This week’s all-format chart may have demonstrated the games-buying public’s preference for Guitar Hero 5 over The Beatles: Rock Band, but sales of the latter are still “terrific”.

That’s the good word according to Viacom CEO, Phillipe Dauman, who reveals that the game’s fourth-placed chart debut hides a performance that has actually exceeded all expectations:

“It’s been terrific,” he tells investors in a recent conference call.

“In the first week we've sold about 25 per cent of our inventory. The reviews have been incredible. It's selling well across Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii – and in fact the pricing change that was made on PlayStation has helped sales on that platform.”

On top of all that it appears that the full band kit 'Premium' bundle has been the best-selling, which seems to confirm the notion that newcomers with big wallets are buying into the game. Whatever the case, Dauman claims that stocks are already low and may actually run out entirely by November.

Given the enormity of the Beatles franchise and the untold pots of cash to be made in selling the Premium edition at £180-a-pop that seems rather unlikely. But maybe it’s advisable to buy now to save tears and the gnashing of teeth at Xmas.