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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Top 20 Best-Selling Games in North America on Home Consoles Of All Time

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kain_kusanagi on 02 September 2012

First I want to thank Troll Whisperer who made a great world wide sales list for Japanese developed games. Check it out here: http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=147129

OK, so here's the list I wanted to see. It includes games developed in all regions and does not combine systems or include PC or handheld. All it tells us is whats most popular in North America. I find this interesting because North America is the largest market. North American tastes make or break genres and start or kill trends.

North American List

Ranking Game Sales Platforms
1 Wii Sports 39.10m Wii
2 Super Mario Bros.
 29.08m NES
3 Duck Hunt
 26.93m NES
4 Wii Play
 13.76m Wii
5 Mario Kart Wii
 13.73m Wii
6 Wii Sports Resort
 13.59m Wii
7 Super Mario World
 12.78m SNES
8 New Super Mario Bros. Wii
 12.77m Wii
9 Kinect Adventures 11.15m 360
10 Super Mario Bros. 3
 9.54m NES
11 GTA: San Andreas
 9.43m PS2
12 COD MW 3
 8.95m 360
13 Wii Fit
 8.91m Wii
14 COD BO
 8.85m 360
15 Wii Fit Plus
 8.57m Wii
16 GTA Vice City
 8.41m PS2
17 COD MW 2
 8.19m 360
18 Halo 3
 7.60m 360
19 GTA 3
 6.99m PS2
20 Super Mario 64
 6.91m N64

ABOVE Interesting notes: Nintendo dominates, MS is the only HD system to place and no Sony 1st party exclusives made the list.

 

North America without Nintendo (Troll Whisperer did this and I liked it so I'm doing it to)

Ranking Game Sales Platforms
1 Kinect Adventures 11.15m 360
2 GTA: San Andreas
 9.43m PS2
3 COD MW 3
 8.95m 360
4 COD BO
 8.85m 360
5 GTA Vice City
 8.41m PS2
6 COD MW 2
 8.19m 360
7 Halo 3
 7.60m 360
8 GTA 3
 6.99m PS2
9 Gran Turismo 3
 6.85m PS2
10 Halo 2
 6.82m Xbox
11 Halo Reach
 6.49m 360
12 GTA 4
 5.92m 360
13 COD BO
 5.2m PS3
14 COD 4 MW
 5.48m 360
15 COD MW 3
 5.30m PS3
17 Halo
 4.98m Xbox
18 COD MW 2
 4.82m PS3
19 Sonic The Hedgehog 2
 4.47m Genesis
20 Call of Duty WAW
 4.37m 360
20 Madden NFL 2004
 4.26m PS2

ABOVE Interesting notes: Sega made the list GO SEGA, MS dominates HD thanks to Halo, COD dominates all by itself and one Sony 1st party exclusive made the list.

 

So there you have it. I think I'm most surprised at how much the Xbox 360 has been able to expand after the Xbox was overshadowed by the PS2. The Xbox brand is huge in North America. But Nintendo is still the dominate force in the market. After looking at the full list I'd say there are still a lot of parents that call all video game systems "Nintendo". The only game that cracked the top 10 is Kinect Adventures. That tells me that family friendly entertainment is the biggest market in gaming. That's why Nintendo does so well and why MS is trying to get some of that sweet sweet family room honey.



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kain_kusanagi on 02 September 2012
pezus said:
One note: Wii Fit should not be on the second list. That makes zero 3rd party wii games on the list o.O

Where is Just Dance?


Thanks for pointing out the error. I fixed it. Basicly the bottom part of the list moved up and another Call of Duty for 360 made it on.

As for Just Dance. It's for Wii so it wouldn't be on the bottom list. It didn't sell enough in North America to make it on the top list.



Kresnik on 02 September 2012
kain_kusanagi said:

North America without Nintendo (Troll Whisperer did this and I liked it so I'm doing it to)

Ranking Game Sales Platforms
6 COD MW 2
 8.19m 360
16 COD MW 2
 8.19m 360

 


You have MW2 for 360 twice in this list.



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brendude13 on 02 September 2012

That's not a very diverse list.



kain_kusanagi on 02 September 2012
Kresnik said:
kain_kusanagi said:

North America without Nintendo (Troll Whisperer did this and I liked it so I'm doing it to)

Ranking Game Sales Platforms
6 COD MW 2
 8.19m 360
16 COD MW 2
 8.19m 360

 


You have MW2 for 360 twice in this list.

Thanks. I should not have copied the first list and edited in the new entries. I fixed it. It moved the bottom few up and let a sports game on.



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kain_kusanagi on 02 September 2012
pezus said:
kain_kusanagi said:
pezus said:
One note: Wii Fit should not be on the second list. That makes zero 3rd party wii games on the list o.O

Where is Just Dance?


Thanks for pointing out the error. I fixed it. Basicly the bottom part of the list moved up and another Call of Duty for 360 made it on.

As for Just Dance. It's for Wii so it wouldn't be on the bottom list. It didn't sell enough in North America to make it on the top list.

Oh, I thought the bottom list was just all consoles without Nintendo first party games. Isn't that better?

I mainly just wanted to see the top list so to find out what most popular in North America. When I made the lower list I wanted to see the top sellers with nothing from or on Nintendo. What would gaming look like if Nintendo didn't exist? That's what the bottom list shows.



Farsala on 02 September 2012

top- 12 nintendo, 5 MS, 3 Sony
bottom- 11 MS, 8 Sony, 1 Sega

It is quite interesting how much more software is sold this generation compared to the last even with prices up.



Troll_Whisperer on 02 September 2012

In the first list, only 5 games were actually made in NA. Interesting.



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HulkWasRight on 02 September 2012

Out of curiosity why are we counting pack-in games?



kain_kusanagi on 02 September 2012
Troll_Whisperer said:
In the first list, only 5 games were actually made in NA. Interesting.


I find that interesting too. More games are made outside of NA and they all know they have to appeal to western tastes. That could be why.