UK CHARTS: Heavy Rain claims no.1

So new, risky IP can’t be a commercial success, right? Wrong. Sony’s hugely ambitious and totally off-the-wall interactive crime thriller Heavy Rain has lived up to the hype and debuted in top spot in the ELSPA GfK Chart-Track All Formats Top 40 this week.

It’s Sony’s first UK number one since last year’s Killzone 2.

It does so despite widespread reports of shortages at UK retail, with even members of the MCV team having immense difficulty sourcing copies of David Cage’s ambitious title.

Its victory dethrones last week’s champ, Sega’s Aliens vs Predator, which drops to number two. Also dropping a place is Ubisoft’s Wii title Just Dance, though its continued presence in the Top Five is a victory in itself.

The only other new entry in the Top Ten is Sega’s Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, which enters the listings in eighth spot. Fellow Sega title Napoleon: Total War debuts in 12th.

Lower down the list, Sony’s JRPG White Knight Chronicles manages to claim 35th in its first week.

Here’s the ELSPA GfK Chart-Track All Formats Top Ten in full (for the week ending Feb 27th):
1. Heavy Rain (Sony)
2. Aliens vs Predator (Sega)
3. Just Dance (Ubisoft)
4. Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo)
5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision)
6. Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo)
7. New Super Mario Bros Wii (Nintendo)
8. Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (Sega)
9. Bioshock 2 (2K Games)
10. FIFA 10 (EA)