https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/best-selling-video-games-of-last-30-years
From Street Fighter II to Hogwarts Legacy, here’s the best-selling video game of each year.
I had no idea call of duty was such a big deal. It’s not my jam so I never notice it.
I was thinking the same thing. I've never played a single one or even seen gameplay footage of them. Who is playing these games? I assumed they were just generic shooters.
Sure, but they're the generic shooter. And it had a big resurgence during COVID with everyone and their mothers playing Warzone. I hadn't touched CoD since MW3 in like 2012 and I put so many hours into the 2019 Modern Warfare game with Warzone.
By virtue of them selling the best, they ARE generic shooters. It's just that the definition moves with them.
I mean they are, but they also kinda defined what a generic shooter is today, I haven’t picked one up in ages because I hate multiplayer these days, had a lot of fun playing them up until Black Ops. Kinda got stale for me after that
This is why Sony was making such a big deal about Call of Duty during the discussions about Microsoft acquiring Activision (owners of the Call of Duty franchise). Sony wanted reassurance that the Call of Duty games would still come out on the PlayStation consoles, and not be exclusive to Microsoft's platforms (Xbox and Windows). When you see that Call of Duty has been the best selling game nearly every year recently, you can understand Sony's plea.
Between the cards and games, Pokemon was all everyone would talk about for several years in a row
Call of Duty... Call of Duty... Call of Duty... Animal Crossing
Did something happen in 2020?
Well, more like ...
Mario, Mario, Pokemon, Pokemon, GTA, CoD, wtf Animal Crossing?, CoD
Very interesting how despite being the distant runner-up (and the 3rd place console in Japan) N64 games were consistant best sellers from 1996 to 1999. Either taking first, or several of the runner-up spots. Then in the 2000s, You don't see a single place from 2002 until 2006. I think this shows the real tragedy of the Gamecube. At least with the N64, games still sold numbers, but with the gamecube, Nintendo was struggling with consoles and software. Surprised not even any Gameboy Advance games made the list.
I think an important aspect of Nintendo losing their best sellers during the early 2000s was the expensive choice to keep using cartridges on the N64. Then they failed with the 64DD to fix the problem of insufficient storage space available on the cartridges for the games other developers wanted to make.
The prime example is Square moving the Final Fantasy series to PlayStation starting with FF7. They could not have achieved the scale and 3D animations of FF7 on the N64. They needed the cheap and abundant storage space of CDs to make FF7.
If I was a single-console gamer who was more satisfied with the games available on PlayStation than on N64, then for the next generation I likely would choose a PS2 over whenever the N64's successor would be (as Nintendo has typically released last within a console generation while Sony usually releases early). And then at that point, I'm not buying Nintendo games at all, so I'm not contributing to their sales numbers. Xbox also rose during those years too.
Nintendo dug their own grave with respect to being the market leader in large part because they did not value their third party partners as much as they should have, and by the time the N64 was out, they had chased away a lot of important game developers. Those developers being absent for the GameCube generation hurt them. They somewhat repaired things during the Wii era, but I don't think their relationships with 3rd party developers and publishers were close to the same until the Switch.
The actual game part of ff7 could have easily run on the N64, it was just the fmvs and music that were too big.
Without the FMVs or music, a large part of what made FF7 great would have been lost.
Lots of good points. Xbox is a big factor in this. Also, this was around the time many millennials were starting to buy consoles on their own and Nintendo was seen as somewhat childish. The more mature games were coming out on the other consoles at the same time that the first generation that grew up with pervasive gaming were becoming adults.
I was such a millennial. Disappointed by the game selection (and perceived childishness) on the N64, I wound up with a PlayStation. Then I went with an Xbox for the next gen, followed by a Slim PS2. I did buy a Wii but owned few games for it. I basically skipped the Wii U era altogether.
I got a Switch on launch, but it was the same thing within a couple of years: I wanted a console with better performance because many of the best games of the generation would not be on Nintendo's platform or would be ported years later with worse graphics (and with the premium of the Switch tax). I have a fairly big library for the PS4/5 while my Switch sits unused.
I still very much appreciate Nintendo's own games, but a console needs more than first party titles.
I'm surprised that Gran Turismo was number one is 2005. I remember Star Wars Battlefront II being the hot new game everyone was playing at the time, and Star Wars being huge in general due to Episode III releasing that year. Just the fact that a PS2 exclusive driving sim, beat out a multi-platform Star Wars game that was one of the most hyped releases at the time is insane to me.
Really speaks to Minecraft's staying power that even without ever being in the top five for a single year it is the best selling game of all time. Cumulative COD clearly wins out but I would guess the majority of each game's sales are repeat customers.
As expected, Pokémon and then CoD primarily. Gamers just wanna catch cool monsters and kill dudes. Kinda messed up tbh but like, whatever.
I read that tears of the kingdom is the best selling game of 2023 so far. I wonder where the author got their numbers from.
Shout out to Elden Ring. It's the only non-sequel, non-ip based game to chart since Destiny and Watch Dogs in 2014.
Seems wrong to not consider it a sequel to the Dark Souls games though. I know it's not, but it's more than a spiritual successor IMO.
I mean you could say that about DS too. It's just demon souls spiritual successor. Which is a spiritual successor of Kingsgate.
Pretty sure if they updated this year's entry today that it'd be taken over by Baldur's Gate.
Nah no way. I'm as big a BG fanboy as anyone but it's a decidedly niche genre. The vast majority of people are not interested in CRPGs.
Possible counterpoint worth noting, that game has been breaking concurrent player records on steam for several days in a row, and the game has yet to release on consoles. So if it's not the biggest game this year yet, it's likely to happen in the nearby future.
1995: Mortal Kombat 3
Console: Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, PC, Game Boy, Game Gear
I have Mortal Kombat 3 for Game Boy! Fun fact, it's the only original Game Boy game officially released rated M for Mature.
Also the Game Boy version is garbage. XD
Everyone here talking about CoD and all I want to know is how Star Fox on SNES beat out GoldenEye in 1997.
More people had a SNES and could afford Star Fox compared to buying a Nintendo64 console which was only one year old + GoldenEye.
It does? The list starts in 1993, when Doom came out. Everyone played it, but I have never even seen a purchased copy. That might impact a lot of PC game sales, and explain why the list is dominated by console titles.
