Top 20 Selling Games/All Formats

[neotokeo2001]

This is a top 20 list of the best selling videogames generated by GAMESTATE a gaming industry magazine.

TOP TEN ALL TIME BEST SELLING GAMES

1.Super Mario Bros.
NES, Nintendo - 40m

2.Tetris
Gameboy, Nintendo - 32m

3.Super Mario Bros. 3
NES, Nintendo - 18m

4.Super Mario World
SNES, Nintendo - 17m

5.Super Mario Land
Gameboy, Nintendo - 14m

6.Super Mario 64
N64, Nintendo - 11m

7.The Sims
PC, EA - 10m

8.Super Mario Bros. 2
NES, Nintendo - 10m

9.GTA:Vice City
PS2, Rockstar Games - 8.5m

10.Harry Potter and the Socerer's Stone
PS1, EA - 8m

BEST SELLERS 11-20

11.Goldeneye N64, Nintendo - 8m
12.Donkey Kong Country SNES, Nintendo - 8m
13.Super Mario Kart SNES, Nintendo - 8m
14.Pokemon Red/Blue Gameboy, Nintendo - 8m
15.Half-Life PC, Sierra/Vivendi - 8m
16.Tomb Raider II PS1, Eidos - 8m
17.Final Fantasy VII PS1, Squaresoft - 7m
18.Myst PC, Broderbund - 7m
19.Gran Turismo 3 PS2, Sony - 7m
20.Dragon Warrior VII PS1, Enix - 6m

And I thought gaming was maintream with millions of new users every year.
The Best that this generation has to offer is only #9 GTA:Vice City

[Arrrhalomynn]

So there are actually people who own a gameboy WITHOUT owning Tetris? Hmmm...

I don't have numbers to back it up, but I doubt the accuracy of this list....

[zmeston]

So there are actually people who own a gameboy WITHOUT owning Tetris? Hmmm...

I don't have numbers to back it up, but I doubt the accuracy of this list....

GameSTATE does have the numbers, so I don't doubt it at all. It's a fascinating list, to say the least. Geez, was Nintendo the king of this industry in the '80s or what?

* Nintendo owns slots #1 through #6, and 11 of the top 15. They're the Spielberg and Lucas of the game industry. (Or more specifically, Miyamoto is.)

* Where would the Game Boy have been without Tetris?

* Not a single GameCube or Xbox title, and only two PS2 titles.

* Not a single Genesis title!

* Not a single game from the Golden Age.

* Every "true" Mario game for a home console is a top-20 all-timer (except SM Sunshine, which of course hasn't had enough time to sell six-million-plus).

* Of all the hundreds and hundreds of games that EA has produced over its lifetime, only two are on the list: Harry Potter (?!) and The Sims.

* Tomb Raider II on the list, but not the original? Bizarre (although it is the best entry in the series, so a good call by the public).

* Dragon Warrior VII's sales are almost entirely in Japan, since the game bombed so badly in the States.

* The real "best-selling" game ever, if you remove the pack-in factor, is Super Mario Bros. 3.

And I could go on and on, but I won't.

-- Z.

[Gunstarhero]

Thats a neat list. Not one Atari game on there :/

I've heard before that Myst is the best selling PC game of all time. Why is that? Is it really that good? I just got the Jaguar version, but haven't had time to play it, the pics look nice, but the game just doesn't sound very fun at all. It must appeal to all ages or something?

Oh, by the way Zach, I got your Jaguar strategy guide. Nice job on the FPS games. I was a little disappointed that it was printed in Black and White, but I guess that goes right along with the Jaguar manuals being B/W also. Stupid how Atari made it B/W, which would have reduced production costs substantially (being in the printing industry myself, I have a good idea), yet the price of the guide is basically the same as any other full color guide of the period. Ah well, your contributions were well done though.

[zmeston]

Thats a neat list. Not one Atari game on there :/

I've heard before that Myst is the best selling PC game of all time. Why is that? Is it really that good? I just got the Jaguar version, but haven't had time to play it, the pics look nice, but the game just doesn't sound very fun at all. It must appeal to all ages or something?

Myst isn't so much a game as a wonderfully presented series of point-and-click puzzles with "mass appeal" -- no hand/eye coordination required, so that old people and soccer moms can play. (The Sims is in the same category.) Myst was also one of the first games to take advantage of CD-ROM storage, and so had the eye/ear-candy factor going for it.

-- Z.

[zmeston]

Oh, by the way Zach, I got your Jaguar strategy guide. Nice job on the FPS games. I was a little disappointed that it was printed in Black and White, but I guess that goes right along with the Jaguar manuals being B/W also. Stupid how Atari made it B/W, which would have reduced production costs substantially (being in the printing industry myself, I have a good idea), yet the price of the guide is basically the same as any other full color guide of the period. Ah well, your contributions were well done though.

Well, it was Sandwich Islands who footed the bill for the printing, not Atari, but I don't recall the price being too far out of line with other guides of the time. Also, SIP was a small publisher, and so couldn't afford to compete on price point anyway. Y'know how Telegames charges $3,000 (give or take $2,930) for its Jaguar titles? Same kind of deal with SIP.

There were many sections of the guide I wish I'd done better -- the Iron Soldier coverage was particularly weak, as I recall -- and Atari's in-house testers rioted when they learned that we'd had the temerity to use the information they supplied us with. We ended up having to cut them in on a share of the "royalties," which amounted to a grand total of, uh, $0.00.

-- Z.

[Charlie]

Dragon Warrior VII? What the FUCK? And what about VCS Space Invaders? Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog? I am somewhat doubting how accurate this thing is.

[RetroYoungen]

So there are actually people who own a gameboy WITHOUT owning Tetris? Hmmm...

I don't have numbers to back it up, but I doubt the accuracy of this list....

I don't have Tetris for GB... mine came with SMB: 6 Golden Coins, and every place I look for Tetris I always see it for $15! What a rip for one of the best-selling games, huh?

[zmeston]

Dragon Warrior VII? What the FUCK? And what about VCS Space Invaders? Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog? I am somewhat doubting how accurate this thing is.

DW7 was a MASSIVE hit, but only in Japan (where it's called Dragon Quest) -- which I presume means this list was compiled with worldwide sales figures, not just North American ones.

Again, I don't doubt the accuracy of the list; while Golden Age sales figures weren't widely available, the retail performance of everything from NES onward has been tracked pretty closely.

-- Z.

[neotokeo2001]

They also printed the Top 20 Best Games of All Time which they say represents the best singular example from each given franchise.

Top 20 including sales #

1. Legend of Zelda:Ocarina of Time - 6m

2.Halo - 2m+

3.Metroid Prime - 1m+

4.Super Mario 64 - 11m

5.Tetris - 32m

6.Street Fighter Alpha 3 - 30,000+

7.Deus Ex - 500,00+

8.Mario Kart Super Circut - 500,000+

9.Neverwinter Nights - 1m

10.Civilization III - 2m

11.GTA:Vice City - 8.5m

12.Metal Gear Solid 2 - 5m

13.Gran Turismo 3 - 7m

14.Half-Life - 8m

15.Tempest 3000 - 20,000+

16.Shenmue II - 100,000+

17.Rez - 100,000+

18.Elite - 600,000

19.Radiant Silvergun - 50,000

20.The Secret of Monkey Island 2 - 500,000+


Strange list. It does'nt even have a true RPG in it. It is somewhat shocking to see the low sales numbers on some of these games. Shenmue II only sold over 100,000 copies after all the money Sega dumped into it.

[zmeston]

They also printed the Top 20 Best Games of All Time which they say represents the best singular example from each given franchise.

From each franchise, or from each genre? Rez, for example, I'd hardly call a "franchise." I don't quite understand the premise of the second list. Are these what GameSTATE considers the 20 best games ever, regardless of sales?

-- Z.

[kevincure]

GameSTATE is an industry mag, like Game Developer, so their numbers should be pretty accurate. These numbers are all across all regions, not US only numbers. I think Atari-age consoles were far more popular here in the US than they were in Japan, but I'm not sure about that; might explain the lack of games like SI on the list.

[zmeston]

Strange list. It does'nt even have a true RPG in it. It is somewhat shocking to see the low sales numbers on some of these games. Shenmue II only sold over 100,000 copies after all the money Sega dumped into it.

If you had access to NPD/TRSTS sales reports -- which I did during my Working Designs stint -- you'd be astonished by the numbers. The hardcore gamer's perception of a "hit" is soooo far removed from the harsh reality of retail.

In Japan, gaming magazines print sales figures to the individual unit, but that'll never happen in America -- advertisers would revolt before they'd allow magazines to reveal how many of their products are bombs.

-- Z.

[neotokeo2001]

For the Top 20 Best Games list Gamestate says:

We believe the following 20 games represent the pinnacle of videogame entertainment, though no doubt you'll have some very different views on the subject! Our own selection includes what we believe to be the best singular example from each given franchise, with an attempt to select our final list from as broad a range of genres as possible.


Of course the Top 20 Selling Games of All Time is pretty much what it says, based on the hard cold sales figures.

[Arqueologia_Digital]

So there are actually people who own a gameboy WITHOUT owning Tetris? Hmmm...

I don't have numbers to back it up, but I doubt the accuracy of this list....
without owning tetris??...hehe...me (my tetris was broke and i never bought a new one).... :roll:

[Griking]

Thats a neat list. Not one Atari game on there :/

So what was the best selling Atari game of all time anyways and how many copies did it sell. Don't count Combat either since it came with the console.

[ubersaurus]

Where's Sonic 2? I was under the impression that was a big seller.

[hezeuschrist]

Haha, right on the back of DW7 it says "Best Selling Japanese Playstation Game Of All Time!"

I don't doubt those numbers at all, although Harry Potter looks waaaaay outta place.

[Anthony1]

I had heard for a long, long time that Super Mario Bros 3, was the best selling game of all time.

I actually heard that on news programs and stuff. This was way after the original Super Mario Bros. came out.

So I don't think this list is completely correct.

Although, because Super Mario Bros was a pack in, during a large portion of the NES lifespan, it's possible that those figures are inflated and that is why they have that game No. 1

I don't think games that are packed in with a system should count.

[zmeston]

I had heard for a long, long time that Super Mario Bros 3, was the best selling game of all time.

I actually heard that on news programs and stuff. This was way after the original Super Mario Bros. came out.

So I don't think this list is completely correct.

Although, because Super Mario Bros was a pack in, during a large portion of the NES lifespan, it's possible that those figures are inflated and that is why they have that game No. 1

I don't think games that are packed in with a system should count.

As I noted in an earlier post, if you remove the pack-in factor, SMB3 is the best-selling game on the list. In other words, the list is completely correct; only the inclusion of pack-ins is arguable.

-- Z.

[zmeston]

Thats a neat list. Not one Atari game on there :/

So what was the best selling Atari game of all time anyways and how many copies did it sell. Don't count Combat either since it came with the console.

I vaguely recall Activision claiming sales of three million Pitfall! cartridges, although there are members of this board (paging Mr. Herman! Mr. Leonard Herman!) who could surely confirm or deny that. Also, all three of Howard Scott Warshaw's 2600 games (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Yars' Revenge, E.T.) sold more than a million units.

The absence of Combat from the list is perhaps the biggest surprise, since GameSTATE is obviously taking pack-ins into account. Does anyone here (Leonard!!) know for how long Combat came with the VCS?

-- Z.

[zmeston]

Haha, right on the back of DW7 it says "Best Selling Japanese Playstation Game Of All Time!"

I still can't believe that Enix farmed out the text localization of DW7 to a bunch of fanboys from the RPGamer website, who unsurprisingly did a horrendous job and then blamed it on "formatting errors" and some such nonsense. It would be like Nintendo hiring a retarded monkey to translate Zelda. Not that DW7 would've sold for shit in the U.S. anyway, looking and sounding as it did like a low-end SNES game, but a decent translation would've at least made it bearable.


I don't doubt those numbers at all, although Harry Potter looks waaaaay outta place.

No kidding. I knew HP was a phenomenon, but enough of one to fuel the best-selling tie-in game ever? Wow.

-- Z.

[Nature Boy]

What's always amazed me are the numbers associated with the N64 games (Mario 64, GoldenEye). Here's a console that is generally considered to be a flop and it's got 2 of the 20 top selling games of all time. Amazing.

Do we have any idea how many units of each console were sold? I'd love to see these numbers in terms of installed base.


And I thought gaming was maintream with millions of new users every year.
The Best that this generation has to offer is only #9 GTA:Vice City

If you're going to be fair to the current generation you have to realize these other games have been on the shelves a *lot* longer. I realize sales drop after awhile, but I'm sure games like Vice City will see sales jump if/when they drop the price on it. Vice City has only been out for what, a year and a half?

[hydr0x]

What's always amazed me are the numbers associated with the N64 games (Mario 64, GoldenEye). Here's a console that is generally considered to be a flop and it's got 2 of the 20 top selling games of all time. Amazing.

Do we have any idea how many units of each console were sold? I'd love to see these numbers in terms of installed base.


And I thought gaming was maintream with millions of new users every year.
The Best that this generation has to offer is only #9 GTA:Vice City

If you're going to be fair to the current generation you have to realize these other games have been on the shelves a *lot* longer. I realize sales drop after awhile, but I'm sure games like Vice City will see sales jump if/when they drop the price on it. Vice City has only been out for what, a year and a half?

and you have to consider that there are 3 really big consoles, so the sales are more split up then in the 16-64 Bit eras

[kevincure]

"Vice City has been only been out for, what, a year and a half?"

It came out only last November, which makes it only 7 or 8 months old. Once VC goes greatest hits, it will definitely move up the sales list.