UK Chart

It’s official – nobody reads reviews any more. The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, which has been receiving middling reviews, goes in at #3 in the top 40 chart. It’s #1 in the Xbox 360 chart and #3 in the PlayStation 3 chart, which is pretty surprising given how many recent games are available for half price in the January sales.

There’s a bit of a change in the top ten as well. Wii Fit is back on top, up from #4; last week’s #1, FIFA 09, has dropped to #4; and both Carnival: Funfair Games and Brain Training are back, in at #9 and #10 respectively. Elsewhere, Prince of Persia has taken a tumble from #20 to #38, and 100 Classic Book Collection is also down from #17 to #34. Yes, people are actually buying it.

This Week’s Games

EA continue to wring their The Lord of the Rings license for every last penny, releasing The Lord of the Rings: Conquest on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and PC this week.

It’s by Pandemic – the Mercenaries and Full Spectrum Warrior people – but don’t go thinking it’s any good. GamesRadar has given it a right good kicking, calling it “an offensive parody” before scoring it a miserable 2 out of 10. What’s going on at Pandemic? Mercenaries 2 ended up worse than the original, and their Dark Knight game was apparently canned due to quality issues.

There’s only one other game out this week, and to be frank it’s hard to call it a game – it’s My Chinese Coach, another one of Ubisoft’s language aids for the DS. I’m still hanging on for My Klingon Coach.

Next week: Skate 2, My Fitness Coach and a late appearance for Tomb Raider: Underworld on PlayStation 2.