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Nintendo games dominate software sales in US

As Wii Play tops December sales almost two years after release

Nintendo titles dominated software sales in the US during 2008, with the top four biggest games in the region all exclusive to the Wii.

Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii sold more than 5 million copies each, while Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros. Brawl racked up sales of over 4 million units apiece.

Closest to Nintendo's top four was the Xbox 360 version of Take-Two's multiformat Grand Theft Auto IV, which sold over 3.2 million units, ahead of Activision's Call of Duty: World at War on 360 and Microsoft's Gears of War 2.

The only handheld title in the top ten was Mario Kart DS, once again from Nintendo.

During the December month, Nintendo's Wii Play was the best-selling game in the US, 22 months after it was first released in the region in February 2007. The company also had five top titles during the month, including Animal Crossing: City Folk.

Other noticeable hit titles during December include Activision's Guitar Hero: World Tour which sold 850,000 units, and Valve's new IP Left 4 Dead, which shifted 629,000 copies.

Full year sales for 2008:

  • 01. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 5.28 million
  • 02. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 5.00 million
  • 03. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) - 4.53 million
  • 04. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo, Wii) - 4.17 million
  • 05. Grand Theft Auto IV (Take-Two, Xbox 360) - 3.29 million
  • 06. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, Xbox 360) - 2.75 million
  • 07. Gears of War 2 (Microsoft, Xbox 360) - 2.31 million
  • 08. Grand Theft Auto IV (Take-Two, PS3) - 1.89 million
  • 09. Madden NFL 09 (EA, Xbox 360) - 1.87 million
  • 10. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo, NDS) - 1.65 million

Sales for December 2008:

  • 01. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 1.46 million
  • 02. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, Xbox 360) - 1.33 million
  • 03. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) - 999,000
  • 04. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 979,000
  • 05. Guitar Hero: World Tour (Activision, Wii) - 850,000
  • 06. Gears of War 2 Microsoft, Xbox 360) - 745,000
  • 07. Left 4 Dead (EA, Xbox 360) - 629,000
  • 08. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo, NDS) - 540,000
  • 09. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, PS3) - 533,000
  • 10. Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo, Wii) - 497,000
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Matt Martin

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Matt Martin joined GamesIndustry in 2006 and was made editor of the site in 2008. With over ten years experience in journalism, he has written for multiple trade, consumer, contract and business-to-business publications in the games, retail and technology sectors.