Wii Sports: Best-Selling Video Game of All Time

[zero]

Interesting little story I thought I'd share:

http://www.ripten.com/2009/01/04/wii-sport...-of-all-time-1/

Wii Sports has surpassed Super Mario Brothers as the best-selling game of all time. With over 40 million units sold (obviously including bundles), Wii Sports is estimated to break the 50 million mark while resting comfortably at the top of the list. Check out the closest competition as we list the top 10 best-selling games of all time.

According to VGChartz, the top 10 numbers are as follows (in millions):

1. Wii Sports, Wii - 40.52

2. Super Mario Bros, SNES - 40.24

3. Pokemon Red / Green / Blue, GameBoy - 31.38

4. Tetris, GameBoy - 30.26

5. Duck Hunt, NES - 28.31

6. Pokemon Gold / Silver, GameBoy - 23.11

7. Nintendogs, DS - 21.37

8. Super Mario World, SNES - 20.61

9. Wii Play, Wii - 19.68

10. Super Mario Land, GameBoy - 18.14

Coincidentally, the only non-Nintendo game in the top 15 is GTA: San Andreas, which certainly lends credence to the idea that maybe, just maybe, Nintendo actually knows what it’s doing.

[Maxx]

I dunno, those records are pretty skewed when some of those games came with the system and there was no way around buying them.

Edited January 5, 2009 by Maxx

[GoGo Yubari]

Yeah, I reaaaally wouldn't count Wii Sports' sales. WiiPlay at 9th is impressive, though, even if it did come with a free Wiimote which explains a lot of its sales since it's really just sort of a collection of flash games.

[RoyWill Rumble]

I dunno, those records are pretty skewed when some of those games came with the system and there was no way around buying them.

Not to mention that Nintendo's been around for a long-ass time compared to Sony and Microsoft as far as gaming systems goes.

[foolinc]

The fact Nintendogs is on the list makes me a sad panda.

[GoGo Yubari]

I dunno, those records are pretty skewed when some of those games came with the system and there was no way around buying them.

Not to mention that Nintendo's been around for a long-ass time compared to Sony and Microsoft as far as gaming systems goes.

To be fair, it's not like Nintendo didn't have its competition prior to those two, and Sony's had over a decade in the console game. But yeah, the fact that a lot of those games, like Wii Sports, came with the systems for the Nintendo mucks things up a bit.

[TheArsenal]

Duck Hunt is flippin' awesome. And sounds rude when you say it.

[Scott McFly]

There's absolutely no way Wii Sports should count towards that list. It's bundled with every Wii for crying out loud (even if not in every territory). Heck, shouldn't Hexic HD count then since that came on every Xbox 360 hard drive?

Either way, bundled games are not bought since they come "free" with the system.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Not bundled with the console in Japan....SO THERE!

Most of those games have been bundled witht he console. I'm pretty sure about 90% of Gameboys came with Tetris.

All the Pokemon added together too!

I'm not too excited about Wii Play being there. From selling hundreds of them myself people bought it first and foremost for the controller but thought "hey another game like Wii Sports for only five quid more than a controller by itself".

Nintendogs also has a million different variations AND has been in bundles but it's more impressive still I think.

Nintendo clearly know what they're doing and they're brilliant at doing it well. Fair play.

[Matt]

Not bundled with the console in Japan....SO THERE!

Most of those games have been bundled witht he console. I'm pretty sure about 90% of Gameboys came with Tetris.

All the Pokemon added together too!

I'm not too excited about Wii Play being there. From selling hundreds of them myself people bought it first and foremost for the controller but thought "hey another game like Wii Sports for only five quid more than a controller by itself".

Nintendogs also has a million different variations AND has been in bundles but it's more impressive still I think.

Nintendo clearly know what they're doing and they're brilliant at doing it well. Fair play.

But to be fair, they were identical with only the tiniest of changes. Wii Sports is a touch unfair but I think this shows that Nintendo know what they're doing.

[zero]

I don't see how it's any less fair than most of the games on that list - Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt and Super Mario World came bundled with the NES/SNES respectively, and Tetris was bundled with the GB as Hammy pointed out. You don't think that sale is passed to the consumer in the price of the system? Bundling games with a console used to be a standard thing, along with an extra controller... I miss those days, and you better believe the publishers of Kung Fu Panda and Lego Indiana Jones are counting every sale they got this Holiday by bundling them in with the 360.

[ONO]

Fucking hell - DUCK HUNT!

I used to love that as a kid.

[Matt]

I don't see how it's any less fair than most of the games on that list - Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt and Super Mario World came bundled with the NES/SNES respectively, and Tetris was bundled with the GB as Hammy pointed out. You don't think that sale is passed to the consumer in the price of the system? Bundling games with a console used to be a standard thing, along with an extra controller... I miss those days, and you better believe the publishers of Kung Fu Panda and Lego Indiana Jones are counting every sale they got this Holiday by bundling them in with the 360.

I don't remember the NES/SNES games as I didn't have one, but I'm sure as hell I didn't get Tetris with my GameBoy...

I'm getting the urge to relive my childhood and play on Pokemon Red.

[Toe]

Also, people do buy the system just for Wii Sports. They may play other games after that, but I know of some older people who bought it to try Wii Sports.

[King Ellis]

I think we got Street Fighter II with our SNES and I got Super Mario Land 1 & 2 with my Game Boy.

[Liam]

I had a Master System that had Alex The Kidd actually in the system...if you turned it on without a cartridge in it, thats the game you got to play.

And I saw Duck Hunt in Gamestm magazine the other day, as the dog was in the Top 10 Video Game Dogs.....*shrugs* Awesome game.

[Dan]

Duck Hunt was awesome.

With the little grey & red gun. Badass.

Oh & Liam, I believe mine had hang-on built in.

Edited January 5, 2009 by Version Dan

[King Ellis]

I had a Master System that had Alex The Kidd actually in the system...if you turned it on without a cartridge in it, thats the game you got to play.

And I saw Duck Hunt in Gamestm magazine the other day, as the dog was in the Top 10 Video Game Dogs.....*shrugs* Awesome game.

That just occured to me. I used to have an Atari with Asteroids built in.

[Liam]

Duck Hunt was awesome.

With the little grey & red gun. Badass.

Oh & Liam, I believe mine had hang-on built in.

I never realised that the built-in game was a common feature, to be honest. I wonder what other games came with it.

And Alex The Kidd ruled.

[TheArsenal]

I had Sonic built in to my Master System.

Me > j00