Official ELSPA Entertainment Top 20 Software Chart (all prices) - week ending 30 October

1 (NE) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
(PS2)
2 (1) FIFA 2005
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC)
3 (2) Pro Evolution Soccer 4
(PS2)
4 (3) Tony Hawk's Underground 2
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC, GBA)
5 (6) Burnout 3: Takedown
(PS2, Xbox)
6 (RE) Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC)
7 (7) LMA Manager 2005
(PS2, Xbox, PC)
8 (4) Star Wars: Battlefront
(PS2, Xbox, PC)
9 (5) The Sims 2
(PC)
10 (8) Shark Tale
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC, GBA)
11 (13) Sonic Heroes
(PS2, Xbox)
12 (NE) Drakengard
(PS2)
13 (9) Pokemon Fire Red
(GBA)
14 (11) The Simpsons: Hit and Run
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC)
15 (10) Pokemon Leaf Green
(GBA)
16 (16) Need for Speed Underground
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC, GBA)
17 (20) Finding Nemo
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC, GBA)
18 (17) Crash Twinsanity
(PS2, Xbox)
19 (15) Def Jam Fight for NY
(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube)
20 (14) Rome: Total War
(PC)

You knew, we knew, the whole world knew that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas would be number one this week. We all knew it would break records. What we weren't prepared for is just how far ahead of the game San Andreas is and just how comprehensibly it obliterates the previous UK record holder, (and San Andreas predecessor) GTA: Vice City.

Stats rarely make for interesting reading. Then again, they're rarely this extraordinary. Before Vice City and San Andreas, Metal Gear Solid 2 held the record for the fastest selling UK game of all time. Vice City arrived and more than doubled MGS2 launch sales, hitting over a quarter of a million. San Andreas, meanwhile, has completely quashed that by selling over half a million units. In two days.

Tracking agencies list total San Andreas sales for last Friday and Saturday alone as 677,000. Ponder that for a moment and, while you do that, take this on board: only 10 PS2 titles have ever sold more than that figure during their entire shelf-life.

Next week: San Andreas will be number one but keep an eye out for new entries from EyeToy: Play 2, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, The Lord of The Rings: The Third Age and FlatOut.

Leisure software charts compiled by ChartTrack
(C) 2004 (UK) Ltd