Rpruett said:
I understand you're getting at, believe me. Given the historical samples of Gran Turismo? I think it easily will put up close to Halo 3-esque numbers. That goes without saying, but if it can't surpass Halo 3 numbers then why would it be more popular? Then again, given the PS3 data thus far I am skeptical to make the claim that it will surpass them. I don't know if any Sony game is going to do it.
When comparing the "series" why wouldn't we be taking historical data into account? It's clearly evident that Gran Turismo the series has sold more copies and has more acclaim on a World-Wide basis. Why does GT5/Halo 3 determine the 'current' popularity? The OP specifically asked if Gran Turismo is more popular today, not in the past. I'm using more recent trends to support my theory that Halo is more popular, based on userbases, software selling trends in certain regions and the fact that FPS has surpassed racing games as a more dominant genre.
For example, (Mario is the most popular gaming series created). Mario Galaxy has sold less copies than Halo 3 has. Is Halo 3 more popular than Mario? Mario is also a part of Mario Kart though, so that is why Mario is more popular. Plus New Super Mario Bros. outsold Halo 3 very soundly. If however, they didn't exist, and Mario Galaxy was the highest selling Mario game in a while, then yes I would be saying Halo is more popular than Mario. No way in hell. And it would be laughable to suggest it. I would say Halo totally destroys Gran Turismo in America (In terms of popularity) but Halo truly is just an American phenomenon. That's fine but America makes up more than 50% of the game buying population of the world, making that country mean more than all others combined. A series' popularity only stands up to it's sales. If GT starts selling less than Halo(which is likely) than it will become a less popular series. If it were more popular, it would sell more copies.
At least 50 million copies
| # | Franchise name | Original Release Date | Sales |
| 1 |
Mario |
1981[1] |
201 million[2] |
| The Mario franchise spawned over 200 games since its first release.[1] Known as Jumpman in the original Donkey Kong video game, the character was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and since became the official mascot of Nintendo, owner of the trademark. |
|
| 2 |
Pokémon |
February 27, 1996 |
186 million[3] |
| Pokémon was created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1995 as a video game for the Game Boy portable console, soon turning into a franchise merchandised into anime, manga, trading cards, toys, books, and other media. It is owned by Nintendo. |
|
| 3 |
The Sims |
February 4, 2000 |
100 million[2][4] |
| The Sims is a series of strategic life-simulation computer and console video games created by game designer Will Wright, published by Maxis and distributed by Electronic Arts. The series consists of three main games and a number of compilations and expansion packs. |
|
| 4 |
Need for Speed |
1994 |
almost 100 million[5] |
| Need For Speed is a series of racing video games by Electronic Arts, released on multiple platforms. The games consist mainly of racing with various cars on various tracks, and to some extent, include police pursuits in races. |
|
| 5 |
Final Fantasy |
December 18, 1987 |
85 million[6] |
| Final Fantasy (ファイナルファンタジー ,Fainaru Fantajī?) is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and owned by Square Enix that includes twelve released main video games and a number of spin-offs — mostly role-playing games, motion pictures, and other merchandise. |
|
| 6 |
Grand Theft Auto |
1997 |
70 million[7] |
| Grand Theft Auto is a sandbox style video game series created by Dave Jones and primarily developed by Scottish developer Rockstar North (formerly DMA Design) and published by Rockstar Games, including eight stand-alone games and two expansion packs for the original game. |
|
| 7 |
Madden NFL |
1988 |
70 million[8] |
| Madden NFL is an American football video game series developed by Electronic Arts Tiburon for EA Sports. The game is named after Pro Football Hall of Famer John Madden, a well-known color commentator for NBC Sports and formerly a Super Bowl-winning head coach during the 1970s with the Oakland Raiders. |
|
| 8 |
Tetris |
June 1985 |
70 million[9] |
| Tetris (Russian: Тетрис) is a falling-blocks puzzle video game, created by Alexey Pajitnov and released on a vast spectrum of platforms, from calculators to video game consoles and computers, with the version bundled with the Game Boy the most successful with over 33 million sold.[10] |
|
| 9 |
FIFA |
Christmas 1993 |
65 million[11] |
| A series of football (soccer) video games, released yearly by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label, and the first to have an official licence from the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football), the international governing body of football. |
|
| 10 |
Tom Clancy |
August 21, 1998 |
55 million[12] |
| Includes sales from Tom Clancy–sponsored games made by Ubisoft, including Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, and Splinter Cell. |
|
| 11 |
The Legend of Zelda |
February 21, 1986 |
52 million[13] |
| The Legend of Zelda (ゼルダの伝説 ,Zeruda no Densetsu?) is a high fantasy action-adventure video game series created by game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, developed and published by Nintendo. |
|
| 12 |
Nickelodeon |
|
50 million[14] |
| The Nickelodeon franchise includes licenses like SpongeBob SquarePants and Avatar: The Last Airbender, published by THQ. |
|
| 13 |
Sonic the Hedgehog |
June 23, 1991 |
50 million[15] |
| The Sonic the Hedgehog series is a franchise of video games released by Sega starring and named after its mascot character Sonic the Hedgehog, created by Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima. With time, it has expanded into animated television series, manga and comic books. |
|
| 14 |
Gran Turismo |
December 23, 1997 |
50 million shipped[16] |
| Gran Turismo is a series of racing video games produced by Kazunori Yamauchi for the Sony PlayStation gaming systems by Polyphony Digital. |
|
