Bookmakers PaddyPower has made Need for Speed: Carbon favourite for this year’s multiformat Christmas number one. If EA do succeed and Carbon makes it to Christmas number one, it’ll be the third year running the a Need for Speed title has topped the charts at Christmas. In 2004, Need for Speed Underground 2 was the top seller at Christmas and just 12 short months ago, Need for Speed: Most Wanted did the same.
Fellow Xbox 360 titles FIFA 07, Gears of War, Rainbow Six: Vegas and Eragon are also among the favourites. The list of titles are their odds are as follows:
Need for Speed: Carbon – EA Games – 8/13
FIFA 07 – EA Sports – 4/1
Gears of War – Microsoft – 10/1
Eragon – Sierra – 10/1
Rainbow Six: Vegas – Ubisoft – 11/1
Tony Hawk’s Project 8 – Activision – 14/1
Superman Returns – EA Games – 16/1
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2007 – THQ – 16/1
Call of Duty 3 – Activision – 20/1
Pro Evolution Soccer 6 – Konami – 20/1
The Sims 2: Pets – EA Games – 20/1
Guitar Hero 2 – Activision – 25/1
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories – Rockstar – 33/1
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – Nintendo – 33/1
Bratz: Forever Diamonds – THQ – 80/1
Happy Feet – Midway – 80/1
Who Wants to be a Millionaire – Eidos – 250/1
Mike Rawlinson, Managing Director of ELSPA, the group responsible for compiling games sales, said:
“Christmas 2006 looks like another great year for video games and we are all excited about which of the fantastic games being released this Christmas will make it to No1. There are lots of strong competitors as always and it is impossible to tell if the favourite will make it or be pipped to the post last minute. There is a great selection of games that will appeal to various age groups and styles of gameplay to battle it out.”
Sharon McHugh, Novelties Marketing Manager at PaddyPower said:
“Need for Speed is the game to beat every year and this year it’s no different! There are some great games out there – FIFA 07 is proving to be very popular with enhanced features that have made it go straight to No.1 in the charts. Gears of War has also been hailed as one of the best games this year, but the fact it’s only available on the XBox 360 means it won’t be able to compete with Need for Speed. Eragon and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas are games that will do well upon their release but I don’t expect any of them to beat Need for Speed: Carbon this year. We take a lot of money on Xmas specials and this is a popular market with the customers every year. Very often a game like Superman will do well, if the movie has done well, so Eragon could be a bestseller if the Box Office does well and the kids like it enough to buy the game. Need for Speed: Carbon is on everyone’s Xmas list and nothing looks like it will beat it….for now!”
Fancy a bet? Check out PaddyPower’s website for more details.
Originally Written By: Scott Webber
