The top-selling games in the US over the last 15 years
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Jun 5th 2008 at 6:20PM }
Holding on to the top title -- and we imagine not for very much longer -- is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas with 9.43 million units sold. Surprisingly, Guitar Hero III isn't too far behind with 8.2 million. Madden titles occupy four of the top ten spots. Find the full list after the break.
*Figuring it would be brought up, we checked with NPD about the original Pokémon Red and Blue released in 1998. Although they do have different titles, they are arguably the same game. NPD's data shows that Pokemon Red and Blue combined sold 3.1 9.9 million units. Pokémon Red with 4.9 million and Pokémon Blue with 5 million.
Update: NPD gave us incorrect Pokémon numbers. We've updated the figures.
[Via GameDaily]
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) – 9.43 million
- Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (2007) – 8.2 million
- Madden NFL 07 (2006) – 7.7 million
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) – 7.3 million
- Madden NFL 06 (2005) – 6.65 million
- Halo 2 (2004) – 6.6 million
- Madden NFL 08 (2007) – 6.56 million
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) – 6.25 million
- Grand Theft Auto 3 (2001) – 6.2 million
- Madden NFL 2005 (2004) – 6.1 million
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Fady Ibrahim @ Jun 5th 2008 6:25PM
Just curious, how is Halo 3 not on that list, did it really not sell that many?
AoE @ Jun 5th 2008 6:40PM
the fact that it's not on that list implies as much...
finnith @ Jun 5th 2008 6:50PM
Halo 3 hasn't really been out as long as many of the games on that list. It is also a console-exclusive game whereas games like GH3 are multiplatform.
RPGJock @ Jun 5th 2008 6:57PM
Also don't forget that this is North American sells, unless they are not count Canada or Mexico, then it would be just U.S. sales.
finnith @ Jun 5th 2008 7:18PM
The stats only involve the although I believe the differences would be minute if they decided to include the whole of North America. I'm not sure about Mexico's culture but Canada's is very similar to the US's.
finnith @ Jun 5th 2008 7:19PM
The stats only include US sales.*
That's what I get for not proof-reading my post.
J.Goodwin @ Jun 5th 2008 7:19PM
Halo 2 was an evergreen title that sold for years, and worked not only on Xbox but was a launch BC title on 360. Halo 3 may never sell as well as Halo 2 did, but you can expect that over time it's going to catch up somewhat.
bluestriker @ Jun 5th 2008 7:39PM
Really? Here it says it has sold 8.1 million copies, and that was in January.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6184291.html
severian00 @ Jun 5th 2008 8:52PM
that's the number I was going off too. Maybe that's the sold to retailers number. It seems like they are going by actual sold to consumers numbers in the NPD numbers sited. Even so I can't imagine there being well over 2 million copies of Halo 3 siting on retail shelves.
General Tso Wow @ Jun 5th 2008 9:49PM
halo 3 is not on the list because it sucks
auroragb @ Jun 6th 2008 2:56PM
8.1M is number Halo 3 sold WW. Assuming attach rate of 46%, Halo 3 should have sold just under 5M in the US
343 Guilty Fart @ Jun 5th 2008 6:26PM
Wait, didn't Call of Duty 4 sell over 10 million? I'm confused...
Einhanderkiller @ Jun 5th 2008 6:28PM
"The top-selling games in the *****US***** over the last 15 years"
343 Guilty Fart @ Jun 5th 2008 6:30PM
This was just posted yesterday on this site:
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/04/call-of-duty-4-sells-10-million-units/
DiRT @ Jun 5th 2008 6:51PM
Wha...? There's a difference between US sales and Worldwide sales? I thought we were the world!
Zoesch @ Jun 5th 2008 6:57PM
We are the world... We are the children...
shawn @ Jun 5th 2008 10:25PM
i would be curious to see stuff from the nes days on this list not just games that came out in the last 10 years...like mario 3,zelda,etc i want too see what those games sold
Casper32 @ Jun 5th 2008 6:29PM
Wow surprised Halo 3 and World of Warcraft aren't on that list.
LaughingTarget @ Jun 5th 2008 6:45PM
WoW has 2.5 million US subscribers, not even close to make the list.
josh @ Jun 5th 2008 9:09PM
That's 2.5 million ACTIVE subscribers... how many people bought but no longer subscribe? I have like 5 friends (6 counting me) who used to play, but no longer.
josh @ Jun 5th 2008 9:11PM
The Sims has sold 6.3 million according to it's wiki, it's not listed, either. Hmm.
deslock @ Jun 6th 2008 1:42PM
Sorry, this list is BS. Simsabsolutely, guaranteed has more than those titles. And I'm not including expansion packs.
Also as mentioned by Josh, WoW has 2.5 million subscribers, right now! Everyone I work with (software engineering, 40 of us) has owned WoW. A few still play. So it has definitely sold more than 6 million in the US over the last 15 years.
Sounds to me like some jack at NPD it takes some liberties with the rules of this data.
343 Guilty Fart @ Jun 5th 2008 6:31PM
Wait, I get it, duh.
N8 @ Jun 5th 2008 11:13PM
Doesn't include walmart or download probably. NPD #'s are used to gauge the market.
jackbauer (mk:4811-7496-3209) @ Jun 5th 2008 6:32PM
yeee guns and football! and.... fake guitars!
mcatrage @ Jun 5th 2008 7:27PM
America, FUCK YEAH!
xeleion @ Jun 5th 2008 10:27PM
Haha, you took the words right out of my mouth. Shows what us Americans are into: Sex, drugs, and rock n' roll. Oh, and football.
Oi Chez! What do you want Fizz? @ Jun 5th 2008 6:40PM
Well I've got 3 of them games on Steam, does that count?
Oi Chez! What do you want Fizz? @ Jun 5th 2008 6:41PM
Yanks are mad for Madden! Seriously though I don't think I've seen that in a shop here.
SugarDaddy @ Jun 6th 2008 8:59AM
Ya, but how are your Fifa sales? You get me? If yer in GB, then they don't have yank football there, mate. Sales are bound to be lower.
Charlie_Six @ Jun 5th 2008 6:42PM
First, I really think this list can be misinterpreted. The Sims has sold 100 million copies across its multiple games. Key term: multiple games. This list is about single games.
Still, this list is a big reason why video gamers have such a bad image in the media and society in general. It's really quite deserved. The whole list is, as Forbes said, full of "loud, violent" games. The only game I think we can be unabashedly proud of on that list is Guitar Hero. Video gamers look like a bunch of narrow-minded male barbarians if you look at this list.
I'll get flamed for this comment, no doubt. But think about this for a second. The entire list is essentially the equivalent of the SpikeTV cable channel on TV. There's nothing else! Heck, SpikeTV is actually better than this. At least they friggin' have Star Trek.
JerJer @ Jun 5th 2008 6:49PM
dahhh huuurrrrrrr. you're paragraphs dont connect logically.
nor do you have a coherent point.
carry on.
Charlie_Six @ Jun 5th 2008 6:53PM
The Sims is the sole exception to the point that "video gamers are narrow-minded barbarians." Despite the Sims, the point is still quite valid.
We also have to factor in how much was spent, in total, for those 100 million Sims titles, considering expansions are far cheaper than the $50-60 games on the list.
Shagittarius @ Jun 5th 2008 7:19PM
Being proud of Guitar hero? Guitar hero is not what gaming is about. I consider guitar hero to be the dirty little secret of the gaming spectrum.
finnith @ Jun 5th 2008 7:30PM
Although you are correct that the subject matter of the games is questionable, should we really be ashamed of ourselves? For the most part, the list is composed of quality games such as Call of Duty 4.
And it's not like other games don't sell at all either, Mass Effect (maybe a shooter isn't the best example, a game worthy of a sci-fi novel, sold 1 million in the first three weeks, http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3164873
My point is that although it might say that we do love guns and football, you are only touching the surface if you say so. Even Madden is fun if you play multiplayer and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was a brilliant game due to the level of customization and scale of the game world.
It's not like a "Beyond Good and Evil" was going to be at the top of this list anyways, this list is not representative of niche gamers.
severian00 @ Jun 5th 2008 8:58PM
I would hardly call football a barbarian sport any more than hockey or rugby. If you looked at the European equivilant of this list it would replace Madden with Fifa and about everything else would be the same or very similar.
Korova *Pyro aspect* @ Jun 5th 2008 10:55PM
i am not crazy about the list either.
40% is practically the same football game, 30% is GTA, 20% FPS and Guitar Hero.
No Peggle! Anywhere!
Jhongerkong @ Jun 5th 2008 6:46PM
Tsk, tsk. You guys should've bought more Tetris Attack
Noshino @ Jun 5th 2008 7:01PM
No Yaris :(
Adam @ Jun 5th 2008 6:48PM
NPD doesn't count a lot of retailer numbers (Costco, Wal-Mart, etc.), so take these numbers with a grain of salt.
I know Wal-Mart is one of or the top game retailer in terms of games sold in the U.S., so not having them accounted for skews the NPD numbers considerably.
JerJer @ Jun 5th 2008 6:53PM
doubtful.
walmart sells, promotes and loves guitar hero 3.
as well as the gta's.
and madden.
so dont to pretend that there are "other retailers" that sell more obscure games that would even dent this list. all the retailers not taken into account sell similar proportions to this list.
Obie @ Jun 5th 2008 6:50PM
I see why they did 15 instead of 20 years.
The list would have been clogged with Nintendo games, such as Super Mario 3 ( 18 million sold ).
Still the omission of Halo 3 is a curious one.
RPGJock @ Jun 5th 2008 7:06PM
If you go by VGChartz, and I know people don't, Halo 3 at this point has sold 5,736,305 in North America so far. If this is strictly U.S. sales, then you can lop off at least a million off that total.
Obie @ Jun 5th 2008 7:08PM
I guess cat helmets and mountain dew ads don't make people buy games.
Noshino @ Jun 5th 2008 7:10PM
Halo 3 has sold less than 6 million in the US...
"I see why they did 15 instead of 20 years. The list would have been clogged with Nintendo games, such as Super Mario 3 ( 18 million sold )"
"...has released a list of the top-selling games in the US over the last 15 years. NPD only began tracking data 15 years ago..."
Nice try...and even then, SMB3 was nothing compared to SMW...12.97 million on the US alone...
kevin @ Jun 5th 2008 7:16PM
"NPD only began tracking data 15 years ago"
or maybe this is the reason they went with 15 years rather than 20 years... you would think people read the article before commenting
mr mobius @ Jun 6th 2008 7:28PM
That explains the lack of Mario. It's disappointing the lack of variety and originality in this list. 1984 here we come again!
giantenemycrab @ Jun 5th 2008 6:51PM
....Madden?!
#28 @ Jun 6th 2008 1:47AM
God how I hate those games.
GenBanks @ Jun 5th 2008 6:57PM
I'm surprised that there isn't a single PC game on there. Or do they add the sales figures for the GTA games on PC and on Ps2 together?