MCV reports that Christmas week of 2006 proved to be the biggest ever for UK games retailers, with sales up nearly ten per cent by units and nearly five per cent by value. The rise during the week before Christmas was even more evident, with both unit and value sales improving by over 30 per cent.

EA's Need for Speed: Carbon led a massive push for the games market in the final week of the year, eclipsing the company's own FIFA 07 for the top spot on the ChartTrack All Formats Top 40. An EA title has claimed the top spot on the charts a total of 26 times throughout 2006, making the year EA's most successful one in the UK charts.

Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 6 got third place in the charts, ahead of Activision’s Call of Duty 3 in fourth. Another EA title, Sims 2: Pets, is at five, with THQ’s WWE Smackdown vs Raw in sixth place and Midway’s Happy Feet in seventh. At eighth, the DS title Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training climbed three places to overtake Gears of War, which in turn fell two places to ninth. LucasArts' Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy claimed the final Top Ten position.

Thanks to continued console shipments, a lot of Wii titles also got a push up the charts. Most notable is Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess which climbed one place to 11th.