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Forums - Sales Discussion - Combined Sales of Zelda franchise

What are the best selling Zelda games?
I am compiling a list of total combined sales of the franchise. These numbers are incomplete as a lot of eShop virtual console data is missing. Also, I am missing the GC Ocarina Master Quest release sales data which I cannot seem to find anywhere. I think Ocarina of Time could actually be over a million units short.
These are only the home console games. 

Note, I am using IGN articles with incomplete data as a source for VC tales - if someone has a better source, please let me know:

Ocarina of Time - (N64, 3DS, Wii VC) - 11.96M
Twilight Princess (Wii, GC, Wii U) - 9.71M
Legend of Zelda (NES, GBA) - 7.40M
Link to the Past (SNES, GBA) - 7.31M
Wind Waker (GC, Wii U) - 6.29M
Majora's Mask - (N64, 3DS, Wii VC) - 5.85M
Adventure of Link (NES, GBA) - 5.08M
Skyward Sword (Wii) - 4.09M

 

Sources:
http://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/?name=Zelda
http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/02/23/wiiware-virtual-console-sales-exposed - It gives 230K for Ocarina, and 210K for Majora's Mask, these are incomplete sales numbers, and I am missing data for other Zelda games since it just gives top 10.
MISSING - Legend of Zelda Master Quest sales data, does anyone know these figures?



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You should probably specify that you mean originally home console considering this list is missing like half the series.

EDIT: Also, Zelda 1 and 2 got GBA ports.



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Megaoverlord12 said:

You should probably specify that you mean originally home console considering this list is missing like half the series.

EDIT: Also, Zelda 1 and 2 got GBA ports.

Thanks, that actually made an impact on the charts. Zelda 1 actually sold more than Link to the Past.



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Jumpin said:
Megaoverlord12 said:

You should probably specify that you mean originally home console considering this list is missing like half the series.

EDIT: Also, Zelda 1 and 2 got GBA ports.

Thanks, that actually made an impact on the charts. Zelda 1 actually sold more than Link to the Past.

You're welcome.



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woohoo A Link to the Past!!!



Sad to see Skyward Sword at the bottom. At least Ocarina is on top.



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Why are half the games missing?



Pavolink said:
Sad to see Skyward Sword at the bottom. At least Ocarina is on top.

Not all the games are their. 4 Sword Adventures for GC for instance, as well as Spirit Tracks. Not to mention some of the games listed have only beaten Skyward Sword in sales due to multiple releases. Skyward Sword has only had one release at the end of a long gen, but the reality is if we only count single releases it'd be in the top 4 I think. 



Skyward Sword's sales do look disappointing on the surface, but when you consider everything surrounding it, that changes a bit. The game launched in 2011, well past the Wii's zenith when it's rep with the majority of gamers was thoroughly shot and there was next to know good promotion in place. The spread of HD TVs and the drastic increase in developer skill and entine tech had taken the apparent, practical gap between the Wii and the 360 from noticeable to enormous for all users. The game launched against stiff competition on other platforms, like Arkham City and Skyrim. The game also had a poor E3 presentation. And the Wii U had already been unveiled, pretty much sending the Wii into a death spiral. And finally, SS had very little in the way of promotion compared to other Zeldas like OoT and TP. So yeah, considering all that, it's rather impressive. Not many franhcises could have a new game launched in those circumstances and still push out over 4mil with momentum to sell more if they had done more print runs.