Wii Sports has become the best-selling game in history, according to stat cruncher VGChartz.
If correct, that puts it marginally ahead of the previous best-selling game, the original Super Mario Bros on NES.
The site's list of the all-time best-selling games sees Nintendo titles taking the top eleven places, showing just why the company should still be considered the daddy. GTA: San Andreas, in twelfth place, is the highest non-Nintendo title to chart.
- Wii Sports (Wii) - 40.52m
- Super Mario Bros (NES) - 40.24m
- Pokemon Red / Green / Blue (Game Boy) - 31.38m
- Tetris (Game Boy) - 30.26m
- Duck Hunt (NES) - 28.31m
- Pokemon Gold / Silver, (Game Boy) - 23.11m
- Nintendogs (DS) - 21.37m
- Super Mario World (SNES) - 20.61m
- Wii Play (Wii) - 19.68m
- Super Mario Land (Game Boy) - 18.14m
- New Super Mario Bros (DS) - 18.14m
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2) - 17.61m
We know that VGChartz, which comes up with its figures from retailer sampling and shipment information, doesn't carry the weight of official sales authorities like Chart-Track, so we gave Nintendo a call to see if it could confirm the highly impressive sales figures.
Unfortunately the company declined to comment, although it's not a great stretch of the imagination to imagine the numbers being accurate, seeing as Wii has sold over 40 million units to date, the majority of which have come with a copy of Wii Sports.
Comments
24 comments so far...
Robzy1990 on 5 Jan '09 said:
You can't include the "sale" of a game the owner has no choice in buying. When I bought a Wii I played that crap for 20mins before I got bored. Then I realised that all the Wii comes were cheap mini games and I traded the thing in.
And Nintendo can't be considered the daddy. They were, back in the day, hence why most those games are old. Now they make cheap crap.
nottsville on 5 Jan '09 said:
Well when you get it free with a multi-million selling console it's not going to take a rocket scientist to work that out!
Next!
Osiris25 on 5 Jan '09 said:
To say nintendo just make crap now shows how little you know. Aside from the fact that most games today still use alot of ideas from nintendo games there are loads of great game coming out of nintendo's doors. In fact there is to many to list. This is why they dominate sales charts like these and often top 100 game lists.
milky_joe on 5 Jan '09 said:
Look at that list, virtually all Nintendo games.
That's why Sony and Microsoft have got a very long way to go before they ever top Nintendo.
And as things are at the moment, that won't be happening anytime soon.
kimoak on 5 Jan '09 said:
Hmm.. game bundled with a console. Funny that. When I bought my NES is was bundled with Super Mario Bros too.
Actually a few of those are bundles. Super Mario Word and Tetris included.
maugrim2712 on 5 Jan '09 said:
To be fair Super Mario Brothers was also bundled with the majority of NES consoles.
almanac2015 on 5 Jan '09 said:
It's not been bought, it's been forced upon people
Bundled games shouldn't count, it's a bit of a cheat. Wii Sports is fun for a while but I know I wouldn't have brought it at full price had it not came with the console.
chunkyboymania on 5 Jan '09 said:
To many to list...mmm, try and name five then? Don't get me wrong I think Nintendo have made some awesome games yet are highly over rated. To me Nintendo are the Disney of gaming.
ensabahnur on 5 Jan '09 said:
How can a game given away free with every console and also cannot be traded in be considered the top seller. maybe they're just boasting that the Wii is the top selling machine therefore Wii Sports is the top selling game.
plus bar the mario games and tetris nearly every game on that list is a pile of s**te. Wii play anyone? didn't think so
lonewolf2002 on 5 Jan '09 said:
How many copies would of sold if it wasnt included with every Wii?.
Dajmin on 5 Jan '09 said:
It's not bundled with the Wii in Japan, so those crazy buggers obviously had to buy their copy. But obviously it's a guaranteed number-cruncher if it's included with the console.
It shouldn't be included for that reason. At least with the other consoles you get options of what bundle, so it's a matter of desire rather than forced on you. I played Wii Sports the day I got my console, and that was it. It never went back in the drive.
milky_joe on 5 Jan '09 said:
Using the same source...
We know that Wii Sports isn't bundled in Japan, and it's sold 3.38m copies there out of 7.55m console owners.
That's 44.8% of Japanese Wii owners who have bought one.
Assuming that ratio for the rest of the world...
You get 16.94m sales in the rest of the world, so that gives a total of 20.32m, so it would still have made it into the top 10 at that ratio...
b8z on 5 Jan '09 said:
also tbh pokemon red green blue shouldnt be there, trust me ive love the games and still play them but they are three different games so why are they counted together
headspin on 5 Jan '09 said:
so hold on.... does that make alex kidd in miracle world segas best selling game as it came installed on the face lift master system???
up2nogood316 on 5 Jan '09 said:
this is probably the most ridiculous gaming news ever. surely its tongue in cheek? Wii Sports is FREE with the wii.. So it is not the BEST SELLING title because it is GIVEN AWAY whether you want it or not!!
Joshinator2008 on 5 Jan '09 said:
Wii Sports is given away with the Wii, why the hell should dat be best selling game ever?
And why the hell is Wii Play on there, people only bought it for the free wii remote you get with it!
palancas7 on 5 Jan '09 said:
If we do not include bundled games, then we'd have a very hard time tracking sales isn't? Either we include them all or none at all.
I'm sure LOTS of games sold well because of bundles.
Osiris25 on 5 Jan '09 said:
If you think about it quite a few games when first released are bundled with consoles, so it would be tricky to try work out figures sold in a bundle and on there own. I do find it odd that so many people have got so worked up about Wii sports being at the top. Its hardly as if it effects anyone's life that much lol!!
JuiKuen on 5 Jan '09 said:
Yeah cos Ms**te's stuff is so well made, you f***ing retard
WHERESMYMONKEY on 5 Jan '09 said:
if you'd all stop bitching for a second and think. you'd remember that most people don't buy a console for the machine itself but the games.
Wii sports is obviously going to be high on the list because like it or not it is an incredibly popular game, The fact that it is bundled with the wii only goes to prove that further as the only way to play it is to spend £180 on the console.
Its the game that has pretty much opened up the market to all kinds of new people this gen. You ask your average jo. (not gamer) what they like to play on the wii they'll say how much they enjoy wii sports.
Hell i've been gaming since the days of the NES and remember how awesome Duck Hunt was then playing wii play and seeing the nodd towards it on the shooting game was like being sent back to my childhood. Any gamer really worth his salt can't help to fall in love with the wii.
stormchasing1000 on 5 Jan '09 said:
You have a good news story lol,and u get abuse from jealous msoft/psfans,look do we as ninty company go on about,how many we sell in terms of making u crud, (crud used by falco.lol) we make quoue figure but we don't,do it to make u look crud.An excuse me first poster,How old IS THE NEW SUPER MARIO BROS,that brings me good memories it came out in the summer of that year,and was a plesure and joy to actually complete a mario game,without the stress of consoles verisios
.
stormchasing1000 on 5 Jan '09 said:
You have a good news story lol,and u get abuse from jealous msoft/psfans,look do we as ninty company go on about,how many we sell in terms of making u crud, (crud used by falco.lol) we make quoue figure but we don't,do it to make u look crud.An excuse me first poster,How old IS THE NEW SUPER MARIO BROS,that brings me good memories it came out in the summer of that year,and was a plesure and joy to actually complete a mario game,without the stress of consoles verisios
.
Wozzakl on 6 Jan '09 said:
A very sad news item.
voad on 7 Jan '09 said:
Oh My Lord, the hypocrisy! How many of you Nintendo hating fanboys have said that the people buy the Wii for Wii Sports and don't buy any other games for it? This article just helps support your claims, although many people seem to also buy Wii Play as well.
And if you can't count bundles towards total sales then how about all the other bundled games out there? Like LBP, MGS4, or Halo3? Should a chunk of their total sales be taken out because they were sold with a console?