Nintendo's relation with 3rd parties has historically been a bit... weird since the SNES era. I thought it would be worth a bit of effort looking back at the biggest successes on Nintendo's consoles for their past three generations. Besides, VGChartz doesn't have great data for the NES and SNES eras. So, let's take a look at the best selling 3rd party Nintendo console games since the SNES.
| Title | Year | Publisher | Millions Sold |
| Just Dance 3 | 2011 | Ubisoft | 9.89 |
| Just Dance 2 | 2010 | Ubisoft | 9.43 |
| Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games | 2007 | Sega | 7.89 |
| Just Dance | 2009 | Ubisoft | 7.03 |
| Just Dance 4 | 2012 | Ubisoft | 6.65 |
| Zumba Fitness | 2010 | Majesco | 6.51 |
| LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga | 2007 | LucasArts | 5.13 |
| Guitar Hero 3 | 2007 | Activision | 4.54 |
| Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games | 2009 | Sega | 4.39 |
| Michael Jackson: The Experience | 2010 | Ubisoft | 4.29 |
| Carnival Games | 2007 | Take-Two | 3.94 |
| EA Sports Active | 2009 | Electronic Arts | 3.85 |
| Guitar Hero: World Tour | 2008 | Activision | 3.58 |
| Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games | 2011 | Sega | 3.53 |
| Disney Epic Mickey | 2010 | Disney | 2.9 |
| Cooking Mama: Cook Off | 2007 | Majesco | 2.85 |
| LEGO Batman | 2008 | Warner Bros | 2.76 |
| Zumba Fitness 2 | 2011 | Majesco | 2.66 |
| Sonic and the Secret Rings | 2007 | Sega | 2.61 |
| Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure | 2011 | Activision | 2.58 |
| Sonic Adventure 2 Battle | 2001 | Sega | 2.56 |
| Deca Sports | 2008 | Konami | 2.45 |
| Game Party | 2007 | Midway | 2.43 |
| WCW/nWo Revenge | 1998 | THQ | 2.38 |
| uDraw Studio | 2010 | THQ | 2.38 |
| My Fitness Coach | 2008 | Ubisoft | 2.29 |
| LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 | 2010 | Warner Bros | 2.26 |
| Skylanders Giants | 2012 | Activision | 2.26 |
| LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures | 2008 | LucasArts | 2.25 |
| Call of Duty 3 | 2006 | Activision | 2.19 |
| Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz | 2006 | Sega | 2.18 |
| Star Wars: Rogue Squadron | 1998 | LucasArts | 2.17 |
| Resident Evil 4 | 2007 | Capcom | 2.16 |
| Monster Hunter Tri | 2009 | Capcom | 2.12 |
| Tony Hawk's Pro Skater | 1998 | Activision | 2.11 |
| Sonic Mega Collection | 2002 | Sega | 2.05 |
| Rock Band | 2008 | MTV | 2.05 |
| Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party | 2007 | Konami | 2.04 |
In total, 38 games have had 2 million or more sales on just a single Nintendo console.
Let's Look at the Top Publishers, based on their entires on this list:
| Publisher | Titles | Total Sales of 2+ Million Sellers |
| Ubisoft | 6 | 39.58 |
| Sega | 7 | 25.21 |
| Activision | 6 | 17.26 |
| Majesco | 3 | 12.02 |
| LucasArts | 3 | 9.55 |
| THQ | 2 | 4.76 |
| Konami | 2 | 4.49 |
| Capcom | 2 | 4.28 |
| Take-Two | 1 | 3.94 |
| Electronic Arts | 1 | 3.85 |
| Disney | 1 | 2.9 |
| Midway | 1 | 2.43 |
| MTV | 1 | 2.05 |
Finally, a timeline:
| Year | Instances |
| 1997 | 0 |
| 1998 | 3 |
| 1999 | 0 |
| 2000 | 0 |
| 2001 | 1 |
| 2002 | 1 |
| 2003 | 0 |
| 2004 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 |
| 2006 | 2 |
| 2007 | 9 |
| 2008 | 6 |
| 2009 | 4 |
| 2010 | 6 |
| 2011 | 4 |
| 2012 | 2 |
Summary:
The Just Dance series is obviously the most sucessful 3rd party series on Nintendo consoles of the modern era, with four of the top five spots. This alone would make Ubisoft seemingly the greateest supporter of Nintendo consoles in recent times. The only comparison is with Sega, the only publisher with GameCube hits, in addition to their highly successful, if dimisnishing, Mario crossovers. In third place is Activision, with games like Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, and Skylanders.
Although 3rd party support has obviously declined since the Wii's golden era, the success of both Skylanders Giants and Just Dance 4 in 2012 suggests that 3rd party support remains stronger than in the N64 and GameCube eras. Possible eventual 3rd party hits of 2013 incluse Just Dance 2014, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Skylanders Swap Force, Sonic: Lost World, and Mario & Sonic 4.
Any thoughts? Does the sheer success of the Wii compared to the N64 and GameCube invalidate these numbers? I Just Dance really one of the most sucessful franchises in Nintendo history? How will the Wii U do?
