS ranking is topped by Mario Kart DS, which is at number 26 in the all-formats ranking (down four places from last week), while Sonic Rush is at number two in the DS chart, seeing a sales boost that lifts it into the all-formats top 40 at number 30.

Finally, on the PSP, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is the best selling title, and is down three places to number 12 in the all-formats ranking. Pro Evolution Soccer 5 is at number two, with Sony's own World Tour Soccer at number three, and ranked up two places to number 23 in the all-formats chart.