NPD Lists Top Selling Games Since 1995
The NPD recently released the top 10 best selling games of the last fifteen years, and while the entries aren't very interesting on a case-by-case basis, it is pretty amazing to note how just a few franchises have completely dominated the game industry over the last decade and a half.
1. Wii Play
2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
5. Wii Fit
6. Mario Kart w/ Wheel
7. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
8. Madden NFL '07
9. Call of Duty: World at War
10. Namco Museum
One thing to keep in mind while looking at this list is the extent to which the video game industry has grown over the last fifteen years; the market is way bigger now than it was in 1995, and that's why so many titles on the list are from just the last few years. Of particular note is the fact that the last three Call of Duty games all cracked the top ten. Guitar Hero III was also published by Activision, meaning four of the top ten best sellers of the last fifteen years have all been Activision games, and they've all come out within about the last two years.
Equally incredible is the fact that Halo, God of War and Metal Gear Solid are nowhere to be seen. In fact, the only PS2 game on the list is GTA: San Andreas, despite the fact that the PS2 is the highest selling home console of all time. In a sense, this makes San Andreas the single most impressive entry, because it managed to top the crack five with a market that was 3-5 years smaller than its competition.
Wii Play is an dubious winner, though its presence at the top of the list is at least symbolic of Nintendo's recent domination of the industry, as well as our industry's discovery of a much broader player base. Then again, it comes packaged with Wii remotes for only $45, so it kinda cheated its way up there.
At the other end of the list is a somewhat confusing entry: Namco Museum. First of all, HUH?! And second, which one? There are like a dozen of these. They can't be counting them all, because if they were, Madden would be on top of the list. Is it because every single entry shares the same name, and thus is counted extra by the NPD?
