Electronic Arts' cornering of the college-football-game market almost certainly didn't come cheap. However, it appears to be paying off dividends, since NCAA Football 07 was the game to have in July 2006, according to volume-sales rankings from the NPD Group. The PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 versions of the collegiate-pigskin sim were the most and second-most popular games in the US during the month, with the Xbox version coming in fifth.

　　NCAA Football 07's success pushed down June top-slotter New Super Mario Bros. for the DS to third. The month's previous runner-up, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories for the PS2, took fourth, two slots ahead of June's number-four finisher, the PS2 edition of Cars.

　　The Game Boy Advance edition of Cars helped Nintendo's venerable handheld stay on the non-PC game chart at ninth. Besides New Super Mario Bros., the Mario Factory's new handheld, the DS, was represented in the top 20 via Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (seventh) and Big Brain Academy (eighth). Nintendo's current-generation console also stayed on the charts via Cars for the GameCube.

　　Other than NCAA, July's NPD console top 20 saw several debuts, the majority of them on the Xbox 360. Sega's Chromehounds premiered in 10th, followed directly by Electronic Arts' Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth II--the first real-time strategy game for the next-gen machine. In 14th place was 2K Games' much-awaited Prey, which sold decently despite tepid reviews. The other three non-NCAA newcomers were all for the PS2: Naruto: Ultimate Ninja arrived in 13th place, followed by a resurgent Star Wars: Battlefront II (15th) and Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition Remix (20th).

　　Meanwhile, back at the PC ranch, the song remained largely the same. World of Warcraft was the top title again, followed by the popular film-based minigame comp Cars Radiator Springs Adventures. EA sent in the Sims, thanks to The Sims 2 Family Fun Stuff (third), The Sims 2 (fourth), and The Sims 2: Open for Business (fifth).

　　The PC top 20 saw only two true newcomers, THQ action-RPG Titan Quest, which hit stores at the end of June, and the expansion pack Civilization IV: Warlords, which went on sale late in July. The month also saw two games reenter the charts: The Sims Complete Collection (16th) and Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle Earth II (20th).