Report: Wii games dominate top 5 US sellers in '08 (so far)

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Nov 17th 2008 at 7:00PM }

Still obsessing over sales statistics, Gamasutra has crafted a report on 2008's five top-selling games in the US -- so far. Though some figures are approximated, there's assurance that "the maximum possible error in each figure should not affect the rankings." All consoles considered, the rankings are as follows:

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (3.5 million, estimated)
Mario Kart (3.4 million)
Grand Theft Auto IV (3.2 million, estimated)
Wii Play (3 million)
Wii Fit (2.8 million)

Be sure to check out the report for further details, several of which are likely to fuel the fanboy fires for, oh, the next fifteen minutes at least. We look forward to entertaining your "Wii games don't sell," "GTA IV is overrated" and "Wii Play is just a controller in disguise" arguments. We do not, however, want anything to do with your "Why isn't Golden Axe: Beast Rider on there?" madness.

Tags: 2008, Grandt-Theft-Auto-IV, GTA-IV, js-twitter, Mario-Kart, NPD, Sales, SSBB, Super-Smash-Bros-Brawl, Wii-Fit, Wii-Play

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Steven M @ Nov 17th 2008 7:04PM

Booooo

Steven M @ Nov 17th 2008 7:05PM

Smash Bros. was good, Mario Kart wasnt bad, but wii play sucked it big time, and imo wii fit is just retarded

Cody @ Nov 17th 2008 9:53PM

You replied to your own comment. And even that was just you typing "Booooo"

Paulmichael @ Nov 17th 2008 11:32PM

At least change your screen name when you do that!

brickwalker0 @ Nov 17th 2008 7:08PM

Wii Play sold a lot mainly because of the bundled controller.

Brawl is a fantastic game and is the only thing i play on my Wii.

Premature ejaculation man @ Nov 17th 2008 8:19PM

There must be something wrong with me. I played the 64 version and the gamecube version to death. Yet I hardly play the Wii version...Perhaps because I don't have my friends over as much is the problem.

EasterSmoot @ Nov 17th 2008 8:23PM

I still play the N64 / GC versions over Brawl. Brawl just seems too broken and gimmicky :-/

brickwalker0 @ Nov 17th 2008 8:43PM

that is indeed the problem, "Premature". :)

i really dont play it by myself, but i have a lot of friends who do, so we do regularly. the game is awful in a single-player aspect.

Premature ejaculation man @ Nov 17th 2008 8:55PM

I think I'll have to invite some people around then =)

And I just noticed I said pretty much the same thing below for Mario Kart aswell XD I sound like someone who's clinging to "Good ol days" (Though I'm not, current gaming ftw)

samfish @ Nov 17th 2008 10:52PM

I think Brawl is the best Smash Bros yet (I hated Melee, actually)...and that Mario Kart Wii is the worst Mario Kart ever. MK64 is still the king in my mind!

BPMOmega [gamertag] @ Nov 18th 2008 12:06AM

Smash has always been a party fighter. That is to say, it is best enjoyed by groups of people, not that it beats up celebrations.

And due to the lack of online chat (text or voice), the online component of Brawl feels very antisocial. Sure, there are ways around it (Live, PSN, Skype, etc.)... but without a built-in chat function, it makes it a hassle to make your opponents seem less like machines.

Markez @ Nov 19th 2008 12:31AM

@ Premature

That's exactly why I don't play the new Brawl a whole lot :( Don't live in the midwest anymore.

copa @ Nov 17th 2008 7:10PM

Now, do you still believe the line from Bethesda that they have sold 4.7 million copies of Fallout 3?

Me neither.

Mr Khan @ Nov 17th 2008 7:16PM

That is possibly true, but combined across 3 platforms.

Perhaps this metric is for single-console sales

Osman @ Nov 17th 2008 7:17PM

that's just US figures not the entire world (though that is still hard to believe)

fodder @ Nov 17th 2008 7:19PM

Presumably Bethesda were giving worldwide sales figures, whereas these are just US sales.

And what did Bethesda do to put such a bug up your butt?

mirage @ Nov 17th 2008 7:36PM

I don't think you can talk crap about a games sales yet if it hasn't been out for even a month. There is just no way to get realistic figures.

Either way though, it is 10 times the game compared to any on that list. :)

copa @ Nov 17th 2008 7:41PM

"And what did Bethesda do to put such a bug up your butt?"

I love Bethesda, but I think it's crazy that gaming sites are continuing to report such an obviously false statistic just because Bethesda said it once.

Jcarpio @ Nov 17th 2008 7:56PM

I believe the line was "shipped to retail" so they sold that many to retailers

dark_inchworm @ Nov 17th 2008 8:13PM

"obviously false"

Well, care to source what they said specifically? You... kinda sound like you don't understand what's going on.

Chase @ Nov 18th 2008 5:37AM

No source, no credibility.

Mitsuo @ Nov 17th 2008 7:11PM

I can understand why all those games are on there. But I would have thought Wii play would have been the #1 sold.

Mr Khan @ Nov 17th 2008 7:13PM

Would have thought Mario Kart Wii did more

But still, this is good. It is questionable if they will get outsold, though. Really the only shots at it are GH/RB and GTA. No one else really has the kind of appeal to pull those sales

Mr Khan @ Nov 17th 2008 7:17PM

Oh, and Joystiq, your latest full-page ad froze the page when i clicked the skip button

Let's not let Ozzy become the new Hummingbird, eh?

Shagittarius @ Nov 17th 2008 7:20PM

The prince of darkness pwns your browsar!

AwesomeTown @ Nov 17th 2008 7:46PM

Actually it has froze my Firefox twice in the past 2 minutes. So Mr Khan is not alone.

Badger_badger_badger @ Nov 17th 2008 10:35PM

Lrn2AdBlock

Roto13 @ Nov 17th 2008 11:48PM

Joystiq has full page ads?

BPMOmega [gamertag] @ Nov 18th 2008 12:20AM

I think on a worldwide scale, Mario Kart Wii has outsold Brawl. MKWii continues to be in the top 30 in Japan, whereas Brawl has died off ages ago.

But in America alone, it would appear that Brawl is barely more popular than MKWii.

j.howlett @ Nov 17th 2008 7:14PM

i have 3 and 4. wii play my be a glorified tech demo riding the sales as a cheap game with controller but i've had plenty of fun with it and still enjoy it whenever

jorojoserojas @ Nov 17th 2008 7:17PM

I agreed with you once, but WiiWare has pretty much given me all simple pick-up-and-play fun I would crave from it...and more.

So, in essence, once the WiiWare started funneling out, I had no need for Wii Play.

Fernando Rocker @ Nov 17th 2008 7:37PM

Tanks is pretty good...

Hope they release a WiiWare version with more levels.

Roto13 @ Nov 17th 2008 8:04PM

Wii Billiards for the win.

I've been considering picking up that billiards game on WiiWare, but I don't know if it's any good.

Mr Khan @ Nov 17th 2008 9:16PM

Nintendo takes very little initiative on WiiWare, i think. There are a ton of WiiWare games just begging to be made, stuff that's too simple for a console or even handheld release, but Nintendo hasn't done a thing about it

New Super Mario Bros 2, new Wrecking Crew, Ice Climber, and Balloon Fight, all with procedurally generated levels for infinite replayablity

samfish @ Nov 17th 2008 10:59PM

WiiWare Tanks would be awesome.

as long as it had a battle mode.

jorojoserojas @ Nov 17th 2008 7:18PM

We should place bets on comment count.

400 MS Points, 500 Nintendo Points, or $5.00 on the PSN. Place your bets!

Shagittarius @ Nov 17th 2008 7:18PM

There is nothing interesting to see here...

Instead I give you:

Some things you do really make me mad I must confess
The way the street light silhouettes your thighs inside your dress
Wild child in the streets I think I see you but I really don't know (who knows)
Goin' a million miles an hour headed out to where the down boys go

Superstar90 @ Nov 17th 2008 7:19PM

Good job consumers, the top 3 are real games! :P

Jacksons @ Nov 17th 2008 7:19PM

Shocker.

Ichi the One @ Nov 17th 2008 7:21PM

Well the numbers are estimated, which is code for 'made up' or 'pulled out of my ass', but Nintendo games have always been big sellers. Nintendo games sell on Nintendo consoles, 3rd parties don't. This is the way it's been since N64.

Shagittarius @ Nov 17th 2008 7:21PM

So i don't understand is that just the 360 skew of GTA? Why are we breaking it down into individual platforms skews? Are we trying to skew the results?

Shagittarius @ Nov 17th 2008 7:26PM

I guess that is combined...geez games don't sell as well as I thought...

mirage @ Nov 17th 2008 8:02PM

Based on the source link, it is just the 360 version. The only way Nintendo beats out a multiplatform game of that caliber is if it is broken down by platform. Seems quite schewed to me. :)

Hoopla @ Nov 17th 2008 7:23PM

Im suprised Wii Fit didnt sell more, it seems like something that would be number 1. I guess it has to do with the price of the darn thing.

Roto13 @ Nov 17th 2008 8:05PM

Those other games have been out longer, too. Except maybe for GTA4.

t3kni9e @ Nov 17th 2008 7:28PM

GTA4 only sold 3.2 mill in the U.S? That doesn't even sound right. I hate GTA4, but that still sounds iffy. Is that only for 360?

Oh well, those games won't last against Gears of War 2 sales, assuming 2 months is enough time to catch up since it's the holidays and all.

Mr Khan @ Nov 17th 2008 7:32PM

Possibly. Gears 1 capped out at, what, 3 million WW?

I seem to remember that 1.3 million or so of those day-one sales were North America. And given that the series has had 2 years to accumulate word of mouth, as well as the refinements of the 2nd, it could out-perform its predecessor

By how much, however, remains to be seen.

Sackolantern PSN ID: johnnynumber5 @ Nov 17th 2008 10:18PM

Gears 2 sold over 5 million world wide if memory serves me correct. These results are just a way to toot Nintendo's first party horn. When there are at least twice and in some cases three times the amount of Wii's in the country the thing should move more first party software.

sk8monroe81 @ Nov 17th 2008 11:19PM

tech9- yeah those gta4 figures sound low to me..
kahn- i think gears 1 may have hit up to 5 million sold, maybe as low as 3 though.
johnny- yeah gears 2 will probably top that list this year.

its crazy to think that some of these games have sold more copies in the US than all of the highest selling ps3 games have sold across the world to date.

i honestly dont know why sony cant sell games at the pace they probably want to and would need to do in order to make profits.

Sackolantern PSN ID: johnnynumber5 @ Nov 18th 2008 12:58AM

Wow skate you really need to get a life. What you just did was the definition of trolling. Why is everything an anti sony thing with you? The answer is actually quite obvious. Less consoles = less sales.

PS3 - 6.3 million consoles in america
wii - 16 million consoles in america
360 - 13.2 million consoles in america

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. That would be like asking why GTA IV sold overwhelmingly in favor of the PS3 in Japan vs the 360.

| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 50 Comments