NPD reveals Top 5 console games of '08 ... so far

by Alexander Sliwinski on Sep 23rd 2008 1:00PM

As we head into the last stretch of the year, which is synonymous with a glut of titles flooding the market, it's worth seeing what the top titles in 2008 were up to this point. Gamasutra, using data from NPD, has posted the Top 5 titles for consoles up until August. Don't expect any surprises: Grand Theft Auto IV is in the top spot for PS3 and Xbox 360, while Super Smash Bros. Brawl is champion on the Wii.

The Wii certainly is the most interesting of the lists, with four out of the five SKUs belonging to games with included with some sort of peripheral (Mario Kart, Wii Fit, Wii Play and Guitar Hero III). Gamasutra also estimates that the software sales of the top five Wii titles combined is about 12 million units, nearly double that of the top five on the other consoles (separately). Of course, the year isn't over yet.

Source

Tags: gamasutra, gta-iv, Guitar-Hero-III, Mario-Kart, npd, PS3, SSBB, Wii, Wii-Fit, Wii-Play, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (69)

Wow, no Halo 3 on that list eh? That's amazing!

Nice to see after the plotholes in 2 that people didn't want to finish the fight. 'Couldn't design a great game? At least come and finish the fight.'

That came out in September 07.

Oh, ok. That would explain it then lol!

Thanks TomCo :)

CoD4 came out in '07, and that didn't stop it from being in the top five for both consoles in '08 TomCo. maybe i'm missing something...

Simple answer- it didn't outsell any of the titles listed in the top 5 this year.

halo 3 is exclusive to the 360 console and managed to sell 8 million copies.
cod4 has sold more than 8 million copies because of the 360, ps3, and PC sales figures.
the highest ps3 exclusive is what 3 million copies sold? and that is with a console bundle too ( mgs4 and motorstorm)
the wii sells in crazy numbers......

gotta love how halo 3 even gets brought up in this.
if you didnt like the game then why bother..
however a lot of people like the game and continue to make it one of the most played online titles for xbox live.

Halo 3 was one of the most anticipated games ever. As such, most people bought it right away. Either you love Halo or you don't, it's not really the type of game that people pick up later on down the line.

CoD4, while it had hype, was more of a sleeper hit than Halo. Its charm and greatness took a while to sink in for people and as such, people bought it later because when it was released they didn't know it was going to be that good.

Also, wasn't CoD4 released later in the year in '07, like November?

November 6, 7 and 9, for North America, Australia and Europe respectively.

I remember that was one of the most gaming heavy month/two of my life, I played CoD4 one weekend, Crysis the next, Gears of War PC the one after, then BioShock.

everybody hates on halo 3, but that game has more options and play types than any game available.
dont people wish those options were available for more games??
campaign.
split screen campaign.
co-op campaign.
online multiplayer
online split screen multiplayer
online co op multiplayer
custom games, split screen, co-op, offline, online
forge games, split, co-op, offline, online

cant fault that. MKWii was brilliant and still play it all these months later. GTA was a good game too and I await the DLC!

I'm usually not one to ponder this, but how the fuck did this get downvoted?

Heh... good question. It wasn't me. I didn't think MK Wii was "brilliant", but it has been one of the few games I've actually enjoyed on the system.

I don't understand why Mario Kart is selling so well. I traded mine in to Gamestop a few weeks ago (the first game I've ever traded in in my life, actually). And this is coming from someone who is not only a self-declared Nintendo lobbyist, but also someone who would rank Mario Kart in his all-time favorite franchises. I had thought it impossible to mess up Mario Kart even worse than Double Dash, but Nintendo somehow pulled it off.

Serious? Although I still believe the first is the best, how can you say that MK Wii is worse than DD? It's practically the same game with the addition of widescreen and online play, both of which make it better.

It also took away the sole redeeming factor that made Double Dash!! a worthwhile experience - Cooperative play, and they didn't even give you the option. Instead they added Bikes and forced you to use them for 100cc. Not fun.

Honestly, I think you're nuts. Sure, the wii MK might not be as good as the earlier ones, but it wasn't NEARLY as bad as DD.

Personally, I think *you're* nuts. DD was easily my favorite MK to date.

..I liked Double Dash

Lol, let me clarify my Double Dash comments: I absolutely loved the co-op, but the levels were boring (aside from the sublime DK Mountain) and there was no sense of speed; it felt more like Mario's Grocery Kart than anything. If they had kept Double Dash's co-op combined with Mario Kart Wii's levels and online it probably would have been my favorite Mario Kart ever. As it stands, I'd rather just pay 10 bucks for Mario Kart 64 on the Virtual Console.

"I don't understand why Mario Kart is selling so well."

MKWii is a dumbded down version of Mario Kart meant to be accessible to th casual (seriously, automatic powersliding?). Most Wii owners are casual, and just want something easy. Combine the two, and you have your reason.

Holy balls, MARIO GROCERY KART!? +1

(PS I love MK Wii, sorry)

(PPS DS Kart also rules)

Automatic Powersliding was an option, though

I still never saw what made people claim MK Wii was dumbed down from the previous versions. Cheaper items, maybe, but even those could be overcome with pure skill

"Wii is a dumbded down version of Mario Kart meant to be accessible to th casual (seriously, automatic powersliding?). Most Wii owners are casual, and just want something easy. Combine the two, and you have your reason."

Automatic Powersliders will lose to anyone using manual powerslides. FACT. People like you act as though the option to allow casuals to play it automatically make them as good at the game as you are.

What a tosser!

MKWii was fucking brilliant and I still play it often even months after launch. I'm not saying the same thing about GTA 4 or them other AAA games that have nowhere near as much fun and replayability as something as simple as Kart.

As a Nintendo lobbyist, no fuck that, as a GOOD GAMES lobbyist I put this kart second only to the incredible MarioKartDS.

Now just give me GTA 4 DLC. Hope they take us somewhere nice!

I'll never understand the mario kart wii hate.. Id say its the best one yet, followed by the ds version.

I bought Double Dash and unlocked everything in just a few hours.. No single player replay value at all.. And the battle mode stages?..Horrible and boring, completely flat and devoid of terrain. You play on top of a gamecube for cthulhu's sake.

The Ds version redeemed the kart games for me, with missions and the ranking system (ABC 123 Stars) whatever, not to mention the retro stages.. And online was a nice, not great..

Now the wii version has better online then the DS, its no xboxlive, we all know that by now. But its good enough, its fun and smooth.. The retro stages rock my socks.. and they ranking system made sure I kept playing the single player mode.

As for the dumb down crap.. I dont get that at all.

This post is missing some key information. Instead of linking to a site with an atrocious layout that is stretched over four pages to generate more clicks for their ad revenues, just give us the goods. You also forgot to mention the interesting little tidbit where Army of Two ranked fifth on the list of top selling Xbox 360 games.

Top Selling PS3 Titles
1 Grand Theft Auto IV
2 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
3 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
4 Madden NFL 09
5 Gran Turismo 5: Prologue

Top Selling Xbox360 Titles
1 Grand Theft Auto IV
2 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
3 Madden NFL 09
4 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
5 Army of Two

Top Selling Wii Titles
1 Super Smash Bros. Brawl
2 Mario Kart (with wheel)
3 Wii Play (with remote)
4 Wii Fit (with balance board)
5 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (with guitar)

bravo. I wished they'd compared cross platform sales more though... did Smash brothers outsell gta4 on the 360?

Brawl = 3.2mil
GTAIV = 1.4mil

according to gamasutra

Damn, I am not read good

GTAIV on the 360 sold 3.4 million, and 1.4 million on the PS3

whats the deal with army of 2, slow year?
the game is ok for what it is co-op goodness but multiplayer is caca and replay is sorta limited

Thanks Antagonist for posting this!

Also interesting to note that all 5 XBOX selling items are cross platform titles, where PS3 has some exclusives...

thanks, that site was kind of bad

Not surprising in the least. It's interesting to hear that the ps3 has a much larger attach rate to games then xbox does considering the demographic that plays the 360 and the releases on it.

I think the only real surprise on that list was Army of Two on the 360. I didn't expect it to sell so well, just goes to show you how well co-op games do (I'm looking at you Cod4, where is my co-op) even if the game itself was rather bleh.

But ultimately it's quite a bit early to show numbers. Fallout, Gears, Resistance, LBP all will be over a million in sales easy hopefully before the end of the year. Hopefully some more of the other big titles will as well like Mirror's Edge, Dead Space, and a couple others.

"It's interesting to hear that the ps3 has a much larger attach rate to games then xbox does considering the demographic that plays the 360 and the releases on it."

Where did you read that? Every thing that I have read on the subject has said the exact opposite.

@atrimus
Over %60 of the xbox 360 user base already owns halo 3. For it to top the charts again this year, every 360 owner would need to own a copy of the game.

It's on the last page of the article when their talking about the games through all the games.

WHERE ARE THE PC TOP 5?

People don't buy PC games silly. They just steal them.

The Big Download?

Ok, maybe a PC Top Five Pirated Games then?

I'll take a wild guess.

1.) The Sims 2
2.) World of Warcraft
3.) World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
4.) The Sims 2: IKEA Home Stuff
5.) Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventure

Last pc game I bought was quake 3 heh

"4.) The Sims 2: IKEA Home Stuff"

Please tell me you made that up just to see if anyone was paying attention.

No, it's real, very real: http://thesims2.ea.com/about/sp8_index.php

Since when is the PC a "console?"

Really, the PC top 5? The Mac top 5, now there's an important list. I mean, that's the primary reason for buying a mac, isn't it?

/sarcasm

They don't do PC lists because NPD doesn't have download numbers (yet), that are a high percentage of PC sales today.

They should include digital distribution though, even if just to show people that PC is, despite all rumors, still alive.

What an incredibly vague article. It seemed like every game was,

"We think this title sold around this many units".

"We think this one sold probably this many."

"Oh yeah, and for the PS3, this doesn't count bundles, or SE versions."

Seriously? I'm supposed to care what all these "rough estimates" are?

I find it a bit hard to believe that Army of Two (360) sold more than Call of Duty 4 (PS3), but I guess with the smaller install base, it makes sense.

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NPD reveals Top 5 console games of '08 ... so far

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