Activision is positively raking in the dough in the wake of Modern Warfare 2's release. Biggest entertainment launch of all time? Could be. In the UK alone, the game has already sold more than a million copies in a 24-hour period.

Numbers are in, and Activision has more than a few reasons to be proud about its third quarter of fiscal 2008 financial report. Thanks to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock,  Activision experienced substantial growth in revenue and it took top honors in software sales. More details at the full article.

If the Nintendo DS and Wii nabbed the prestigious title for the best gaming platforms for 2007, can you guess what was the best software title for the previous year? Activision gives us the answer by announcing that its best-selling Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, Xbox 360, PS3) was considered the best software title in units worldwide for 2007 with over seven million units sold.

For more information on this story, check out the full article!

Here's a little trivia for you: if you've ever wondered what gamers from other parts of the world are playing the most, GfK International, the all-encompassing umbrella of market research divisions like Gfk Australia, has sent in recently updated lists of top ten games in Spain and Germany.

First up is Nintendo DS-lovin' Spain, whose top four games all cater to Nintendo's handheld. That's Pokemon: Diamond, THQ's Ratatouille, Dr. Kawashima's More Brain Training, and Pokemon: Pearl in order from first to fourth. The top ten games list is half-occupied by Nintendo DS titles, while three of the five games are published by Nintendo.

In the German side, 2K Games' BioShock rules the charts, with the PC version (no surprise there) taking top spot. The Xbox 360 version sits just outside of the top five at number six. In similar fashion to Spain, Germany also revels in Nintendo DS games, with both Pokemon titles noted (Diamond still leads Pearl), plus two Nintendo Wii titles to boot. Blizzard's World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade joins BioShock as the only two PC games to penetrate the Nintendo-dominated charts.

Read the full article for a quick list of the top ten games in Germany and Spain.

Want to see how games fare in the land down under? Games Industry GfK Australia gives you the skinny on what games wins the Aussie's hearts - and wallets - with its list of Australia's top-selling games for the first half of this year. In this list not Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo wins the top spot, as it is now owned by an expansion of the epic online game: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade.

The list clearly shows that the perennial PS2 is still going strong down under, with about 5 entries in the charts, including Final Fantasy XII. Sony snagged the half of the top ten slots, and for a country which gets the PS3 at a very expensive price (estimated to be about US$ 900), two games still managed to snag the 6th and 7th slots: Resistance Fall of Man and MotorStorm, respectively.

Nintendo, however, is the overall winner in dominating the entire chart with about 8 games making it into the Top 20. It's cute doggie simulation, Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends, also found a place in Aussie's hearts and was able to hang on the 20th spot in the list.

As for Microsoft, it only had one entry in the whole chart: Gears of War, which landed on the 14th spot.

The winning Burning Crusade expansion also propelled sales of World of Warcraft, with the original game landing in a very comfortable 5th place.
Check out the numbers:

1. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, PC
2. Final Fantasy XII, PS2
3. Pokemon Diamond, Nintendo DS
4. God of War 2, PS2
5. World of Warcraft, PC
6. Resistance: Fall of Man, PS3
7. MotorStorm, PS3
8. Nintendogs: Dalmatian and Friends, Nintendo DS
9. Cricket 07, PS2
10. The Sims 2: Seasons, PC
11. Guitar Hero 2 bundle, PS2
12. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Nintendo Wii
13. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training, Nintendo DS
14. Gears of War, Xbox 360
15. Pokemon Pearl, Nintendo DS
16. SingStar Rocks! bundle, PS2
17. The Sims 2: Pets, PC
18. Nintendogs: Labrador and Friends, Nintendo DS
19. New Super Mario Bros., Nintendo DS
20. Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends, Nintendo DS

And back in the industry news, UK's very own game market is experiencing a significant year-on-year growth, reports Chart Track, as the statistics rolling in from the hardware and software sales monitors highlight a solid 42% rise for just the first half of 2007 alone.

 

Other discoveries in the industry's wake include a 25% increase in unit sales at the hardware front from 2006's first half, leading to a growth of 87% across the board in total console hardware revenue. Hardware volumes have also been noted to jump up 51% year-on-year.

In the software side, the games are also doing quite nicely, after indications of a 19% increase in unit sales have been observed. Software sales revenue has done fairly well, hitting the 17% mark in rise. Chart Track believes that the trend could go on throughout the year, even though the trend wasn't forecasted by the company in the first place. "We are on track for the biggest year ever in the UK," concluded Chart Track director Dorian Bloch.

Australia, a fellow PAL region, had also reported that data retrieved from GfK noted a good trend for the local industry's 2006 performance, while the NPD group has eyed a possible good year for North America, despite forecasts of decline in the local PC gaming industry.

China and Taiwan had experienced a good fiscal performance last year also, though local forecasts place the Asian industry as the perfect complement to the console industry with the rise of casual, MMO, and PC gaming in the Eastern hemisphere. More updates on the industry as we get them.

Australia's game charts are turning out to be mighty predictable this month.

What's new? Aside from the fact that Spider-Man 3 is top Xbox 360 game down under, nothing much. There still isn't much motion in the Wii charts. The PlayStation 3 charts still has Resistance: Fall of Man on top, and World of Warcraft is still wowing people, so to speak. Perhaps the most noteworthy game this week is Guitar Hero II, whose large fan-base pushed big sales on the Xbox 360.

As for the all format charts, God of War 2 for the PS2 is still king, but you probably expected that.

The GfK Australian Game Sales charts follow below. If you want to take a look at them in closer detail, just click on the pics to magnify.

    
   

It seems that in Australia, the PS2 refuses to bow down to the other next gen consoles when it comes to software sales. Last week it was TMNT, this week, it seems fitting that the indignation comes from a very angry Kratos. God of War II tops the Australian all-formats software sales charts.

Can you picture him screaming his lungs out at the next-gen consoles before brutally stabbing them to bits? Anyhow, enough words, and more charts. Below are the latest Australian Game Charts from the folks at IGN, who in turn got it from the guys at GfK Australia. Enjoy!

Oh, you might wanna click on the thumbnails for a bigger view.