Nintendo platform titles dominate the end of year German and Spanish charts.

Wii and DS games take ten out of 20 places across the two top tens for the week ended December 30, while only one PS3 game charts and Xbox 360 titles fail to get a look in.

Standout performers making the top tens in both Germany and Spain include Super Mario Galaxy, Brain Training titles, SingStar titles, Phantom Hourglass and FIFA 08.

Germany

01. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
02. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii)
03. More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima (DS)
04. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC)
05. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (DS)
06. New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
07. Need for Speed ProStreet (PS2)
08. SingStar Apres Ski (PS2)
09. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
10. FIFA 08 (PS2)

Spain

01. More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima (DS)
02. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (DS)
03. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (PS2)
04. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
05. WWE Smackdown! Vs RAW 2008 (PS2)
06. Assassin's Creed (PS3)
07. SingStar Latino (PS2)
08. Imagine: Being Mum (DS)
09. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
10. FIFA 08 (PS2)
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DS Fanboy:

"Does anyone else find it suspicious that Assassin's Creed is due out on the DS in one month and we still haven't heard even the most basic of information? We haven't seen one screen -- we don't even know what kind of game it is. We could interpret this seeming blackout in one of two ways: first, and most likely, that the game isn't actually going to come out next month; and second, that Ubisoft knows they have dead weight on their hands and hopes to slip it quietly out to stores, where people will buy it for the front cover."
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Which game had the honour of being the last game to top the 2007 PS3 charts...
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ActionTrip's 2007 Game of the Year voting poll registered 10673 participants. 1809 registered users voted for Call of Duty 4, 1279 for Halo 3, 1192 for Assassin's Creed, 837 for "None of the Above", 716 for BioShock, 710 for Crysis, 627 for The Orange Box, and so on. The rest of the results can be viewed in ActionTrip's voting poll section.

¿ People's Choice: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
¿ Runners-up: Halo 3, Assassin's Creed, Crysis, Half-Life 2: The Orange Box

¿ Game of the Year (ActionTrip Staff): Portal
¿ Runners-up: Mass Effect, Halo 3, BioShock, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, The Witcher

¿ Best Action Game: Halo 3
¿ Runners-up: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Half-Life 2: The Orange Box, God of War II, BioShock, Crysis

¿ Best Strategy Game: World in Conflict
¿ Runners-up: Supreme Commander, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars

¿ Best RPG: Mass Effect
¿ Runners-up: The Witcher, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer

¿ Best Sports Game: FIFA 08
¿ Runners-up: SSX Blur, NHL 08, Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2008

¿ Best MMOG: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
¿ Runners-up: Tabula Rasa, The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar

¿ Best Rhythm/Music Game: Rock Band
¿ Runners-up: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

¿ Babe of the Year: Joanna Krupa
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The Bitbag editor picks the winners for:

¿ Best 3D Action Game
¿ Best Racing Game
¿ Best RPG
¿ Best Fighter
¿ Best FPS
¿ Best Strategy Game
¿ Best Sports Game
¿ Best War Game
¿ Best Mecha Game
¿ Achievement In Excellence
¿ Best Handheld Game
¿ Best Graphics
¿ Best Sound
¿ Best Online Multiplayer
¿ Developer Of The Year
¿ Game Of The Year
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What makes a good video game? Strong visuals are important. Good controls are essential. A well-crafted concept helps too. These days, most games can boast at least two-thirds of that criteria.

So, then what makes a game great? Feeling. Emotion. Surprise. Interaction. Even addiction. It's a magical feeling when a game offers all these elements.

Here are the titles L.A. Times deemed the best experiences of 2007. Admittedly, they didn't play everything (because that would probably be impossible), but of the titles that did cross their paths, these are the ones that resonated most. Their favorites in order:

Best of the Year:
¿ BioShock
¿ Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
¿ Assassin's Creed
¿ Super Mario Galaxy
¿ The Orange Box

Honorable Mention:
¿ Halo 3
¿ Rock Band
¿ Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
¿ Cooking Mama: Cook Off
¿ Lost Planet

Worst of the Year:
¿ Lair

Dishonorable Mention:
¿ Fusion Frenzy 2
¿ 300: March to Glory
¿ Tenchu Z

[ By Pete Metzger, December 21, 2007 ]
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The Simpsons Game for PlayStation 2 has finally managed to take out the top spot in the Australian game charts -- seven weeks after its initial release -- according to data trackers GfK Australia. The DS version of the game also made it into the top 10, taking out the seventh spot.

Super Mario Galaxy for the Nintendo Wii -- last week's number one -- fell down to number two during the week of December 10-December 16. Drawn to Life for the Nintendo DS has reappeared in the overall charts at number three after a brief hiatus. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the Xbox 360 climbed up from the previous week to number five, while Activision's other chart topper -- Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock -- is nowhere to be seen. Halo 3 for the 360 has reappeared at number nine, while Nintendo's Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree bundle ended the week at number 10.
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Sony's Uncharted: Drake's Fortune has replaced Activision's Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare at the top of ELSPA/ChartTrack's official PS3 top ten.
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The decision is in and the staff of G4 X-Play has named its Game of the Year!
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Assasins Creed, GTA IV, Maps, November Sales, Wii Voice chat and more, all located in this weeks MyArcadePlanet Game Report. Covering Monday December 10th - Friday December 14th, 2007.
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Here are some observations issued by NPD analyst Anita Frazier, on total industry sales and the performances of Call of Duty 4, Assassin's Creed, Guitar Hero III, Rock Band, the 360 HD-DVD add-on, and Wii accessories.
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Ubisoft announced some remarkable results today.

Assassin's Creed is now officially the fastest-selling new video game IP in the US, ever. Ubisoft have already shifted over 2.5 million units worldwide on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360.

More facts and figures after the jump, including what the results mean to Ubisoft's financial projections...
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Assassin's Creed grabs the top spot on the Gamefly Top Ten 'Most Queued' list while Super Mario Galaxy and Uncharted Drake's Fortune queued up at the top of the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 Lists!

The Xbox 360 continues to be the console with the most rented games as 8 out of the top 10 are on that platform.
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The simExchange has released their monthly industry report.

Key Topics:
- Video games to break record sales
- PC Games continue to cannibalize each other
- Assassin's Creed - the woes of new intellectual property
- Rock Band - Too many hands in the cookie jar
- Wii - Can it handle M-rated titles

Analyst Jesse Divnich comments on sales:

"The prediction market expects November's software sales to be $1.15 billion which is a 42% increase over sales last year... [Software Sales] will be the highest ever seen in the month of November and the first time November sales will break $1 billion... Combining The NPD Group's estimates in October, retailers will net over $4.04 billion in software sales this holiday quarter, a 39% increase year-over-year-a record as well. "
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PS3 owners know that playing Assassin's Creed can be a frustrating experience. Ubisoft's much anticipated game suffered a long list of glitches on Sony's black box, which includes mid-load freezing, character movement glitches, and more.
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bit-tech.net reports:

"As can be seen in this video by YouTube user, themikepotter, the bug appears to cause Altair's animation to literally freeze ¿ even if he's in the middle of the air or galloping along the ground. Mike isn't alone, either. This problem has resulted in plenty of PS3 owners whipping out their cameras and uploading the footage to sites like YouTube, but so far nothing from Xbox 360 gamers."
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Media Create Sales 11/26 - 12/2:
01. [NDS] Prof. Layton and Pandora's Box (Level 5) - 294,000 / NEW
02. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 261,000 / NEW
03. [PS2] SD Gundam G Generation Spirits (Bandai-Namco) - 252,000 / NEW
04. [NDS] Dragon Quest IV (Square-Enix) - 135,000 / 732,000
05. [PS2] Sengoku Basara 2: Heroes (Capcom) - 95,000 / NEW
06. [NDS] Mario Party DS (Nintendo) - 80,000 / 539,000
07. [PS2] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2008 (Konami) - 74,000 / 368,000
08. [360] Assassin's Creed (Ubi Soft) - 41,000 / NEW
09. [WII] Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo) - 41,000 / 103,000
10. [NDS] Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters World Championship 2008 (Konami) - 35,000 / NEW

11. [WII] Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo)
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Everybody's favourite Italian plumber Mario has blasted his way to number one in the overall Australian game chart, according to data trackers GfK Australia.

Top 10 Full-Priced Games
1. Super Mario Galaxy, Wii
2. Need for Speed ProStreet, PlayStation 2
3. WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008, PlayStation 2
4. The Simpsons Game, PlayStation 2
5. Assassin's Creed, Xbox 360
6. Need for Speed ProStreet, Xbox 360
7. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Wii
8. More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima: How Old Is Your Brain?, Nintendo DS
9. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock bundle, PlayStation 2
10. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree bundle
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Latest American sales from VGcharts.

1 Wii Sports - Nintendo 325,483
2 Forza Motorsport 2 - Microsoft 208,037
3 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - Activision 201,476
4 Super Mario Galaxy - Nintendo 188,325
5 Mass Effect - Microsoft 113,856
6 Wii Play - Nintendo 112,724
7 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Activision 106,583
8 Assassins Creed - Ubisoft 102,501
9 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - Activision 92,441
10 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - Activision 81,408

DS 458,050
Wii 325,483
360 250,648
PS2 161,513
PSP 160,848
PS3 155,515
GBA 32,268
GC 2,545
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From Official Bethesda Blog:
"Week after week, folks at the office were picking up the latest "AAA" titles to play, and as a result, I'm guessing most everyone now has a pile of games to play. Luckily, most of the big releases are now out, so we can put away our wallets and focus on the games we've got.

Here's what you'll see our team playing over the weekend."
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