Top Ten Bestselling Videogames of All Time

[Greg Tito]

Top Ten Bestselling Videogames of All Time

Research firm NPD has released its list of the bestselling console videogames of all time, and you may be surprised which games made it.

NPD has been tracking U.S. videogame sales data since 1995 and it just recently released the list of the top selling games in that region. Among the top ten are 3 titles from the Call of Duty as well as 3 titles which are platform specific (Wii). There is only one title on the list from the previous generation of consoles, GTA3: San Andreas, that is unless you count Namco Museum, which has apparently come out on every platform known to man. No sales figures were supplied, but the list is ranked based on number of units sold. The NPD list doesn't include PC games, as the firm tracks those titles differently.

Here, then, is NPD's compete list of all time bestselling non-PC games:

1) Wii Play [http://www.amazon.com/Wii-Play-No-Remote-Nintendo/dp/B0013E9HP6/ref=sr_1_2?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1280260427&sr=1-2] (Wii)
2) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock [http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Hero-III-Legends-Rock-Xbox/dp/B000TGDHW8/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1280260478&sr=1-1] (PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
3) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas [http://www.amazon.com/Grand-Theft-Auto-Andreas-Playstation-2/dp/B000EHQDA0/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1280260523&sr=1-1] (PS2, Xbox)
4) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Modern-Warfare-Xbox-360/dp/B00269QLI8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1278694263&sr=1-1] (PS3, Xbox 360)
5) Wii Fit [http://www.amazon.com/Wii-Fit-Nintendo/dp/B000VJRU44/ref=sr_1_2?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1280260577&sr=1-2] (Wii)
6) Mario Kart Wii [http://www.amazon.com/Mario-Kart-Wii-Wheel-Nintendo/dp/B000XJNTNS/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1280260626&sr=1-1] (Wii)
7) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Modern-Warfare-Xbox-360/dp/B000TG530M/ref=sr_1_3?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1280260670&sr=1-3] (PS3, Xbox 360, DS)
8) Madden NFL 07 [http://www.amazon.com/Madden-NFL-07-Xbox-360/dp/B000FDOTN6/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1280260695&sr=1-1] (PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox, PS2, PSP, DS, GC, GBA, Wii)
9) Call of Duty: World at War [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-World-War-Xbox-360/dp/B001AWIP68/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1280260894&sr=1-1] (PS3, Xbox 360, DS, Wii)
10) Namco Museum [http://www.amazon.com/Namco-Museum-Nintendo-DS/dp/B000BIZR72/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1280261247&sr=1-1] (DC, GBA, PS2, GC, Xbox, PSP, N64, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP, PS, Xbox 360)

It's kind of cheating that Wii Play is even on the list because so many people bought it just for the Wii Remote bundle. It's also interesting that Madden NFL 07 is the only iteration to break the top ten, but then again it was the first of the series to appear on next generation consoles.

The biggest surprise is the collection of old-school arcade games like Pac-Man and Dig Dug that make up Namco Museum, which must have quietly sold a crapload of copies. It's unclear whether NPD included every different volume of Namco Museum, but since the list specifically mentions every console, then I assume that is the case. Personally, I think that's grounds for dismissal, counselor.

I should stop watching so much Law and Order.

Source: GamespotUK [http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6246627.html]

Permalink

 

[Jared]

Top game is no surprise...

However, some of them do shock me...like Number 10.

And 3 CoD's...well, goes to prove what the public wants lol

 

[Simalacrum]

Yaaaay, I bought Namco Museum when I got my PSP in Japan!

It does appear that Activision has failed to achieve their goal of making MW2 the best selling game of all time (of all, time! sorry Kayne West, don't kill meee!)

 

[RheynbowDash]

I have 9 of the 10 games on this list.

I feel so ashamed....

 

[CoverYourHead]

I should stop watching so much Law and Order.

Or should you start watching more? Think about it.

I for one am shocked that no Halo game is on that list. But the others aren't too surprising.

 

[Roxas1359]

Not that shocked about the list, except for number 10. Also Greg, there is never such a thing as watching too much Law and Order.

 

[Grey_Focks]

meh, mixed feelings. a couple (three) deserve the spots, the others, really not so much. I'm more curious to see the top ten worst selling videogames of all time.

 

[Sh0ckFyre]

I'm shocked that the first Halo isn't on there. It was the best in the series. Though I am glad to see that my cocaine (Call of Duties 4, 5, and MW2) is on the list. And there's an N64 title in there! (Or, just a re-re-re-re-re-release. But an N64 game nonetheless)

 

[Armored Prayer]

I'm actually surprised that GH3 made second place.

I'm not complaining, I love that game.

 

[meglathon]

funny no zelda.

 

[Uberjoe19]

Surprised Halo 3 isn't on this list.

We all know which game is the best-seller on PC (other than WoW, which I do not consider to be a game.)

 

[oppp7]

I was surprised at first but then I realised this was only in the US. According to Wikipedia the list is much different.

 

[Caliostro]

And here's my reaction to the list

Spoiler: in image macro form

1) Wii Play (Wii)

2) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)

[img_inline width=300 align=center src=http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/7929/1256296010750.png]

3) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2, Xbox)

[img_inline width=400 height=300 align=center src=http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/6071/b9j81ybl4.jpg]

4) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3, Xbox 360)

[img_inline width=200 height=200 align=center src=http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/603/1213220240429.jpg]

5) Wii Fit (Wii)

[img_inline width=400 align=center src=http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/4876/1169838120281.jpg]

6) Mario Kart Wii (Wii)

[img_inline height=300 align=center src=http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/3699/1169827215495.jpg]

7) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3, Xbox 360, DS)

[img_inline height=300 align=center src=http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/8928/1221836843728.jpg]

8) Madden NFL 07 (PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox, PS2, PSP, DS, GC, GBA, Wii)

[img_inline height=300 align=center src=http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/194/1226677046534.jpg]

9) Call of Duty: World at War (PS3, Xbox 360, DS, Wii)

[img_inline height=300 align=center src=http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/2332/1198242008312.gif]

10) Namco Museum (DC, GBA, PS2, GC, Xbox, PSP, N64, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP, PS, Xbox 360)

[img_inline height=200 align=center src=http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/9602/1257948771481.png]

Kudos if you guess the "captions" I meant with the pictures.

 

[dekkarax]

That must be a lot of sales. The only game with high sales I can think of other than those is the original Red Alert which sold around 12 million copies (globally), and it isn't on there, so I shudder to think how many copies the top placing game shifted.

And why isn't the top place, wii sports? Being as it, y'know, came with the console.

 

[Numb1lp]

I really like San Andreas; I thought it was the best of the whole series.

 

[Vek]

If they counted every iteration of Namco Museum, they should include every version of Tetris. Which would blow practically every other game out of the water.

 

[Amnestic]

Problem is that the later games were brought out, the larger sales they'll get simply by virtue of there being more gamers around. Game quality factoring into sales drops away when there are simply hundreds of thousands of more people willing to play video games today than ten or fifteen years ago.

 

[Yvl9921]

Wait... no World of Warcraft? No Mario 3? I knew the casual market was big but DAMN.

 

[manaman]

Isn't elitism great? People can continually see the Wii and Wii games on top of sales charts and still bash it.

If they counted every iteration of Namco Museum, they should include every version of Tetris. Which would blow practically every other game out of the water.

Namco Museum was a collection released on a single disk for the platforms listed above. As it stands the various iterations of Tetris (and there have been a lot of different titles based on tetris) have sold a combined total of 125 million units.

 

[Yvl9921]

Isn't elitism great? People can continually see the Wii and Wii games on top of sales charts and still bash it.

The Wii is bashed because it's not really a "gamer's" console. The Wii titles that made the list kinda reinforces that. If Twilight Princess made the list, then yeah, you'd have a point, but for now, viva la elitism.