I'm only referring to consoles and major PC gaming titles

Does decreasing sales of the current generation titles compared to older ones show signs that the gaming industry is not as good as it is all hyped up to be?

Here are some of the best old titles:

Super Mario Bros. - 40.24m

Super Mario Bros. 3 - 17.28m

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - 18.24m

Gran Turismo - 10.85m

Now here are the current ones:

Mario Kart Wii - 21.65m

New Super Mario Bros. Wii - 13.23m

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - 10.20m

Grand Theft Auto IV - 6.40m

Note: Although there are certainly more games, and that most are multiplatformers, the fact that there are lower console selling rates than the previous generations and even great AAA titles not selling as well as mario shows that people are getting less appreciative of gaming. I am not cherry picking, this is just ONE OF THE BEST form each console

Maybe motion control will change all that

Well theres more diversity for one. Atleast to me between all systems, PC *and IPhone and Handhelds* the market is WAY over saturated. We have about the same amount when it comes to consoles but now we have two handhelds instead of one and the mobile market is growing.
Since there are more options to choose from I believe sales will be less for the top titles.



However, 20+ million for Mario Kart is nothing to sneeze at as It's doubled Gran Turismo sales without being bundled.

This comparison fails on so many levels...

You include the best selling bundled game for the Nes, but not the best selling bundled game for the Wii, you include games that haven't even gotten close to their final number. You ignore the difference in split due to multiplatform. Take a look at the top 10 bestselling games ever, you'll find that 5 of them are current generation games.

But more than that, you do this list on an individual game basis. And that's just silly if you want to prove anything. Dig up software sales numbers for that generation, and compare it to this generation if you want to do a serious analysis. And keep in mind that we're only just a bit more than half way through this one.

I think the gaming industry is struggling. Look at all the studio closings. If a mid-range studio doesn't get it right the first time,then they could be in big trouble. If your a really big studio like Ea,then you can afford to take some losses. I think the increasing cost of games has something to do with the industry struggling.

3 days late

Super mario bros was bundled with the NES, the only fair comparison is Wii Sports - this gen wins
SMB3 will inevitably be outsold by NSMB:Wii - give it time and this gen will win again
We have no idea what GT5 will sell, many people on this website predict it will sell more than 10 million
You are comparing PS sales only for GTA, which is obviously stupid because the 360 version sold incredibly
What is your comparison for MW2? Because its already sold a shit load more than the PS2/xbox/gc games

This.

You are cherry picking. GTA4 did 14 million on 2 HD systems, MW2 is closing in on 18 million on consoles alone, and it might even be at 20 with PC sales.

Only a select few games reach those sales. Most games in general don't sell as good.

Well, firstly MW2 is being multiplatformed, and even still its one of the most successful, you haven't look at the other AAA titles whom are not performing.

Like uncharted 2 or even worse, killzone 2. Their developers spend so much time and effort in it and yet people still won't buy the game.

And I am not cherry picking, I'm only picking a few to represent the best for this generation, console and PC gaming is being beaten by handheld gaming and browser based ones. And I'm representing the best for each console, not together.

If it still doesn't show to you, look at the console selling rate, not as fast compared to previous generation ones.

I agree. games costing more and selling less is a bad combo.

Wii is the fastest selling console in gaming history. DS is the fastest selling handheld in gaming history. New Super Mario Bros. is the fastest selling game in gaming history.