I'd be curious to see a full list, just to see how many of those slots Nintendo occupied. For a while, the existence of Wii Fit and Wii Sports seemed a bit irregular to me considering video game sales. For Wii Sports, I wondered if people actually purchased the game, or if they got it as a mandatory side dish to purchasing the Wii Console and Nintendo counted every console sale as an additional sale of Wii Sports as well. Same with Wii Fit. Did consumers actually buy it for the software? Or because they wanted the balance board that came with it?

While this is admittedly a huge 'what if,' what would the sales look like if the Wii Console and the Wii Balance Board came with different software attached to it? Would that result in the complete disappearance of both titles from these lists, and a huge surge for the new titles that came with them?

If that's the case, I honestly view this list as a bit inaccurate. Nintendo could very easily say they moved the most product in a single year to their investors, increasing their stock value. But this would be comparable to when Burger King gave away free games with every meal purchase. If Burger King was a video game company, and maintained this strategy for an entire year, we'd see a similar phenomenon to what Nitnendo does. People just wanted food, and Burger King would make billions in selling that food.

But throw a video game in there, attribute the video game over food sales instead, and this top 5 would read 'Pocket Bike Racer,' 'Big Bumpin,' 'Sneak King,' then 'MW:2,' 'Wii Sports Resort.'

Yeah...I played the BK games. If you haven't seen the opening splash screen for Pocket Bike Racer, aw man, so fantastic...but I digress...

I'd be really curious to see an expanded list, so I could narrow it down to 'game titles that weren't purchased solely for the console or peripheral that came with it.' Just my little rant. To clarify, I have no beefs with Nintendo at all, and love the vast majority of games they crank out. They deserve all the praises and adulation they get, and since the Wii console brought my parents back into video gaming (giving us something to do after family dinners without the need of hard liquor), they've really been a beneficial presence in my own life. I think my frustrations come from the list itself, is all...

@ David
"Nintendo could very easily say they moved the most product in a single year to their investors, increasing their stock value. But this would be comparable to when Burger King gave away free games with every meal purchase."

I really don't see your point here. If BK is giving away games free with every meal, in what point exactly is it comparable with people walking into a store and buy a Wii game or a Wii console?

"If Burger King was a video game company, and maintained this strategy for an entire year, we'd see a similar phenomenon to what Nitnendo does. People just wanted food, and Burger King would make billions in selling that food."

Here you loose me completely, even with hard thinking and much imagination, I don't know, what the last sentence means in this context.

"I'd be really curious to see an expanded list, so I could narrow it down to 'game titles that weren't purchased solely for the console or peripheral that came with it.'"

This makes no sense either, it was the same with Sing Star, Guitar Hero or Eye Toy, all these periperals were extremly successful, I don't remember people complaining about them being in the charts, cause they were games "purchased solely for the console or peripheral that came with it".
By the way, what do you mean with games "purchased solely for the console [...] that came with it"? Every game for every console is purchased "solely for the console" that came with it.

@ David
what game other than Wii Fit really uses the Balance Board? You also should as if games such as Guitar Hero would sell as much as they do if sold without any instrument-like controller. You can not separate such things. What is being sold here is an experience - either a game by itself or any additional peripheral that it requires to fulfill its role.

@Christian

"By the way, what do you mean with games "purchased solely for the console [...] that came with it"?"

If I buy a Nintendo Wii, Wii Sports comes with it by default. If I want a Wii, I automatically add a sale to Wii Sports as well. Even though I had no interest in purchasing Wii Sports, I ended up doing so anyway, because I got the Wii console.

The success of Wii Sports isn't relative to the overall 'interest' gamers had in it.

Regarding the balance board, very true point both Christian and Fabio, it's very limited in games offered. I suppose it would have been more accurate to cite the Motion Plus peripheral instead, because a lot more games are being developed with that hardware in consideration. I distinctly remember, though, back when the balance board was released, that there was a lot of hype about a number of game titles that would utilize it. Thus, I purchased one with the expectation of more Wii games in the future taking advantage of it. It's another example (from personal experience) of purchasing the hardware while adding a sale to the game that came with it.

As for instrument peripherals, I can't envision any games outside of the music genre that would effectively utilize them. Thus, the motivation for people to, like me, purchase a packaged experience simply for the peripheral and not the game is a lot less likely. Hence why rhythm/music games aren't topping the list, but games that do come with broader peripherals are occupying a few spots in the top 5.

@ David

Your point in regards to Wii Sports is irrelevant since Wii Sports it not in the top 5 list. Wii Sports Resort, on the other hand is in the list, and the average Wii buyer doesn't know what Motion Plus is, until after they start playing WSR and realize they need another MP. They (ahem, we?) bought the game because we wanted the sequel to Wii Sports! So, I'm not sure what your point is. I bought WSResort for the game not for the MPlus. The game made me have to go out and buy 3 more MP's!! I bought Wii Fit Plus for the game. I already had the balance board. I haven't purchased NSMBW yet. I actually haven't played it. I've been told I'm missing out. But, there's only so much time in a day!! I plane to get it, but I'm to busy watching Blu-rays on my PS3!!!

David says:
"If I buy a Nintendo Wii, Wii Sports comes with it by default. If I want a Wii, I automatically add a sale to Wii Sports as well. Even though I had no interest in purchasing Wii Sports, I ended up doing so anyway, because I got the Wii console.

The success of Wii Sports isn't relative to the overall 'interest' gamers had in it."


You make sense theoretically but you're wrong when real numbers come into play. Wii Sports is selling the console. There's a reason why every time I've seen the Wii come up in a conversation, the person speaking makes a bowling gesture.

If people were buying Wii Sports Resort mostly for motion plus, then we would expect Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 to see similar sales. Since that is not the case it is more reasonable to assume most people bought Wii Sports Resort for the game itself. Also Wii Fit Plus without a balance board sold more copies than any other balance board game that didn't have the board packed in. It should be clear that its the software that is really popular and not the hardware by itself.

Some people might think that hardware is what sells software. Others think software sells hardware. I tend to hold the latter viewpoint. Specifically all hardware needs a killer app to see serious sales. Wii Fit is the killer app for the balance board. Wii Sports Resort is the killer app for motion plus. Guitar Hero and Rock Band are killer apps for plastic guitars. Wii Sports is one of several killer apps for the Wii. Some software companies might just look for a large install base to sell software without thinking their game is a killer app. There is nothing wrong with this way of doing business, but do not forget that the install base was first created by some killer app(s).

Well then, excellent counter-points from everybody, thanks for addressing my semi-coherent inquiries.

I concede on this one...particularly on this point by John Gordon:

"Specifically all hardware needs a killer app to see serious sales. Wii Fit is the killer app for the balance board. Wii Sports Resort is the killer app for motion plus. Guitar Hero and Rock Band are killer apps for plastic guitars. Wii Sports is one of several killer apps for the Wii. Some software companies might just look for a large install base to sell software without thinking their game is a killer app."

And on this point by Joseph Vasquez II:

"There's a reason why every time I've seen the Wii come up in a conversation, the person speaking makes a bowling gesture."

So true. While I know many people who will cite games other than Wii Sports as their favorite Wii game, I don't know a single person who didn't explore Wii Sports without developing an obsessive addiction to bowling.

Cheers, gents!