Electronic Arts released SimCity 4 near the middle of January, but the game's sales still managed to outpace the competition for the entire month, according to NPD's latest top-20 monthly sales chart. The only other new faces on the January chart were previous best-sellers that reappeared in the wake of the holiday season. The most notable of these was Battlefield 1942, which was buoyed by the early February release of the expansion pack The Road to Rome.

　　December / January / Title / Publisher / Average Price

　　1 / * / SimCity 4 / Electronic Arts / $49

　　2 / 1 / The Sims Deluxe / Electronic Arts / $42

　　3 / 2 / The Sims: Unleashed / Electronic Arts / $28

　　4 / 5 / Zoo Tycoon / Microsoft / $27

　　5 / 3 / Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets / Electronic Arts / $28

　　6 / 4 / RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 / Infogrames Entertainment / $28

　　7 / 7 / Age of Mythology / Microsoft / $43

　　8 / * / SpongeBob SquarePants: Operation Krabby Patty / THQ / $17

　　9 / * / RollerCoaster Tycoon / Infogrames / $16

　　10 / 10 / Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos / Vivendi Universal / $43

　　11 / * / Battlefield 1942 / Electronic Arts / $47

　　12 / 11 / Medal of Honor Allied Assault: Spearhead / Electronic Arts / $30

　　13 / 9 / Zoo Tycoon: Marine Mania / Microsoft / $29

　　14 / 8 / The Sims: Vacation / Electronic Arts / $29

　　15 / 17 / The Sims Online / Electronic Arts / $45

　　16 / 14 / Medal of Honor: Allied Assault / Electronic Arts / $47

　　17 / * / Age of Empires 2: Age of Kings / Microsoft / $24

　　18 / * / James Bond 007: NightFire / Electronic Arts / $26

　　19 / 12 / The Sims: Hot Date / Electronic Arts / $30

　　20 / * / Lego Racers 2 / Electronic Arts / $15

　　The list above ranks games according to retail sales. To see a list of games ranked according to GameSpot review score, visit our 6013548Top Games page.