Call of Duty: World at War has emerged as the frontrunner with Paddy Power to be crowned this years No.1 Christmas Video game.

The Irish bookie installed Call of Duty, which is released on the 14th November, at 3/1 into the betting, closely followed by FIFA Soccer 09 at 4/1 and old favourite Need for Speed Undercover at 5/1. Other games on the list include Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, Gears of War 2 and Resistance 2, all at 8/1.

EAs Need for Speed, the game which commanded the video game charts as far back as 2003 was knocked off its perch last year when Call of Duty proved to be the more popular choice with consumers. Whether or not Need for Speed can crawl its way back to the top spot remains to be seen but the 5/1 on offer will surely prove tempting to die hard fans.

Betting on which video game will hold the top spot in the charts on Christmas Day has become big business with the bookies. Over 1000 bets amounting to more than 30,000 were placed last year on the games market and Paddy Power are expecting those figures to go through the roof as betting heats up in the eight weeks to Christmas Day.

Its a stark contrast to the 60 bets amounting to a grand total of 250 which were accepted by Paddy Power back in 2003 when they first launched their Christmas video game betting.

Sharon McHugh, spokesperson for Paddy Power said, The Christmas video games chart has evolved into a ferocious battle amongst developers to get to the number 1 spot and every year it just gets bigger and better. This year looks to be the most competitive year yet with no clear favourite commanding the betting.

Christmas No.1 Video Game 2008

3/1 Call of Duty: World at War

4/1 FIFA Soccer 09

5/1 Need for Speed Undercover

8/1 Pro Evolution Soccer 2009

8/1 Gears of War 2

8/1 Resistance 2

10/1 WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009

12/1 Guitar Hero World Tour

12/1 Quantum of Solace

14/1 Lego Batman: The Videogame

14/1 Far Cry 2

16/1 Fallout 3

16/1 Fable II

18/1 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

18/1 Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

20/1 Wii Music

20/1 Rock Band 2

20/1 Wii Fit

33/1 Tomb Raider Underworld

40/1 Sonic Unleashed

40/1 Mario Kart Wii

50/1 Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

50/1 Grand Theft Auto IV

50/1 Wii Play

66/1 Legend of Spyro: The Dawn of the Dragon

80/1 SingStar ABBA

80/1 High School Musical 3: Senior Year Dance

80/1 Halo 3

100/1 MotoGP 08

150/1 Star Wars: The Clone Wars — Lightsaber Duels

150/1 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

150/1 World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

150/1 Monopoly

250/1 Resident Evil Zero

Posted on October 30th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Sportsbook news