See the top 100 selling games of the past year

by Justin McElroy on Apr 10th 2008 11:40AM

Many of you are going to breeze right on past the post, and it's OK, we don't blame you. This isn't everyone's cup of tea. But if you're someone who loves to attempt to win internet arguments by citing sales figures, this list of the top 100 selling games from the past 12 months in North America and Europe is going to be a godsend. Not only that, it's packed with surprises, at least it was for us.

Now keep in mind, this is somewhat askew, because the games on the list that have come out more recently have had less time to sell, etc. But when you see "34. Mass Effect 33. Shrek the Third 32. Rock Band" you can't help but have your eyes opened a bit. Oh, and Orange Box got beat by Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day. While you're internalizing that, breeze through the list and tell us your biggest surprises.

Source

Tags: sales

Reader Comments (83)

If you ever needed proof that the quality of a game has nothing at all to do with how well it sells, here it is.

Tell me about it. All you need is a good name and people go flocking to it. Seriously, transformers, which is supposed to be horrible, sold 3 million. Ea and other devs have the right plan. When stats show all you need is a shiny name with no substance, why put forth any effort??? Thats the business I would certainly use, no effort and selling millions, much more than other games which are much better like mass effect, etc.
Casual gamers please go to metacritic first. Otherwise, there is no reason to change this.

I played transformers. It might not have been the best game ever but that was entirely forgivable. You know why? BECAUSE I WAS GOD DAMN OPTIMUS PRIME!

Alright guys, fess up, who here actually bought the Ratatouille game?

My grandma bought it. I'm ashamed.

24. Ratatouille
DS/PS2/GC/PS3/Wii
PC/GBA/X360/PSP/XBX
1.9M

Proves that at least 1.9M douche bags own consoles.

Or 1.9m Cod4/Halo 3 players bought it for their kids. Not everyone's a douche.

You shouldn't buy crappy games for your kids either. Still a douche.

Maybe the kids liked it. God, when I was a little kid I had no idea what a bad game was. I played every game i got my hands on even licensed crap and loved it.

I thought the ratatouille game was actually one of the more bearable movie franchise games to come out lately? Just going by hearsay, mind you.

Shag, I understand that as adults we think it's a crappy game, but if you're a parent buying a game for your kids, I'm not about to buy them Bioshock or GTA4.

Your parents probably bought you stuff they thought was crappy when you were a kid too. Transformers, GI Joe? Go back and watch that and you'll realize how crappy it is. Buying something like Ratatouille for your kids doesn't make you a douche, its just being a parent.

There are many way better kid oriented titles, you dont need to buy them adult games.

And those transformers and GI joes they bought me are actually worth more now then they were back then. I'm pretty sure Ratatouille games will be worthless in a few more months.

Additionally you act like its the concept or the characters that make Ratatouille a bad game. Nonsense its a bad game beacuse of its gameplay. Just like bad movies, and terrible music. Its not the theme that makes it crap its the quality.

Hmmm... Shag's comments sure make it sound like he has spent some time playing the game to me.

It shouldn't be a surprise because it's a multiplatformer.

@theturtle
That sounds just like me when I was younger, only I owned crappy N64 fighting games. War Gods, Dark Rift, Clayfighter 63 1/3, and the like. From a kid's point of view, the only important aspect of a game is that they can manage to beat it.

@turtle: Those were the days! Games had to be REAL bad in order for me to notice when I was very young. I remember when I used to just pick games based on the cover art and description on the back. Those were such simpler times. The first game which sucked enough for me to notice was Aidyn Chronicles.

Three words stand out: "Retail sales only."

A really good point, invader.

Also, US and UK only.

Is this really that surprising? A large majority of people out there aren't interested in the quality of a product. Just look at movies, music, and definitely video games.

Well this explains all the crappy licensed games. Developers will keep making them as long as people keep buying them.

Indeed. And as long as we keep buying quality games, hopefully they'll keep making those!

So this is why they continue to churn out those horrible movie-based games. Transformers sold 3.3 million?! Really?!

because they know that people will buy them

You also have to consider how long a game has been out. For example, a game that came out a full year ago has a better chance of having a ton of sales than a game that came out 2 months ago.

Comparing games at their respective 1 year marks would likely paint an entirely different picture.

Mind blowing to me is the positions of these games:

81. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
64. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
40. High School Musical: Makin’ the Cut!
24. Ratatouille
19. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
6. Need for Speed: ProStreet (I don't know anyone with this!)

Pretty backwards in terms of their quality.

Honestly, I *would* have bought NFS:PROSTREET if I *hadn't* checked reviews, rented, or downloaded the demo. The game was horrid compared to the last good one in the series - NFS:MOST WANTED.

HS Musical: Makin' the Cut is the hottness! It really should have been much higher!

Here's my part in the list:

60. Drawn to Life
47. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
41. Mario Strikers: Charged
35. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree
28. Super Paper Mario
26. MySims (Wii)
23. Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
10. Brain Age 2: More Brain Training in Minutes a Day
9. Super Mario Galaxy
7. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii)

And MySims is actually pretty fun. Got it for my daughter for her 6th birthday. Or at least that was the justification for the purchase. I'll spend hours building stuff in that game, which irritates the kids to no end, especially when I'm playing because I've been asked to help with a project. Cue incessant cries of "Dad, it looks good enough!"...

So, the people who watch 'American Idol' and go see 'Meet the Spartans' also buy games then

I think you've figured it all out.

Movie based games should be fucking banned.
So many stupid dimwits feeding the shitfactories by buying that stuff.

END THIS.

Game based movies should be fucking banned. They're all horrible!

Oh, wait.

High production-value products are rarely top-sellers in their market. Oscar winners usually take in less than summer blockbusters, and Porsche and BMW sell fewer cars than Ford.

It's trickier in video-games, because the prices for games are so similar, but don't be surprised when games on moderately-priced systems (Wii,DS,PS2,low-end PC) out-sell great games. If for no other reason, cheap DS shovelware should always be at the top of the list because there are so freaking many DS's out there.

that porsche/bmw to ford was a bad analogy because it only makes sense from an economic stand point that something like a 30 dollar copy of carnival games to sell more than a 60 dollar copy of mass effect. i cant afford a bmw, so a focus isnt bad to me.. (it is true that im not a car enthusiast and i just want to get around, but more importantly, i dont have $70k+ for a car).

It's true, I guess I was referring more to the cost of the consoles/PCs required to play high-end games. It's certainly not a Porsche/Ford distinction, but there's still a difference. The cost is on the console, not the software.

Need for Speed Pro Street?!?!

I didn't know anyone bought this. I played the demo and was utterly disgusted.

It is amazing though to see the insane number of copies that CoD4 has sold. Almost 9 million since November!

Hopefully PS3 exclusives will fair slightly better this year.

HAHAHAHA NO PS3 exclusive until number 51...now THAT speaks volumes even if you consider quality and sales...wow

Is that it?

Is that the best you can do?

You can do better Kyle. I believe in you. I want to believe in you. But your performance here today disappoints me. Please try harder.

I thought transformers and Spiderman 3 were horrible games......

I love forza, but didnt expect it to be that high on the list

It's cause it was bundled with the 360 and may still be bundled with it.

well people dont generally care about quality. That why we see so many people buying wiis. Sure the wii has its great nintendo games, smash bros, mario kart, metroid, galazxy, ect ect. But outside of the nintendo games, the system is a garbage dump, and people buy that garbage. Sims type games havent been good since the first, and those continue to sell like hotcakes to younger and casual gamers. To a casual gamer, a game like bioshock, metroid prime and COD are just too complex for them. They cant follow stories an/or puzzles while involved in 3d environments. They leave the movies they watch to do that all for them, so they can just sit there without thinking.

A game which can be progressed through with litteraly no thinking and only played for 15 minutes at a time is what these casual gamers want.

Wow, dude, I've got a Wii and every game I own is non-Nintendo. And each one is top quality.

To say the system is a garbage dump is a fallacy. You sound really ignorant of what games are on the Wii. You sound like a little elitist.

And I really laughed when you said the "stories" of Bioshock, Prime, and Call of Duty are too complex. I haven't played Prime, but my experience from Call of Duty shows no complex story. If you were to compare that story to a decent book or tv show you'd see the games redundancy.

There are no complex stories in Video Games.

Dude, you don't need anything beside nintendo games, they're good enough to justify the existence of the wii.

Smash bros. = pure, uncut win.

you must not know what and/or means in a sentence. those 3 games where not all 3 being refered to for their stories.

I don't know why you don't own SM:galaxy... its my game of the year last year.

@Nigeria: Cody ChesnuTT Defense Force:
Apparently you haven't played a Phoenix Wright game...

wow cody, what more do I need to say? That number speaks for itself. Look at the 360 exclusives that come before the PS3. Also, you can look at the 360/PC games because the 360 is the only console you can play said games on. The 360 is where it's at and that is incredibly undeniable.

I bought MySims, not BioShock.

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See the top 100 selling games of the past year

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