Top ten best-selling games led by Nintendo, Activision

Wii Play tops NPD all-time chart; Guitar Hero III follows

News by Kath Brice Contributor

Published on Jan. 20, 2010

Wii Play has been revealed as the biggest selling console game in the US over the last 15 years, followed by Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Three Call of Duty titles have made it into the top ten - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 sits just beneath San Andreas at number four, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is at number seven, and Call of Duty: World at War is at number nine.

It puts the number of Activision best-sellers at four, while Nintendo has three in the top ten - the aforementioned Wii Play, Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii.

EA had just one title - Madden NFL '07, and there was one surprise entry at number ten in the form of Namco Museum.

The figures were calculated by IndustryGamers using NPD data from when the company first started tracking sales in 1995 and take into account sales from all SKUs, in the case of multi-platform titles.

"I like the number of non-traditional games on the list. It shows that non-traditional content can be lucrative and have wide appeal. From Wii Play to Wii Fit to Guitar Hero, these are all games that don't fit in the traditional gaming 'box' yet have enjoyed great success," commented NPD industry analyst Anita Frazier.

The full top ten was as follows: