Weekly PC Sales: Total War Follows The Path

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It's that time of the week again, as the marketing research gurus at NPD have released their list of the best-selling PC games at US retailers during the week of March 15.

For the most part, NPD's list is unchanged from that of the previous week, the only tweak being the addition of Civilization IV, which bumped Ravenhearst down a spot.

However, Direct2Drive's list of best-selling games was a bit more active--Defense Grid: The Awakening topped the digital download provider's chart thanks to a half-price sale, with newcomers HAWX, Men of War and The Path also appearing in the top ten.

NPD's Top Ten (3/15 - 3/21)

  1. Empire: Total War / Creative Assembly / $41
  2. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King / Blizzard / $39
  3. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis / $20
  4. Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II / Relic / $42
  5. World Of Warcraft Battle Chest / Blizzard / $40
  6. World Of Warcraft / Blizzard / $20
  7. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Exp. Pack / EA Maxis / $20
  8. Spore / EA Maxis / $50
  9. Civilization IV / Firaxis / $20
  10. Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst / Big Fish Games / $20

Direct2Drive's Top Ten (3/15 - 3/21)

  1. Defense Grid: The Awakening / Hidden Path
  2. Command & Conquer 3: Red Alert - Uprising / EA LA
  3. Tom Clancy's HAWX / Ubisoft Romania
  4. Men of War / Best Way
  5. Empire: Total War / Creative Assembly
  6. Rome: Total War Gold Edition / Creative Assembly
  7. Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II / Relic
  8. The Path / Tale of Tales
  9. World in Conflict: Soviet Assault Expansion / Massive
  10. Final Fantasy XI Vana'diel Collection 2008 / Square Enix
Remember, NPD only accounts for brick and mortar stores in the United States and does not include digital distribution, while Direct2Drive's data only represents one of the many online digital download platforms available to PC owners.

Chris Faylor was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    April 2, 2009 9:00 AM

    I'm almost ready to go out and impulse buy 100 copies of a random, unknown game just to see if it makes it onto the charts. There can't seriously be that many people still buying Spore.

    • reply
      April 2, 2009 9:13 AM

      If you're a casual gamer and weren't subjected to the years of hype that preceded Spore, then it's pretty easy to see why it's still selling. It really is a fun game, and the new expansion coming out this summer looks really cool.

      • reply
        April 2, 2009 11:21 AM

        triple post for the win :D

      • reply
        April 2, 2009 9:12 PM

        Agreed, not seeing GDC 2005 made me think Spore was a lot more fun than most gamers saw it had the potential to be. It doesn't have any appreciable level of depth until you get to space, though I think the creature stage was the most fun part and had the most depth for what limited goals-eat and evolve-you had for the first two modes.

        Space just got to be annoying with all the missions; but the galaxy is fucking HUGE!

      • reply
        April 2, 2009 10:38 PM

        Hey, I loved Spore too. I'm just surprised people are still buying it.

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