The PC's Influence On Long-Term UK Sales

A Eurogamer story earlier today got RPS a-chatting. Basically, it was the news that the original Rayman actually spent five whole years on the UK Top 40 charts. That's 269 weeks. Worms had a 239 week appearance. Theme Park had 172. Loads of more stuff in the article, always interesting - in terms of what sells lengthily rather than immediately. What the feature doesn't mention is what actually links those three particular games. They're ones who existed as five-quid PC budget games indefinitely. There was a time in the UK where you couldn't go into a shop - in fact, didn't always have to be a game shop - without seeing piles of the big conked little fella there. And, it's also worth noting, that PC-sales never get their new sales cannibalised by the (non-Top-40-influencing) second-hand market, which is another reason why you end up seeing this enormous longevity in some games.