All I Want for Christmas is a No. 1

"It would be easy to dismiss the videogame Christmas No. 1 as the choice of the lowest common denominator, a game propelled to stardom thanks to uneducated parents buying for children swayed by whichever publisher with the most money. Indeed, past winners give some weight to this viewpoint: Activison won the title in 2007 with Call of Duty 4 while publishing behemoth Electronic Arts took home the accolade four years on the trot before that (FIFA Soccer 2007 in 2006, Need For Speed Most Wanted in 2005, Need For Speed Underground 2 in 2004 and Medal of Honor: Rising Sun in 2003). But is there any science behind winning the accolade?"

Simon Parkin examines the economics (black and white) behind the race to Christmas number one.

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Simon Parkin:

"It would be easy to dismiss the videogame Christmas No. 1 as the choice of the lowest common denominator, a game propelled to stardom thanks to uneducated parents buying for children swayed by whichever publisher with the most money. Indeed, past winners give some weight to this viewpoint: Activison won the title in 2007 with Call of Duty 4

Call of Duty 4 = Lowest Common Denominator??

Please elaborate.

Take 2 took the title in 2002 with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

As GTA: SA was released in 2004, I find it hard to see how it could have topped the charts in 2002. This should probably be GTA 3 there. This is poor form from the head guy in the chart business (and should have been noticed by the editor).

Actually, it was probably Vice City, since that came out in '02. Although that's kind of beside the point, either way it certainly wasn't SA.