Strange, innit? Top selling games in UK during 2008

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jan 12th 2009 at 3:27PM }

ELSPA/Gfk-ChartTrack reveals that Mario Kart Wii was the top-selling game across the UK during 2008 in the "individual SKUs" category. EA's FIFA 09 (it's a soccer game) took the top spot in "all formats." MCV notes that Nintendo hardware holds six of the ten spots on the individual list and several slots on the all format list. Not exactly surprising, given how the region has embraced the Wii.

NPD will release its year-end report covering the US this Thursday. For now, check out the most popular titles among the masters of Marmite after the break.

Top 10 "Individual SKUs" of 2008:

1. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) -- Nintendo
2. Wii Fit (Wii) -- Nintendo
3. Wii Play (Wii) -- Nintendo
4. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (DS) -- Nintendo
5. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii) -- Sega
6. GTA IV (360) -- Rockstar
7. GTA IV (PS3) -- Rockstar
8. Call of Duty: World at War (360) -- Activision
9. Carnival Funfair (Wii) -- 2K
10. FIFA 09 (360) -- EA

Top 10 "all formats" of 2008:

1. FIFA 09 -- EA
2. Mario Kart Wii -- Nintendo
3. GTA IV -- Rockstar
4. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games -- Sega
5. Wii Fit -- Nintendo
6. Call of Duty: World at War -- Activision
7. Wii Play -- Nintendo
8. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training -- Nintendo
9. Lego Indiana Jones -- LucasArts
10. Carnival Funfair -- 2K

Tags: britain, chart-track, elspa, mcv, uk

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

UltimateQ @ Jan 12th 2009 3:33PM

I have a copy of Mario Kart Wii, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It also has some good online play, which is saying a lot for any Wii title.

sam @ Jan 12th 2009 5:20PM

Agreed - it's a fantastic game. I think the reviews were kind of harsh (well, not that harsh - but 80 instead of 90 kind of harsh) because, bikes aside, it's basically the same as every other Mario Kart game (in the case of half the tracks, literally so). However, that still makes it *awesome*. :)

Interesting that it sold more than GTA4. Not too surprising that it sold less than FIFA.

TwEE @ Jan 12th 2009 6:01PM

I think most reviewers are completely out of touch when it comes to Mario Kart wii.

Markez (Anti-Panda Death Murder Squadron) @ Jan 12th 2009 9:58PM

80 is still a good review score, no?

A Pissed-off English Gamer @ Jan 13th 2009 7:32AM

In video games, for some reason, people just expect better scores. I still remember when people were pissed off that gamespot gave Twilight Princess an 88. That was fucking pathetic.

Babel @ Jan 13th 2009 10:47AM

But didn't you guys find the weapons to be way too overpowered? I mean, so many of them sent you flying and lost you your weapons (CURSE YOU POW BOX!), which got really annoying, especially if you got something good only to lose it ten seconds later before you had a chance to do anything tactical with it.

I mean, the game was still fun (online, not so much single player), but I was a little disappointed with it.

Having said that, I loved Double Dash, which I know a lot of people hate for not being mariokarty enough, so I suppose my taste in Mario Kart games could be under scutiny :(

Little Big PSN ID: johnnynumber5 @ Jan 12th 2009 3:38PM

Are people still going to try and say that casual gamers don't buy software?

tmacairjordan87 @ Jan 12th 2009 3:43PM

Not very good software...

Mr Khan @ Jan 12th 2009 3:51PM

The only bad games on that list are Carnival Funfair and Wii Play (and that is debatable, Tanks kicks ass even if the rest is ho-hum)

Shagittarius @ Jan 12th 2009 3:55PM

Casual gamers don't buy 3rd party software.

can you feel it? I have exorcized the demons (with Wii fit).

Noshino @ Jan 12th 2009 4:16PM

"The only bad games on that list are Carnival Funfair and Wii Play..."

4. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games -- Sega

Dr Jeckyl and Mr ESC. @ Jan 12th 2009 4:23PM

Wii play = Second controller so I guess the mystery is now solved. Seriously why anyone would buy that other than the fact it includes a second controller? Yet I have to give it some credit, this is how Atari should have done the evolved versions of their Atari 2600 games.

required @ Jan 12th 2009 4:57PM

Casual or not, is Wii fit a game? I wouldn't say Brain Training is.

samfish @ Jan 12th 2009 5:00PM

Of course it's a game.You interact with it via electrnica interface and there are goals that you can either achieve or fail at. It's not all just exorcising.
Ditto for Brain Age.

TwEE @ Jan 12th 2009 6:05PM

"Are people still going to try and say that casual gamers don't buy software?"

I say casual gamers dont exist, at all..

A Pissed-off English Gamer @ Jan 13th 2009 7:51AM

A casual gamer is the kind of person who wouldn't think to label people as different kinds of gamers.

Shenorock @ Jan 12th 2009 3:42PM

I also enjoyed mario kart wii, and most of the people I played against online were european, so this doesn't come as a shock.

I believe this game was released in Europe before anywhere else? Maybe Nintendo knew it would perform well there?

J-Link @ Jan 12th 2009 3:49PM

Seeing 'Carnival Funfair' on the top 10 list makes me feel sick.

Sometimes even Britain have bad taste I suppose.

xFenixKnightx @ Jan 12th 2009 3:50PM

I also love me some MK (recycle a buncha tracks from old MK games) Wii. I keed, although it did bug me a little. Without MK my Wii would have dust all over it for sure. Its the only game that I go back and play on it. This isn't surprising at all, I mean who doesn't love them some banana and turtle shell shooting kart racing! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meynl3SNkWY&feature=related

Gehodra @ Jan 12th 2009 4:29PM

I'm ashamed to admit for the first 10 seconds I thought you meant Mortal Kombat. I was like "wha?"

Titanium @ Jan 12th 2009 5:35PM

Gehodra I feel the same way. MK to me = Mortal Kombat. I was just glad I wasn't the only one.

Lee @ Jan 12th 2009 5:47PM

Given that Mario Kart predates Mortal Kombat I'm going to side with MK=Mario Kart in this one.
Also that Kart is played for weeks more than MK with me.

Shenorock @ Jan 12th 2009 7:17PM

They both came out in 92. Does kart outdate mortal kombat by a few months? Super Mario Kart was released aug 27th in Japan. I can't find an exact date for when MK hit the arcades

MK = mortal kombat, simply cause everyone uses that abbreviation and hardly anyone uses it for mario kart.

xFenixKnightx @ Jan 13th 2009 9:14AM

But...this is a Mario Kart story so, I kinda figured everynone would know. Guess not.

Levi @ Jan 12th 2009 4:00PM

360 sales probably contributed to Lego Indiana Jones. I wish they'd just make a crazy sandbox non-franchise branded Lego game already. The possibilities are endless.

samfish @ Jan 12th 2009 4:02PM

I'm pretty sure they are making some game like that.
...although I think it's supposed to be an MMO.

Levi @ Jan 12th 2009 4:23PM

yeah, they're making an mmo, but it sounds like it will be even more kid-centric than the Star Wars and Indiana Jones games. Which isn't surprising. There is a system for the MMO where you can purchase the exact bricks you need in order to build one of your in-game creations, which is pretty awesome.

I'm going to follow it if they ever release any news on it, and if it looks any good I might even try it out. I doubt it though.. One of the developers in a vid I saw said "it's a lot of work, but it's all for the kids."

Markusdragon @ Jan 12th 2009 4:30PM

Lego already have a free piece of CAD software that you can download off of their site that allows you to build virtual Lego creations and not only purchase the exact pieces needed to build your masterpiece, but also have it boxed with a picture of your creation on the front and with automatically generated step by step instructions. Expensive, but utterly awesome. I'm assuming that they're just going to implement a version of that into the MMO.

samfish @ Jan 12th 2009 4:01PM

Mario Kart Wii is the only Mario Kart I never really liked.
Mostly because of the gimped Battle mode (which is my main reason for playing Mario Kart), but the high frame rate making everything look so 'slick' moving and a general lack of polish didn't help, either.
Shame, too, because the online mode is great. Hell, I'd re-buy Brawl if they put out a version that had MK's online system.