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Wii Play Tops Bestsellers Of Past 15 Years
by Chris Remo [PC, Console/PC]
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January 19, 2010
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Nintendo's Wii Play is the best-selling console game released at retail in the United States since 1995, when tracking firm NPD began compiling its figures -- but the recently-released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 isn't far behind.
The number two game, according to an IndustryGamers story citing NPD, is Neversoft's Guitar Hero III, followed by Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and then Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 -- the latter being the most recently-released title on the top 10.
That game has already eclipsed Infinity Ward's previous effort, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which stands at number seven.
Publishers Nintendo and Activision are the big winners on the list, with Nintendo responsible for three games, all of which released solely on Wii, and Activision responsible for four across multiple platforms. Competitor Electronic Arts can claim only one entry, EA Tiburon's Madden NFL 07.
Of the ten games on the chart, only Nintendo's were not multiplatform.
Perhaps surprisingly, given the lack of coverage relative to other games on the list, Namco Bandai Games just made the list at number 10 with its compilation Namco Museum.
The full top ten, ranking console game sales at retail in the U.S. since 1995, is as follows:
1. Wii Play (Nintendo), Wii
2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Neversoft, Activision), Xbox 360/PS3/Wii/PS2
3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar North, Take-Two Interactive), PS2/Xbox
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Infinity Ward, Activision), Xbox 360/PS3
5. Wii Fit (Nintendo), Wii
6. Mario Kart w/ Wheel (Nintendo), Wii
7. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward, Activision), Xbox 360/PS3
8. Madden NFL '07 (EA Tiburon, Electronic Arts), PS2/Xbox/GameCube/Xbox 360/PS3/Wii/NDS/PSP/GBA
9. Call of Duty: World at War (Treyarch, Activision), Xbox 360/PS3/Wii
10. Namco Museum (PS2/Xbox/GameCube)
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But oh well, that will come later after another console generation puts 3 more games on the top of this list because of a remote pack in.
Oh, I'm am definitely not a Nintendo hater, quite the opposite. I have owned just about every Nintendo console & handheld and have spent thousands on Nintendo games over the years. I own a Wii and did purchase Wii Play and yes ONLY because it was included with the remote for $10 more, marketing genius indeed! I maybe played it once and then traded it in and kept the remote. I can almost guarantee you that is exactly what many thousands of others did. I am simply stating that without the remote, Wii Play WOULD NOT be #1 on that list up there. If it were a separate $10 game sitting on the shelf next to the $40 remote, then it would not have done so well. We'll never know for sure though, correct?
You really think so? Why would two items, valued at $50 when purchased separately, somehow sell BETTER if they are bundled and sold for $50? The reason that bundled items sell better is that the bundle is cheaper than purchasing the parts individually.
Had Wii Play been $10 (and it still received the same level of product display in stores) it would have sold MORE copies, not less.