Talk:List of best-selling video games

Stuff

http://forum.pcvsconsole.com/viewthread.php?tid=18010 This list a lot of information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPD_Group The NPD_Group monitors all of this. There is a link to their webpage, if anyone wants to roam about there.

Inconsistant

The figures for Half-Life 2 and The Sims are inconsistant with the pages for Half-Life 2 and Computer and video games that have been considered the greatest ever, respectively. --Slavik81 23:09, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

The 1.7 million figure is the number of copies shipped, not sold. Also there is no breakdown between PC and Xbox 360 or standard and collector's editions. It's likely that no single SKU has sold in excess of a million copies to date. Radjago 02:55, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

Halo: Combat Evolved

The 5 million figure most likely includes PC sales, so can anyone fill in the information for the console sales only?

The Halo 2 figure is 7 million in one section and then 12 in another. ???Vegasjon 23:41, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

• That 12 figure combines the number of H:CE units and H2 into one. RedZ71.145.208.158 21:51, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Dead or Alive 3

Dead or Alive 3 (Xbox) HAS sold more than one million copies (I found the link on gamespot.com). I added this, but someone removed it. I don't know how many copies it has sold as of NOW, but I know it has sold more than one million copies.

Bundled games

Some of the figures listed include copies bundled with the game's platform. I know the original Super Mario Bros. and Tetris happen to be two of them, but I don't know them all. This is important to note considering that Solitaire has probably been bundled with a few hundred million copies of Windows... ;-) --Mrwojo 01:54, 25 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Sure, so please help out and try to locate some more accurate stats!  :-) --Quasipalm 18:52, 28 July 2005 (UTC)

Im going to add a top bundled games list seperate from unbundled. If you find any sales like Solitaire mentioned just add them in there. Taladar

Reformat

2005/4/12

The original way I had this data listed is a bit problematic. The issue is, the reader can't tell how current the data actually is. So, here's what I intend to do:

• Break out the list by year
• List [as-of] data for most statistics

I reformated everything so its in correct time order and split consoles and handhelds for easy use. I hope everybody finds the new table of contents more useful. Most of the game sales have been updated to worldwide so try to find more worldwide sales as they are the most useful. Taladar

Genre listing

There should be a list of games that are best sellers in each genre.

Added in the genre listings. GTA/Sandbox is currently becoming its own genre so I put it in until theres a formal name that catches on. Taladar

--Grand Theft Auto is a game, not a genre. Call it sandbox if you wish, but there are games more deserving of a genre than GTA. (it's prudent to remember that it's 'sandbox' style play only really arrived with GTA3)~Slavik81

References

This page is in bad need of references. Not only are they lacking, but the numbers on this page contradict those in several other articles. I will remove all unsourced entries within a few days unless I can find credible references for them myself. Fredrik | talk 21:44, 17 September 2005 (UTC)

The best source is NPD, but even its data is imperfect, and it only covers North America. If we pull things that are unsourced we could lose most of the list, which as-is has some value. Maybe add asterisks or other markers to reflect the source (or lack thereof) for each entry, but allow the entry to stay for a while so more sources can be found to confirm or deny? Coll7 22:59, 17 September 2005 (UTC)

Further to the above, most of the lists don't indicate whether they represent worldwide sales, or sales for some specific territory (North America, or even just United States).

The NPD group seems to be very stingy with their data. (I don't normally say nice things about the MPAA, but at least they share their box-office data with the public -- alas the video game industry doesn't seem to have any such group.) I wonder if there is anyone who can verify the information on this page with what the NPD has collected? I believe we can move such data here if we can get our hands on it. (From Copyright: "Compilations of facts or data may also be copyrighted, but such a copyright is thin; it only applies to the particular selection and arrangement of the facts, not to the particular facts themselves." -- in other words, if we can find such facts, we can rework them for Wikipedia and not violate Copyright.) --Quasipalm 14:24, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

The magic box website already given at the bottom has a USA list which was pretty much just pasted in (thus the USA based figures). It also has a top sellers list for Japan only. I will take the figures off each page and update the lists for worldwide sales and add the references. Taladar

I need some assistance with certain games. Based upon the overall game franchise sales I know that many single game sales numbers are very much off but I cannot find correct sales per game. This includes the entire pokemon franchise (150 million total), Crash Bandicoot 2 should be 5-6 million but I cannot find a source, the whole tomb raider series should be in the several millions (30 million total), the other harry potters might be much higher, Gamecube and Xbox are both almost positively missing quite a few million sellers. If anyone can find links to the appropriate sales figures these are needed for sure. Also I believe some of the Blizzard PC games may be somewhat off. Taladar 00:22, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

Pokemon

I know for a fact that due to overall sales of the pokemon franchise, the numbers for each individual game is entirely too low. If anyone could round up some more accurate figures if possible. Taladar 22:21, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

Top 20 list

Just for reference, the top 20 list does not include any bundled sales games as they are unfairly adjusted to be higher than usual and usually come discounted or free. Theres a top bundled sellers list right above the top 20 feel free to add bundled games in there. Taladar 15:22, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Most of your bundled list were never bundled at all, let alone in a position to gain any benefit from the console it was bundled with. Of the list, 2 games were actual launch bundles. The rest used the momentum of the top selling game to carry the system sales. Unfairly adjusted is quite the wrong way to look at that. Iconoclysm 3/2/2006

PC and Console

Keeping the two seperate for a few reasons. They arent in direct competition with each other. PC list is highly incomplete and kindy shaky to use still. User base is massive and spans many many more years. Seperated, they provide easy to use and compare information.

Diablo II

Currently listed twice in the PC section, with one stating 6 millon copies and the other stating 3 millon -- Squilibob 10:13, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

Sorry that was my fault. Still searching for a link of 6 million sales. Some people stick in funny numbers that turn out not true. Taladar 10:16, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

The Oregon Trail

It's not on the list, but it was a game that many many people had, you have to figure that it sold over a million copies, but i can't find any statistics for it, so someone might like to check that out

Starcraft

It sold 9 million as a series not as a single game. Broodwars was just an expansion pack. The game was released all the way back in 1998. I promise you its not still getting millions of sales in copies. If you look in this link http://www.starcraftghost.com/ghost/faq.shtml and this link http://www.blizzard.com/press/051805-e3ghost.shtml it clearly states that 9 million sales is the total of the whole series (Starcraft and Broodwars combined). http://kier.3dfrontier.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-35809.html was the only place I could find that listed the seperately but theres no way the sales stand at 9 million for the base product. Taladar

Okay I guess people are missing the clear explaination.

"Since its debut in 1998, the #1-selling StarCraft series* has won industry acclaim and has shattered sales records worldwide with over nine million copies sold**. Blizzard continued the series with the critically acclaimed StarCraft: Brood War , which won multiple "Expansion Pack of the Year" awards and is still considered by many critics to be one of the best add-on products to date."

As you can see for yourself Starcraft did not sell 9 million copies. You cannot add expansions plus the base unit any more than you can say mario sold 150 million copies because its entire franchise did. Taladar 10:07, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

It's best to keep expansion packs separately, otherwise all the blizzard games will have much higher figures. - Squilibob 13:56, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

This is already confusing with the list. On highest selling games based on genre Starcraft is 9 mil. Whereas the big list it's got 6

Taladar, you are completely underestimating the worldwide sales of Starcraft. Where did you come up with the 6 million figure anyway, that forum? I think we can come close to 4 million in the country of Korea alone. I find it very hard to believe that Age Of Empires II outsold Starcraft...to say the least. ~ Iconoclysm

Everything and Nothing

This is very clearly a website outside the valid sources. Its all blogs and message boards and nonsense. They dont source anybody and have many numbers off from what developers said. http://everythingandnothing.org.uk/ Blog sites are not useable as sources. Its outlined in the Wiki rules. Taladar

You cannot use websites anyone can post unfounded information as news. These numbers are backing by nothing at all. These numbers directly contradict statements from Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and developers. Theres no reason to put all this false information in. Just because they got a few numbers correct doesnt mean they all are. Taladar 10:03, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

Once again, a dating/blog site is not at all reliable for video game statistics. Continue vandalizing this site and I will have to report you 64.135.219.231. Clearly the are providing false information. Halo did not sell 50 million. Mario did not sell 1 trillion. GTA did not sell 20 million each. Many other numbers are wrong vs what NPD, game creators, and the video game console owners said. http://www.everythingandnothing.org.uk/vg/ If you want to participate and update numbers thats great but try to use more reliable information.

Validity

I don't think it is fair for the FinalFantasy's to be compared with the huge amount of Mario and Pokemon games out there. I think it skews the results since many other games don't have countless variations. This is what happens when you make a list by sales.

If anyone is using the franchise information Im sure they are taking into account the fact theres different numbers of games available. This doesnt make the information invalid you just have to take it in context. Taladar 01:32, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

Brain Training

It seems someone deleted my Brain Traning DS entry yesterday. Just to clarify, Brain Training is only available in Japan, and that I found the total for Brain Training as of Sept. 2005 by adding the totals of both the adult and children's versions. The numbers are based off of the findings of the Japanese tracking company Media Create, so they should be fairly accurate.

Nintendo DS million sellers.

According to the link provided (Gaming-Age Forums), Brain Training has broken 1,000,000 on its own, Gentle Brain Training has broken 1,000,000 on its own. Tamogatchi and Pokémon Mysterious Dungeon are at nearly 800,000 and nearly 600,000, respectively, so watch those two titles. - A Link to the Past (talk) 21:38, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

To explain for my lack of sources, I cannot recall where, but Nintendo has stated that Nintendogs is at about 1.5 million in the states, 1.6 million in Europe and 1 million in Japan. As for Mario Kart DS, that is about 500,000 in Europe, 1 million in North America and 800,000 in Japan. Brain Training's about 1.3 million in Japan, and Gentle Brain Training will likely break 1 million in the next Media Create. Expect to see a million seller from Tamagotchi, Pokémon Mysterious Dungeon and Brain Training 2 soon. - A Link to the Past (talk) 06:50, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

bundled at launch?

is the bundled list for bundles sold at launch or at any time (say for one holiday season) during the life of the console? And for any region (japan, north america, europe, south america, etc) or just north america?

couple of things jumped out at me...mario 64 I dont think was bundled

sonic 1 I'm sure was bundled with the genesis/mega drive

and crash was with the ps1.

Stop breaking up bundled games - in many cases, the games were bundled later to increase sales of the system. In fact, most of the games listed as bundled NEVER were bundled at all.

psp

add details for psp? or maybe subscribers to online things such as hotmail or online (browser based) mmorpgs?

Wondering on a source

Found this and while badly outdated it still has some games not yet listed in the incomplete PC section: http://www.barracudanet.com/timelapse/specials/bestgames.htm

The sources you are using are completely innaccurate. Most of which only started recording sales data in 1995.

Metal Gear

Does that "Metal Gear Solid" in the "franchises" mean only the MGS games or all the Metal Gear games? igordebraga ≠ 20:29, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

• Only the MGS, not the old MG's for the NES and such. Those sucked. RedZion71.145.208.158 21:53, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Consistency

Either "a million" or "ONE million" should be used to head off each section, but not both. I would prefer "one" but I'll let one of the regular editors make the choice. 71.116.217.242 18:45, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree that "One million" sounds more proper. Dionyseus 04:59, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

FFVIII sales number oddity

This sentence:

• Final Fantasy VIII (8.05 million) [1]

I've read the linked article, but I cannot find anything in it to support the number 8.05 million. And in a different place in the article I found this:

• Final Fantasy VIII (PS1 - 7.86 million)

A different number, one that matches those on the Everything and Nothing site. Anyone maintaining this article care to look into this and sort it out? --Codemonkey 14:39, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

Clashing info?

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but on the PlayStation 2 article it lists the 'top selling game' as being Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, but this article lists Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec as being the top-seller. Can anyone verify which of these two sources is correct?

This issue has now been corrected. Grand Turismo 3 is the top seller. Dionyseus 11:29, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

• Thx. Though, it may be good to look out and keep and eye on that, since San Andreas is moving up on sales charts thanks to the removal of that Hot Coffee mod.RedZion71.145.208.158 21:54, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

X360, psp, and other number inflating?

It seems to me that the Xbox 360 (The worst instance) has had many of it's software numbers inflated for purposes of making it seem as the games sold better than they did. Perfect Dark Zero, a game which has sold ~400K in america, ~97K in the UK, and 9K in Japan, is noted as selling 1.96 million units on the X360 chart, which is completely fabricated. The same goes for the other X360 numbers, being either combined with their PC counterparts' numbers or just completely made up. I'd like to request a reference link stating those numbers are Sold and not Shipped

• PDZ recieved abysmal scores from the gaming press, due to shoddy AI and other stuff. Game INformer even stated '...Soldiers stood around...regularly shooting at level geometry...' There is no way that it sold over a million copies. Its impossible, since the 360 only sold around 800,000 units all told. Red Z71.145.208.158 21:56, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Also, Syphon Filter's claim of selling 1m on the PSP list also looks quite fake. I'd like sources on that one as well. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Vagabond1 (talk • contribs) .

Verify

I have tagged the article with the {{verify}} tag. Someone must sit down and spend a full day reviewing every of the games that are there to see if the numbers are correct. There have been several modifications, blankings, additions and reorderings that I am not sure the numbers are as accurate as possible. -- ReyBrujo 02:42, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

The top 20 list does not make any sense

It lists the highest selling game of all time as Super Mario Bros. 3 at around 17 million but a number of other games throughout the article clearly supass it (Pokemon anyone?). Not to mention the 360 list of million sellers which has no sources and as someone else pointed out has probably been inflated. This whole article is a mess... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.217.164.88 (talk • contribs) .

The top 20 only has games that had not been bundled with consoles, nor multiple series of games. Super Mario Bros. 3 sold 17 million games and is the best selling. Here are the games that are over 17m, and explanation of why they aren't above SMB3:

1. Tetris (32 million) (bundled with the original Game Boy)
2. Pokémon Red / Blue (31.37 million) (series of two games, not single game)
3. Pokémon Gold & Silver (23.10 million) (series of two games, not single game)
4. Super Mario Land (18.14 million) (bundled with later releases of Game Boy)
5. Super Mario World (20.61 million) (bundled with the SNES)

Now, if I _really_ search through old magazines, I _may_ find some Spanish one where a NES was bundled with SMB3, although I do not remember well, and truly speaking, Spain is a very small market. The Pack-in game article does not list Super Mario Land as bundled, but that article doesn't list references at all. -- ReyBrujo 04:29, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Are you BSing me?

Call of Duty 2 (1.46 million) [290] Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (1.0 million) Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2.09 million) Perfect Dark Zero (1.96 million) Dead or Alive 4 (1.10 million) Condemed (1.50 million) Kameo (1.0 million) Madden 2006 (2.2 million) Battlefield 2: Modern Combat (1.8 million)

How accurate is that? McDonaldsGuy 17:58, 8 May 2006 (UTC)