By Luke Reilly, games editor, IGN Australia
BioWare’s long-awaited but divisive Anthem has clung onto top spot in the Australian games charts for another week.
You may have spotted stories originating in the UK that Anthem only shifted half the physical copies of Mass Effect Andromeda, BioWare’s previous game. Absolute like-for-like comparisons are difficult to draw because of the industry’s continuing shift to digital downloads (Anthem did top the digital sales charts in Australia, just ahead of Grand Theft Auto V and Ubisoft’s newest instalment of its cult fave motorcycle series, Trials Rising). However, combined with news of PS4 players encountering a problem in Anthem that causes their consoles to completely and unexpectedly shut down while trying to play or close the game (and other reports that EA has banned players for exploiting a victimless glitch) it’s been a less-than-ideal start for Anthem.
The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame has entered at fourth, which seems decent considering the film hasn’t officially opened in Australia yet. Folks have been able to catch “advance screenings” of The LEGO Movie 2 down under, but the official release date for the film is March 21 (over 40 days after the US release date: February 8). Hey, remember when Village Roadshow boss Graham Burke admitted that delaying the first LEGO Movie in Australia was “one hell of a mistake” and that holding The LEGO Movie back 54 days after it came out in the United States resulted in rampant piracy? Remember when he also said that, going forward, all the distributor’s movies will be released within the time and date of the US? It seems Village Roadshow doesn’t, but we do.
The final new entry is Codemasters’ Dirt Rally 2.0, the top-notch follow-up to the studio’s Dirt series spin-off for stern and serious rally junkies. Dirt Rally 2.0 is a challenging rally simulator and the best hardcore rally game on the market right now. It also features Australia and New Zealand rally stages, which certainly could be helping its case locally.
