UK CHARTS: Halo 3 ODST is no.1

In news that is likely to shock no one, Microsoft’s feverously anticipated Halo 3 ODST has stormed the ELSPA GfK-ChartTrack All Formats Charts and shot straight to the top spot.

It does so exactly two years after its predecessor, Halo 3, did much the same. 64 per cent of ODST’s total week one sales were made in the first 24 hours.

In historical terms it becomes the twelfth biggest single-format week one performer ever in the UK. Halo 3, by comparison, currently stands as the fourth biggest week one release behind GTA: San Andreas on PS2 and both the Xbox 360 and PS3 SKUs of GTA IV.

Halo’s achievements have taken some of the limelight away from another impressive UK debut in the shape of Nintendo’s Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box, which enters the listings in second place – one spot higher than its older cousin Curious Village has managed.

There’s another new entry in the Top Ten, too – Activision’s Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, which claims seventh spot. NCsoft’s PC MMO Aion: Tower of Eternity just misses out on a Top Ten finish, finishing 11th.

EA’s The Beatles: Rock Band drops out of the Top Ten in just its third week on sale, dropping from number seven to 13th place.

Here’s the UK ELSPA GfK-ChartTrack All Formats Top 10 in full (for the week ending September 26th):

1. Halo 3: ODST (Microsoft)
2. Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box (Nintendo)
3. Need for Speed: Shift (EA)
4. Guitar Hero 5 (Activision)
5. Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo)
6. Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos)
7. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (Activision)
8. Colin McRae: Dirt 2 (Codemasters)
9. WET (Bethesda)
10. Wii Fit (Nintendo)