"The king is dead! Long live the king!" That was what many World of Warcraft players were likely saying when Blizzard's popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game retook the top slot on NPD's weekly PC game charts. The changing of the guard came during the week of May 14-20--almost exactly a year and a half after WOW first took the PC world by storm.

Two months before WOW went on sale, Electronic Arts released The Sims 2, the sequel to the Will Wright-created game that has since become a cultural phenomenon. Ever since then, either it or one of its expansions has been in NPD's top 10 PC charts, and this week was no exception. The top title was former number-one title The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff (fourth), an add-on that enhances the domestic front of the life sim. The original Sims 2 was the sixth best-selling title for the week, followed directly by the expansion The Sims 2: Open for Business.

As for the rest of the PC list, it was once again split almost evenly between two of PC gamers' favorite genres--role-playing and strategy. Besides WOW, there was The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (third) and Guild Wars Factions (fifth) representing the former, and Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends (second), Age of Empires III (eighth), and Civilization 4 (10th) representing the latter. In ninth place was the sole shooter on the list, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter from Ubisoft.

May 31, 2006